When the Cheering Stops for Mandela : He Faces Huge Problems Back in South Africa

Nelson Mandela has completed his triumphant tour of the United States. Accorded the status of a head of state and hero, he was cheered by millions of Americans. But after the cheering stops, Mandela must walk a fine political and diplomatic line as he urges his divided country toward a united, nonracial democracy.

His base, the African National Congress, is the most well-known and the best organized of the anti-apartheid groups, but it must make the transition from a banned and at times fractious organization to a fully operational national political party. The ANC needs money to officially set up political shop and continue its work to repatriate exiles. The transition from a banned freedom fighter forced underground to a recognized, front-door political organizer will take time.

The ANC is very popular, in part because of Mandela’s stature, but it does not represent the entire black majority. As the ANC takes the lead in negotiations with the white, minority government, Mandela must encourage greater unity in general, and within the group itself. He and the disciplined old-liners who have learned to channel their anger and bitterness productively must cool down the younger, more vindictive members in order to start the talks with the white minority government and keep them on track.

South Africa President Frederik de Klerk, who deserves great credit for his courageous steps, is urging the ANC to the negotiating table. The ANC is waiting for the removal of final obstacles, specifically the release of 1,000 political prisoners, and the repatriation of 20,000 exiles. As the world watches, Mandela must find a balance that allows the ANC to keep up the pressure and start the negotiations. De Klerk, too, must find a balance that keeps the increasingly militant white right-wing in check and allows for irreversible progress toward a new constitution, which includes universal suffrage and the speedy dismantling of the legal pillars of apartheid.

Because of those laws, little has changed for the average black South African. Classified by race at birth, they live in poor, segregated townships. They work for low and unequal wages. They send their children to separate and inferior schools. As their expectations rise, Mandela--with help from the international community--must find a way to shrink the gap caused by apartheid.

The new, democratic South African government is expected to need billions of dollars to address the most basic inequities in housing, education, employment and health care. Meeting those vast needs will take a major shift in government spending and vast private investment.

Toward that end, Mandela must encourage an imaginative proposal by Peter Goldmark of the Rockefeller Foundation to create a South African Development Bank that would channel international investment into a newly democratic South Africa. The bank could become another tool to force economic reform.

Throughout his trip, Mandela has opposed the lifting of economic sanctions. President Bush has little latitude in that matter; the South African government must meet several conditions, and Congress must approve, before U.S. sanctions are relaxed.

In an interview with The Times, Mandela held open the possibility that the ANC might be willing to use sanctions as a bargaining chip in negotiations with De Klerk. Mandela the hero clearly understands that Mandela the negotiator has the chance to continue the momentum long after the adoring crowds disperse and the cheering stops.