THIS DAY IN HISTORY...

10 February, 1990: FW de Klerk announces Nelson Mandela will be freed the next day

The announcement by president FW de Klerk in parliament on 10 February, 1990, that Nelson Mandela would be released from prison, unconditionally, the next day, took many people by surprise.

The apartheid government had attempted to negotiate the release of Mandela before, but always with conditions.

As De Klerk’s predecessor in parliament, PW Botha had offered to release Mandela on condition that he renounce violence. This offer was rejected by Mandela, who said the ANC had tried for decades to negotiate peacefully with the white government until the organisation was banned in 1960.

‘It was only then, when all other forms of resistance were no longer open to us, that we turned to armed struggle,’ Mandela wrote. By 1989, the levels of violence within the country were so great that in certain regions, it was compared to a civil war.

This state, among others, forced the apartheid government to the bargaining table as the only outcome of an outright war was total devastation of the country, which was already under pressure from years of isolation due to economic and cultural sanctions.

The decision to release Mandela and, later, other political activists, paved the way for the birth of a democratic South Africa.

What was apart heid?

Translated from Afrikaans meaning ‘apartness’, apartheid was the ideology supported by the National Party government and was introduced in South Africa in 1948. Apartheid called for the separate development of the different racial groups in South Africa.

1948

National Party wins power and introduces apartheid laws.

1960

Police kill 69 people at anti-apartheid protests in Sharpeville. ANC and Pan Africanist Congress banned.

1961-1962

Nelson Mandela proposes armed struggle. He is jailed for life.

1976

Riots in Soweto bring calls for sanctions.

1977

Black leader Steve Biko dies in police custody. State clamps down on activists. UN imposes arms embargo.

1991

Multiparty talks begin on transition to majority rule.

Oct 1993

UN lifts all but arms sanctions. De Klerk and Mandela are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.