Mandela Will Lead ANC Delegation at Talks With Government May 2-4

Nelson R. Mandela will lead an 11-member African National Congress delegation in groundbreaking talks next month with the government on ending white-minority rule, the organization said Tuesday.

After the May 2-4 talks, Mandela will embark on a series of foreign trips to at least nine countries, including the United States, the Soviet Union and several African and European nations, the ANC said.

Next month’s discussions are designed to clear the way for formal negotiations on a new constitution that will give the 28-million black majority a share of power in the country.

“It is vital that this meeting achieve the necessary results in terms of removing the obstacles that continue to stand in the way of negotiations,” the ANC said in a statement from its exile headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia.

The ANC has said those obstacles include lifting the 1986 state of emergency, allowing exiles to return to South Africa and releasing anti-apartheid activists convicted of politically motivated crimes.

The government, which had previously announced the dates for the talks, has made clear that several black opposition groups in addition to the ANC will be invited to take part in the formal negotiations on a new constitution.

The talks originally were set for today, but the ANC called off that meeting to protest a March 26 police shooting that left at least 11 protesters dead in Sebokeng.