He Still Has Faith in De Klerk’s Commitment, Mandela Asserts

Black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela said Saturday that he remains convinced of President Frederik W. de Klerk’s commitment to racial reform despite a week of bitter exchanges between the government and the African National Congress.

Speaking with reporters at Johannesburg’s Jan Smuts Airport shortly before flying to India for an Asian and Pacific tour, Mandela said he is “convinced that Mr. De Klerk wants peace in this country.”

“He wants fundamental change, and that is what is important to me,” Mandela said. He noted that the ANC is determined to see successful negotiations on a new constitution for a post-apartheid South Africa.

Mandela’s comments came at the end of a week in which the government and the ANC engaged in a rancorous public debate, accusing each other of violating their agreements and threatening the peace process.

The exchanges followed a meeting Monday between De Klerk and a senior ANC delegation led by Mandela during which the two sides agreed to make no comments beyond a brief joint statement.

However, De Klerk spoke Monday night before a ruling National Party congress, and his comments were viewed by Mandela as a blatant violation of the agreement.

On Thursday, hours before De Klerk left for Europe, the ANC said the president’s decision to discuss the meeting publicly forced Mandela to “call into question the integrity of F. W. de Klerk.”

On Friday, the situation appeared to worsen when the justice minister said the entire affair, along with comments by “faceless” ANC officials, may delay the release of 3,000 political prisoners under an agreement between the government and the ANC.

While Mandela again accused De Klerk’s government Saturday of insincerity because of Monday’s developments, he said:

“Nobody should be alarmist about this position.

“It should have been expected by all people who are reasonable that in the course of the discussions with the government to ensure a peaceful transition to a democratic South Africa, there will be differences, some of principle, some of practice.

“What you must understand is . . . we have reached a stage now where we are able to sit down and address our differences. We initiated this exercise, and we are determined to see it succeed. But of course we are not going to allow the government to escape with murder.”

The 72-year-old black leader then flew to Nairobi, where he was to remain overnight before departing for New Delhi tonight.