History Gr12 GNU (P2Q5) PDF

Topic Unit X XX 1 Negotiated settlement and Government of National Unity Key question: How did South Africa emerge as a democracy from the crises of the 1990s and how did South Africans come to terms with the apartheid past? Events leading up to the negotiations By the 1980s South Africa was sinking...

Topic Unit X XX 1 Negotiated settlement and Government of National Unity Key question: How did South Africa emerge as a democracy from the crises of the 1990s and how did South Africans come to terms with the apartheid past? Events leading up to the negotiations By the 1980s South Africa was sinking into a spiral of political violence and economic crisis. The insurrection had made large parts of South Africa ungovernable, with many negative outcomes, including the disruption of black schools, civil conflict, detentions, police violence and economic instability. There were also tensions between the two sides of the struggle: Whites had been indoctrinated to believe that democracy would mean a communist black government that would take everything they owned and destroy their culture and way of life, and that military power was the only thing that protected them from this. Blacks did not trust the regime and feared that any talks would lead to a sham settlement and little real change to the apartheid system. In 1985, PW Botha offered to release Nelson Mandela on condition the ANC withdrew violence as a form of struggle. Mandela responded by saying that no talks could take place until government policies (considered as ‘obstacles’) had been cleared and there was trust that a genuine solution could be found. The beginning of the solution In Pollsmoor prison, the Emergency of 1986 prompted Nelson Mandela to request a meeting with the government. Mandela made the sole decision to enter into negotiations → didn’t involve his prison colleagues or those in Lusaka (ANC leaders in exile). He said: ‘There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.’ (Long Walk to Freedom, page 627). 100 © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook Unit XX 1 Secret talks with the ANC in exile and with Mandela After 1987, some government officials and white business leaders began to meet secretly with ANC leaders. Sequence of events In July 1987 a group of 60 liberal Afrikaner businessmen and cultural leaders met the exiled ANC leadership for a week in Dakar, Senegal. Mandela’s role There were about 20 such meetings 1987: In Pollsmoor, the talks after 1987 – mostly held secretly in hotel between Nelson Mandela and the rooms in foreign cities. government proceeded slowly These were not negotiations and during this year, starting with the no deals were struck. Instead, the first meetings with Kobie Coetsee, different sides were getting to know Minister of Justice. and understand each other and build a Among some of the critical climate of mutual trust. issues discussed were: armed struggle Between 1988 and February 1990 large ANC’s alliance with the delegations of up to 20 influential leaders Communist Party on both sides met at a country estate in the goal of majority rule UK called Mells Park House, to discuss the idea of racial conciliation. conditions that would have to be in place for May 1988: Mandela met Botha’s proper negotiations. chief strategist Niels Barnard → 47 But many leaders on both sides were times between 1988 and 1990. still opposed to the idea of talks. 1989: Mandela was given an open Militant ANC leaders like Mac telephone line to consult with OR Maharaj and Chris Hani were Tambo (ANC President in exile) in preparing a new series of MK attacks Lusaka. PLUS was later allowed against whites. to meet United Democratic Front White political leaders and police (UDF) leaders at Victor Verster continued to hold onto exclusive prison outside Paarl. power with ever more brutal July 1989: Nelson Mandela finally repression. met with PW Botha himself. 1989 to 1991: Preparing the way for negotiations During 1989 there was a lot of talking and relationship building, but little sign of a breakthrough. A number of important events in 1988 and 1989 made a new approach possible. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook 101 Unit XX 1 In 1988 the South African Army suffered a major military defeat in Angola at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. This shook the military establishment and enabled the liberals in the National Party to argue more strongly that whites could not hold on to power by force alone. The 1980s: there were more economic sanctions, while international pressure forced many banks to stop investing in South Africa. By the time De Klerk became president, foreign companies were losing confidence in the South African economy and taking their money out. The economy was in deep trouble. At the beginning of 1989 PW Botha suffered a stroke, and the more liberal National Party (NP) leaders were able to remove him as president and weaken the influence of the military generals. In 1989 FW de Klerk was elected leader of the National Party → was a conservative thinker, but he believed that reform was the only way to preserve white power. Preparing the whites for negotiations De Klerk believed that the NP and its black allies (like Dr Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party – IFP) could negotiate a constitution that would preserve white power and even challenge the ANC in elections. But whites were increasingly divided: De Klerk feared that white right wing leaders like Eugéne Terre’Blanche of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) was driving a paramilitary movement. If they linked up with conservatives in the army, they might soon pose a threat to the National Party reformers (led by De Klerk). He called an election in 1989 asking whites to support political reforms – though not the end of apartheid. In this election, the National Party lost 27 seats – many to right wing parties. However, the fact that the liberal Democratic Party had also gained seats told De Klerk that he could count on a large section of the white population to support reform. Also, 1989 saw popular revolutions and the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in the Soviet Union, which marked a new turn in world history. Preparing the liberation movement for negotiations THE PROCESS By August 1989 it was clear to many that negotiations were a possibility. ANC and Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) leaders needed to persuade their members to support negotiations, but could only do so if they could get most people to agree on conditions for a negotiated settlement. 102 © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook Unit XX 1 In August 1989 the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) adopted the Harare Declaration on negotiations with the South African government Drafted by the ANC, this document set out the principles under which political negotiations would be acceptable to the liberation movement and its allies. In December 1989, the declaration was adopted by 4 600 delegates at a conference in Harare of the ANC and UDF-affiliated organisations Unbanning of organisations 1990: De Klerk let it be known that he would make an important announcement when he opened Parliament on 2 February 1990. Changing the course of South African history, his speech outlined the following steps that would be taken: The ANC, PAC, SACP and a number of subsidiary organisations would be unbanned. People serving prison sentences merely because they were members of one of these organisations would be released. The media emergency regulations and the education emergency regulations would be abolished, along with the restrictions in terms of the emergency regulations on 33 organisations. The detention period in terms of the security emergency regulations would be limited to six months. The Government took a firm decision to release Nelson Mandela unconditionally. On the day of his release, Mandela was taken to the Grand Parade in Cape Town where he read an uncompromising speech, composed by the leadership of the MDM. This emphasised the need for South Africa to be led by ‘a body which is democratically elected on a non-racial basis’. Release of political prisoners and of Mandela As an act of goodwill and to test what would happen, the government had already released some political prisoners like Govan Mbeki and Ahmed Kathrada during 1989. In the two weeks after February 2nd most other political prisoners were released. On 11 February 1990 Mandela himself was released. Debates around negotiations: clearing the obstacles South Africa was on a new road and there was no turning back, but there were still obstacles that had to be overcome before serious negotiations about the future could begin. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook 103 Unit XX 1 First were legal obstacles: the government repealed many discriminatory laws and repressive security regulations. Exiled ANC and SACP leaders (Joe Slovo, Chris Hani and others) returned home. 4 May 1990: First official meeting was held at President De Klerk’s Groote Schuur residence between a government delegation and a group of ANC leaders returned from exile and MDM leaders. The leaders committed themselves to creating conditions for peaceful negotiations. Their agreement was recorded in the ‘Grootte Schuur Minute’. The ANC suspends the armed struggle One of the biggest obstacles from the government’s perspective was the fact that the ANC refused to publicly suspend the armed struggle. MK members like leader Ronnie Kasrils did not trust the De Klerk government and were unsure of its intentions. Another major obstacle was the continuing violence in the Rand townships between ANC aligned urban residents and IFP aligned migrant workers living in hostels. The week before the Pretoria meeting, on 22 July 1990, an armed group of IFP supporters attacked residents of Sebokeng and killed 30 people, mostly ANC supporters. Both the government and ANC realised that they needed to move quickly: at their meeting in Pretoria the government accepted the principle of democracy and the ANC unilaterally suspended its armed struggle. The role of the labour movement in negotiations After trade unions were legalised in South Africa in 1979, the Federation of South Africa Trade Unions (FOSATU) and the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) were formed by 1980. → Trade unions began to play a key role in calling for workers’ rights during the 1980s. In 1982 Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the founding members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and became its first General Secretary – he remained in this position until June 1991 when he became General Secretary of the ANC. Smaller trade unions joined UDF in 1983 to work in a more coordinated way for reform. NUM broke away from CUSA and formed COSATU in 1985. It grew into a powerful umbrella organisation for a range of different unions. 104 © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook Unit XX 1 After the unbanning of the SACP, ANC, UDF and PAC in 1990, unions and civil society groups got involved in the negotiation process, but tended to join ranks with established political parties. COSATU joined the ANC and SACP in a formal tripartite alliance in May 1990 called for equality for workers better basic conditions of employment fair labour standards. After this its membership grew markedly. COSATU’s key rivals were NACTU (National Council of Trade Unions) – a blacks-only union formed in 1986 and UWUSA (United Workers’ Union of South Africa) which was affiliated to the IFP. In July 1990 trade unions, e.g. COSATU and UDF backed the ANC’s call for rolling mass action and as a result 3 million workers stayed away from work. In August 1990 Mac Maharaj issued a statement calling for the release of COSATU leaders who had been arrested and for the violence to end. This was followed up in September 1990 when leaders of the ANC, UDF and COSATU met FW de Klerk: Asked for action to be taken to end the violence in South Africa. On 14 September 1991 the trade unions agreed to the National Peace Accord. Union representatives were involved as members of political groupings in the negotiation process. In May 1992, when CODESA II ended in deadlock, COSATU joined the ANC in: calling for a week-long general strike demanding the institution of an interim government, the immediate transfer of power to the people and free and fair elections to institute a constituent assembly. On 3 August 1992 a week of mass action started to force a transition to majority rule. Cyril Ramaphosa (NUM) & Roelf Meyer (NP) and their respective teams played key roles in the negotiations process and were instrumental in both achieving a settlement when talks broke down and in setting up the Multiparty Negotiation Forum on 1 April 1993. Role of trade unions in the new South Africa after 1994 Many trade union leaders were absorbed into posts in the administration and political framework, i.e. Cyril Ramaphosa became a Member of Parliament. The tripartite alliance was challenged as the GNU moved away from a socialist state to one with a mixed economy. COSATU continued to take up the struggle for workers’ rights and interest this brought the union into conflict with the ANC government at times. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook 105 Unit XX 1 What was CODESA 1? CODESA I In December 1991 over 400 representatives of 17 political parties assembled at the Conference for a Democratic South Africa, or CODESA 1. The talks did not start well. In his opening address President De Klerk launched a bitter attack on the ANC. De Klerk suggested that the ANC could not be trusted to negotiate peace until it had disbanded Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK). Nelson Mandela was outraged and declared that De Klerk headed a minority regime & had little idea of what democracy means. From this meeting it was clear that a great gulf needed to be bridged in the months that lay ahead. Nevertheless, five working groups were set up and given six months to draft proposals that would be endorsed by a second meeting of CODESA planned for May 1992. However, by May 1992 the ANC and government were still far from an agreement: The ANC and its allies demanded a constitution based on majority rule in a united nation state. The National Party was not yet ready to accept this, insisting on ‘power-sharing’ arrangements that would give minorities the power to veto any decision for many years to come. Outcome: CODESA in deadlock and parties left to continue informal discussions to see if the disagreements could be overcome. 106 © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook Unit XX 1 Violence in the 1990s and debates about violence CODESA did not stop the violence. In the face of attacks by IFP supporters backed by the police, township residents formed ‘self-defence units’ and fought back. Violence in townships and in rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal began to spiral out of control as groups attacked each other. Racial murders from white extreme right wing groups added to the climate of fear. The ongoing violence through 1991 and 1992 placed great strain on the negotiations. The ANC repeatedly called on the government to ban IFP supporters’ carrying of weapons in public (which the IFP insisted was an essential part of Zulu traditional culture). The government sided with its ally the IFP. Breakdown of negotiations On the night of July 17 1992, IFP-aligned hostel dwellers attacked the ANCsupporting informal settlement of Boipatong. Residents alleged police involvement – later substantiated in Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings. There was an explosion of anger across the nation. The ANC broke off all talks with the government accusing it of complicity. CODESA breaks down There were no further talks for almost a year. Together with COSATU, the ANC sought to channel this anger into a national campaign of rolling mass action. The ‘whites only’ referendum De Klerk call for a referendum of white voters for two reasons: He did not have the support of all members of his party. Many called on him to break off talks as well. This was a big gamble: if whites voted no to reform, all that he had tried to achieve would be lost. But if they voted yes, then he would be vindicated and have a full mandate to continue talks. = Public confrontation In public the ANC and COSATU mobilised people to put pressure on the government to drop its insistence on a minority veto and to act to prevent violence. Rolling mass action included strikes and massive public demonstrations against the government and the homeland governments. In early August a national strike was declared. Mandela led 50 000 in a march on the Union Buildings. On 7 September 70 000 ANC members marched on Bisho, the capital of the Ciskei Bantustan, calling for its re-incorporation into South Africa. Ciskei troops opened fire killing 28 marchers. Tension led to De Klerk and Mandela exchanging hostile letters about the need to end the violence. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook 107 Unit 1 Behind the scenes negotiation While formal talks between government and ANC were suspended, Cyril Ramaphosa (NUM) and Roelf Meyer (NP) met in secret more than 40 times between June and September 1992, to try and broker a resumption of talks. The deadlocked negotiations between the government and ANC sent the economy into a spin and violence threatened to tear the country apart. Both sides had to prepare their supporters to make serious compromises. The ANC came to accept that some form of power sharing was necessary for a fixed period after elections. They discussed the principle of ‘sunset clauses’ but did not yet make this public. What was decided? After a year of internal debate, the NP abandoned its insistence on explicit minority vetoes and came to accept the idea that Afrikaners would be better protected under a liberal democratic constitution with limited power sharing for the first few years. They also came to accept that the alliance with the IFP was an obstacle in the way of resumption of talks. SUNSET CLAUSE The Sunset Clause and the Record of Understanding Over almost a year, Roelf Meyer and his allies succeeded in persuading the others in the NP that they would have to accept the principle of full democratic government. In return, the ANC agreed that there would be limited power sharing in a government of national unity (GNU). It also agreed to a ‘sunset clause’ proposed by Joe Slovo that the jobs of white officials in government would be guaranteed for 5 years. The government quietly abandoned its support for the IFP. The Record of Understanding agreed that: A democratically elected constitution-making body would also act as a transitional Government of National Unity. Most remaining political prisoners would be released. Hostels associated with violence would be fenced and tightly policed. The carrying of weapons in public would be prohibited. The right to peaceful mass action is affirmed. 108 © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook Unit 1 Multi-party negotiations resume For the next six months, from September 1992 to April 1993, government and ANC negotiators took to the bush to participate in bilateral ‘bosberade’. Most of the major points were agreed in these meetings, but they would still have to be negotiated and approved in a proper Negotiating Forum that included 19 of the most important political groups and parties in South Africa. The Negotiating Forum was planned to begin in April 1993 at the World Trade Centre near OR Tambo Airport. But there were still setbacks: The IFP, conservative and right wing whites and the remaining Bantustan leaders of Ciskei and Bophuthatswana remained vehemently opposed to the constitution that was taking shape. Murder of Chris Hani Chris Hani, Secretary-General of the SACP and former MK Chief of Staff, was gunned down just as the Negotiating Forum was getting underway, on 10 April 1993, by a Polish immigrant (later found to have been part of a right-wing plot). The country braced itself for a wave of violence and revenge, however, the long tradition of non-racialism in the democratic movement held firm (reiterated in a speech by Nelson Mandela that was broadcast on national television). The St James Church and Heidelberg Tavern massacres It was not only right wing whites and the IFP who were opposed to negotiations: On 25 July 1993 four cadres of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) attacked a congregation at the St James Church in Kenilworth, Cape Town, killing some and wounding many others. In December, people using the same weapons killed four whites at the Heidelberg tavern in Cape Town. In 1998 the attackers were granted amnesty by the TRC, where they said they were following orders and that they regarded all whites as legitimate targets. Date of elections set These events only made most negotiators work harder for an agreement. In this new spirit of urgency, the Negotiating Forum set the date for South Africa’s first democratic elections in one year’s time: 27 April 1994 It began to work on an interim constitution under which the first elections would be held. It also established an Independent Electoral Commission, an Independent Media Commission and a Transitional Executive Council → would rule the country in the run-up to the elections. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook 109 Unit 1 What was the Freedom Alliance? Those opposed to the Interim Constitution now came together and called themselves the Freedom Alliance. Membership: included the apartheid homeland leaders Lucas Mangope of Bophuthatswana, Oupa Gqozo of Ciskei, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi of KwaZulu together with conservative Afrikaners led by General Constand Viljoen and the extreme right wing Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), led by Eugéne Terre’Blanche. They knew they would have no political support at a national level, so they demanded a federal system hoping that they could hold on to power in strong provincial governments. The right-wing Afrikaners demanded an independent Afrikaner ‘volkstaat’ and the IFP demanded greater sovereignty for the Zulu kingdom. They made it clear that they would boycott the elections if their demands were not met. The Interim Constitution and Bill of Rights 1 To break the deadlock, the Negotiating Forum abandoned the idea that everyone should agree before a clause could be adopted (absolute consensus). 2 They now worked on the principle of ‘sufficient consensus’ → meant that if the great majority of delegates agreed, then a clause could be adopted in the interim constitution. 3 Multi-party negotiations proceeded as delegates negotiated the terms of the interim constitution and transitional process. Finally, on November 18 1993 an interim constitution and Bill of Rights were adopted. The final road to democracy Over the next few months there were desperate attempts to persuade the Freedom Alliance to drop their opposition to elections. Some concessions were made, but not enough to satisfy them. 110 On-going violence: the fall of Bophuthatswana and Ciskei and the shooting of IFP marchers in Johannesburg The New Year 1994 dawned with no sign of agreement with the Freedom Alliance. The public was concerned that the South Africa army would support the homeland leaders and the Afrikaner right wing. Six weeks before the planned election, Chief Lucas Mangope asked Constand Viljoen to send armed men to protect him from a possible uprising in Bophuthatswana. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook Unit 1 Viljoen proceeded to mobilise 4 000 armed men. But the AWB led by Eugéne Terre’blanche also arrived and the extreme racist whites rode into town shooting bystanders. The Bophuthatswana army turned against Mangope and the occupying whites were forced to withdraw. Outcomes The ‘independent’ homeland of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist. The homeland government of Ciskei fell soon after. Constand Viljoen, leader of many conservative Afrikaners, abandoned the option of military action and registered a political party called the Freedom Front to take part in the elections. It seemed that the threat of right wing military resistance was over. The only significant party still opposed to elections was now the IFP. The position of the IFP One month before the planned election, thousands of IFP supporters marched with their red scarves, shields and spears through central Johannesburg to protest against the planned elections. Outside the ANC headquarters (Shell House) ANC security guards shot IFP marchers, supposedly in self-defence, but this was contested. It looked like the hopes of a free election in KZN were finished. However, one week before the election date, the IFP suddenly agreed to participate → millions of stickers were hurriedly printed and stuck onto the ballot paper. Elections and GNU Many people expected a day of violence on 27 April 1994, when South Africans went to the polls in the first fully democratic election in the country’s history. However, the opposite happened. The vast majority of South African citizens queued patiently in a spirit of celebration and unity to vote for their representatives who would rule the country. But there were claims of vote rigging and stuffed ballot boxes – especially from rural voting stations in KZN and elsewhere. This meant the results were delayed. Three days before the results were finally announced FW de Klerk conceded that the ANC had won the election. Mandela, in the interests of peace, accepted that the IFP had won in Natal. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook 111 Unit 1 In this spirit of compromise, a Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed with Mandela as president and with FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as two deputy presidents, and six NP cabinet ministers in a 30-member cabinet. The first great achievement of the new democratic parliament was to draft a new Constitution. There were compromises on the detail of clauses, but there was agreement on most of the fundamental principles in the Constitution. By the mid-1990s, most South Africans had come to understand that their rights were best protected by a constitution that protected the rights of all citizens and cultures – and did not treat any groups differently. South African Constitution (1996) Today, South Africa’s Constitution is regarded as one of the most progressive and liberal constitutions in the world: Protects the rights of individual citizens and prevents abuse of power by any government. 112 But the real work of transforming and rebuilding the country was only beginning. © Via Afrika Publishers » History 12 Study Guide eBook