Road to
Democracy (1990-1994)
1990
On the 2nd February 1990 president of South Africa F.W. De
Klerk opened parliament with a speech that changed the course for South
Africa’s future. This was the start of
FW De Klerk dismantling the Apartheid regime which had previously ruled over
South Africa. Two of the key factors
that De Klerk had brought up were:
· Many
previously banned political parties such as the ANC and PAC to be unbanned.
· All
political prisoners to be released from prisons such as Robben Island
(Including Nelson Mandela).
· FW De
Klerk’s willingness to work with all political groups to create a new
democratic constitution for South Africa.
Reasons for FW De
Klerk’s Change
· The National
Party wanted to control the change and dismantle Apartheid so that they could
keep some power in doing so.
· The National
Party believed that the ANC would be politically weak after being banned for
the past 30 years.
· Sanctions
and disinvestments in South Africa had a great negative effect on South
Africa’s economy.
· The
resistance protests against Apartheid in the 1980’s showed that the Apartheid
government could only hold of these protests indefinitely.
Sebokeng Massacre
Negotiations for reform soon begin between the ANC and the
NP however these negotiations would be put on a halt due to on-going violence
in South Africa such as the Sebokeng Massacre.
The ANC realised that a 3rd force were instigating and causing
violence. IFP hostel dwellers were
intent on attacking ANC members in Sebokeng so therefore the ANC notified the
minister of law and order for security forces to protect them. However under police escort IFP members went
on to murder 30 ANC supporters.
3rd Force- An unknown
group of right wing extremists who provoked attacks on the ANC in order to
disrupt the negotiations to conserve South Africa and avoid reform.
Groote Schuur
Minute
After the violence period had ended the negotiations had
continued. Government officials (NP) and
ANC officials met at Groote Schuur in Cape Town in order to discuss and
negotiate the way forward. The highlight
of this negotiation was the end of dominant white rule by means of:
· Releasing all remaining political
prisoners.
· Granting
immunity to prosecuted political offenders.
· To bring
back political offenders in exile.
Pretoria Minute
Due to the success of the Groote Schuur Minute the
negotiations continued with the Pretoria Minute which was the next negotiation
conference held once again between NP and ANC officials except this time in
Pretoria. The main point of discussion
was the ANC’s announcement to suspend all armed action struggles (For the MK to
stop with all attacks).
MK (Umkhonto we Sizwe)- The ANC’s armed wing or army which
had been used during Apartheid as a form of violent protest by actions such as
setting off bombs in public areas. After the Pretoria Minute the NP government
ended the State of Emergency in South Africa except in Natal due to the
on-going violence.
1991 CODESA 1
After the success of the negotiations between the ANC and NP
it was agreed that all factors rom all political parties should now be included
in the negotiation process, thus CODESA 1 was held at the World Trade Centre in
Kempton Park, Johannesburg.
· 19 political
organisations (Excluding Pac and IFP) took part in CODESA 1.
· The
negotiations at CODESA were to discuss the formation of a multi-racial
government for the New South Africa.
· The
Declaration Of Intent was drawn up and signed by all political organisations
present which was a commitment by all
members to a goal towards an equal and undivided South Africa.
· The last of
the remaining Apartheid laws were dropped.
1992 White
Referendum
In early 1992 FW De Klerk ordered that a “whites only”
referendum be held on the issue of reform and to see what the response by the
white public was to reform. The
referendum came back with very positive results as 68% of white South Africans
voted towards a political reform.
CODESA 2
Due to the success of CODESA 1, a follow up known as CODESA
2 was held which was once again at the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park. Although CODESA 1 was a huge success, CODESA
2 was a was not very successful as all the political organisations failed to
meet a consensus over a majority rule or power sharing form of rule for the new
government. Political parties such as
the ANC wanted majority rule whereas the NP wanted power sharing. This discussion was also not helped by all
the on-going violence in the townships such as the Boipatong Massacre and Bisho
Stadium tragedy.
Majority Rule- A form of governance whereby the political
party with the majority of the vote (Who wins the election) has all power and
control over the governance of the country.
Power Sharing-A system of governance where dominant groups
share power with minorities and allow them some autonomy (Power in the
governance of the country).
Boipatong Massacre
On the 17th June 1992, township residents living in
Boipatong were attacked by armed IFP supporters whereby roughly 40 people were
killed and many more were injured.
Bisho Stadium
Tragedy
On the 7th September 1992 around 80000 ANC supporters lead
by iconic ANC leaders such as Chris Hani gathered in Bisho in protest against
the leader of the homeland, OupaGqozo.
However when marchers tried to break through the lines of the Ciskei
Defense force’s lines, they opened fire on the marchers killing 28 and injuring
many more.
Record of
Understanding
The Record of Understanding was an agreement between Roelf
Meyer of the NP and Cyril Ramaphosa of the ANC that the negotiation process had
to continue despite all the violence taking place and the ‘third force
elements’ in the country.
NP government members and ANC officials finally agreed on a
5 year term for government and political parties that gain over 5% in the
election would be proportionally represented.
1993 Chris Hani
Assassination
On the 10th April 1993 Chris Hani had just returned from the
corner café when he was gunned down by Janus Waluz on his driveway. This incident jolted the entire right wing
back into activity and placed them at the top of the political agenda. Later both Janus Waluz and Clive Derby-Lewis
were convicted of the crime and were sentenced.
This assassination formed a large amount of conflict in South Africa as
Hani was a very popular ANC leader, however Nelson Mandela addressed the nation
in order to avoid a civil war and keep the peace so that the negotiation
process could continue.
AWB Attack World
Trade Centre
On the 25 June 1993 members of the right wing AWB political
party demonstrated outside the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park during a
negotiation and later drove vehicles through the doors into the building. This was all part of the AWB to disrupt the
negotiation process as right wing conservatives.
1994
On the 27th April 1994 South Africa eventually reached its
first democratic election whereby all citizens of the country could vote. Over 19 million South Africa voted and later
it was concluded that the ANC had won the election and Nelson Mandela would be
the first democratic president of South Africa.
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