Which Way Out of The Darkness? : As Mandela Conquers U.S., Negotiation Intensifies

Today Nelson Mandela will bring his anti-apartheid message to the United States and the country will stop to listen. During the next 12 days he is expected to meet with President Bush, address a joint session of Congress, speak to the United Nations and attend rallies, parades, receptions and benefits before winding up his fund- and support-raising tour next week in California.

He brings a serious message: Don’t relax economic sanctions against South Africa yet.

Mandela’s appeal is likely to fall on receptive ears. The United States’ own policy has undergone a remarkable transformation from the late 1960s, when American intelligence allegedly aided in Mandela’s capture and arrest in South Africa, to today, when this nation welcomes him as an official hero.

The charismatic black leader and the African National Congress will play key roles in the debate over how South Africa can progress peacefully toward full equality for all its people. They can quicken that debate without relinquishing their just demand for universal suffrage by outlining how a black-ruled government would share political power with the white minority--perhaps with bicameral legislative bodies similar to the U.S. House and Senate.

Frederik W. de Klerk, the president of the white minority government, can advance the debate by speeding the repeal of laws that provide the foundation of apartheid. His push to end segregation in buses, restaurants, parks and other public places is welcome, but the effect at this point is primarily cosmetic. To ignite more significant reform, he must engineer the repeal of laws that classify, separate and penalize 27 million black South Africans from cradle to grave.

De Klerk needs all the help he can get to make his reforms more palatable to South Africa’s scary right-wing. The hard-liners oppose his courageous decisions to free Mandela from prison, recognize the ANC as a legal political party and lift the state of emergency in all but the bloody Natal province. But now the embattled president, faced with mounting opposition, is getting some unlikely help. Mandela himself has revealed that the ANC is negotiating with whites, including right-wingers, to encourage political support for De Klerk and the peace initiative. Those talks, and any additional dialogue, are welcome.

De Klerk has indicated that he is ready to negotiate, but his actions fall short of the ANC’s terms, which include amnesty for political prisoners and the repatriation of all exiles.

Some exiles, like the noted singer Miriam Makeba, are beginning to return home for the first time in decades. Their homecomings are joyous, but, as the singer lamented, they find the same shanties and restrictions they had left behind. Blacks still cannot vote, live where they choose, own much property or send their children to integrated schools. They praise De Klerk’s courage, but are acutely aware that his actions fall short.

De Klerk’s reforms, though obviously praiseworthy, have also fallen short in their impact on U.S. public opinion and official policy. That must remain the case until the white minority government releases all political prisoners, fully suspends the state of emergency, starts formal talks with black leaders and sets a schedule to end apartheid.

Through sanctions and individual protests, Americans have helped to make the climate conducive to reform in South Africa. There must be no let-up in the pressure as De Klerk and Mandela seek common ground-- and a common good for white and black South Africans.