Chapter 2A – CCTSA

The New Dawn

FW DE KLERK BECOMES PRESIDENT

On 15 August 1989, after the resignation of PW Botha, FW de Klerk was appointed acting President.
On 6 September 1989, he led the National Party to victory – with a reduced majority – in South Africa’s last election under the 1983 Constitution.
On 20 September 1989, FW de Klerk was inaugurated as State President.

FW de Klerk inaugurated as State President

The first signs of change

On 21 October 1989, President De Klerk granted permission for peaceful demonstrations.
He also announced the release of the remaining high-level ANC prisoners.
He ordered the dismantling of the National Management System (which had coordinated the government’s anti revolutionary activities).
In separate meetings, he told senior officers of the South African Police Service and South African Defence Force that they should in future confine their activities to their statutory roles.

The first meeting with Nelson Mandela

On 13 December 1989, President De Klerk held his first meeting – in secret – with Nelson Mandela at his office in Cape Town.

“I think we both reached the same conclusions:
that it would be possible for us to do business with one another.”

President De Klerk meets Nelson Mandela

FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 signalled the impending demise of the Soviet Union. For the South African government, it removed the threat of Soviet intrusion in Southern Africa and Soviet influence over the SACP/ANC. President De Klerk concluded that the time for successful negotiations would never again be so favourable.

In December 1989, he gathered with senior members of the National Party at a bush conference where they discussed the next steps in the transformation of South Africa.

Fall of the Berlin Wall