The Winds of Change Sweeping Through South Africa: Questions and Answers

Here are some questions and answers about the changes occurring in South Africa in recent days:

Question: What is the most important action President Frederik W. de Klerk has taken?

Answer: His most significant move has been to lift a 30-year-old government ban on the African National Congress, the primary guerrilla group fighting white minority-led rule in South Africa. He also legalized the South African Communist Party, a close ally of the ANC, and the Pan-Africanist Congress, a smaller guerrilla group.

Q: What immediate effect will the unbanning of these groups have on South Africa?

A: About 80 activists now in prison on charges of having been members of those organizations or supporting the aims of those organizations will be freed within a week, the government says, as soon as the paper work can be completed. Any activists currently being held to face those charges will be freed and their trials halted.

Q: Will other political prisoners be freed as well?

A: No. The government says people convicted on charges of violence, such as terrorism, arson and murder, even if their aims were primarily political, will not be freed.

Q: Then are all members of the ANC living in exile free to return home?

A: No. Exiled members of those formerly banned organizations could still face prosecution in South Africa if the authorities think they have been involved in illegal activities. Most exiles will probably wait until that issue is resolved.

Q: What other action did De Klerk take?

A: De Klerk removed portions of the state of emergency, imposed in 1986, that prohibit news coverage of unrest and political activity in schools. He lifted travel and public speaking restrictions imposed under the emergency against 374 activists and did away with regulations that made them possible. He set a limit of six months on the amount of time an activist may be detained without trial and added provisions that allow detainees the right to legal representation and a doctor of their own choosing. He also rescinded restrictions on 33 political organizations that had been prevented from engaging in political activities under emergency regulations.

Q: Why did De Klerk act now?

A: The president says he wants to move quickly to remove the obstacles to negotiations and create a “new South Africa.” He also has been under pressure from foreign governments, including the United States, who want to see concrete moves toward ending apartheid before they will agree to lift sanctions and resume normal trading with South Africa.

Q: What has to be done now to get negotiations under way?

A: The ANC says Nelson R. Mandela and other political prisoners must be freed and the state of emergency must be lifted before it will consider negotiating with the government. Once Mandela is freed, however, the ANC will come under increasing pressure from foreign governments to at least open “talks about talks” with the government.

Q: What will happen to “listed” people?

A: The president has removed 150 names from the list of people who may not be quoted or whose writings may not be published in South Africa. Among them are leaders of the ANC, such as Oliver Tambo, Thabo Mbeki and Joe Slovo, as well as longtime activists still in South Africa, such as Helen Joseph. More than 300 people remain “listed,” however.

Q: Do any provisions of the emergency decree remain intact?

A: Yes. The police will still be able to detain, without charge or trial, anyone they consider a threat to the security of the state. Similarly, any organization deemed a threat can be ordered to refrain from political activity. Also, television pictures and still photographs of political unrest, or police action to quell that unrest, remain illegal. That rule, however, has not been fully enforced in recent months.

Q: Does this mean the United States will end its sanctions against South Africa?

A: Not yet. South Africa has met some of the conditions required by U.S. law to suspend or modify its sanctions against Pretoria. But several conditions remain, including the release of Mandela and an end to the state of emergency.

Q: What does the ANC say now?

A: The ANC is still trying to decide how to respond to De Klerk’s moves. Its initial statements have indicated it welcomes the reforms but thinks they do not go far enough.

Q: What are the remaining ANC conditions for negotiations?

A: The ANC is still demanding that the government release all political prisoners, including those--such as Mandela--convicted of violent crimes; lift the state of emergency and get rid of other laws designed to curtail political activity, and remove all army troops from the black townships.

Q: Will the ANC give up its armed struggle against the white minority-led government?

A: The ANC says it will not end its guerrilla war until the South African government ends its armed actions against ANC operatives. The ANC says a mutual cease-fire is something that can be negotiated with the government eventually.

Q: How strong is the right-wing movement, and what does it plan to do?

A: The right-wing Conservative Party, which supports apartheid, won 31% of the white votes in the last general election and remains the government’s official opposition in Parliament. While the Conservatives do not have enough votes to stop De Klerk’s liberalizing moves in Parliament, they plan to begin staging public protest marches and rallies to put pressure on the government to stop its process of reform. Other white extremist groups who are not represented in Parliament are small, but some fear they will become increasingly militant in the face of South Africa’s changes.

Q: Does apartheid remain in force?

A: Yes. The pillars of apartheid are not affected by De Klerk’s announcement. They include the Group Areas Act, which segregates neighborhoods; the Land Act, which prohibits blacks from owning property in most areas of the country, and the Population Registration Act, which classifies all South Africans by race.

Q: When will those apartheid laws be repealed?

A: The government says it plans to repeal soon the Separate Amenities Act, which allows communities to segregate public facilities such as swimming pools, recreation halls, parks and restrooms. Public facilities in larger cities in South Africa have been integrated in recent years, but segregated facilities remain in many rural towns. The government has given no indication that it plans to remove the other laws any time soon.

Q: If negotiations begin, how far apart will the ANC and the government be in their visions of a new constitution?

A: The government says it is willing to share power with blacks as long as the interests of the white minority, outnumbered 5 to 1, are protected. The ANC, on the other hand, wants a one-man, one-vote system leading to majority rule, which would almost certainly mean a government led primarily by blacks.

Q: When will Mandela be released?

A: President De Klerk says he has decided to release Mandela soon but that no date has been set.