ANC, Pretoria Agree to Discussions
Chief negotiators for the government and the African National Congress agreed in a television debate Sunday to meet today to set the stage for a summit between ANC leader Nelson Mandela and President Frederik W. de Klerk.
Constitutional Development Minister Roelf Meyer said he is willing to discuss three ANC preconditions for the summit and that he believes they can be resolved quickly.
ANC Secretary General Cyril Ramaphosa said the conditions could be resolved in one or two meetings if the government was “prepared to cross the democratic threshold.”
Talks among 19 groups on democracy in South Africa have been stalled since more than 40 blacks were massacred in Boipatong township in June. The massacre of 28 ANC supporters in the Ciskei homeland last week further complicated the standoff.
A South African newspaper said Sunday that a white Austrian-born army officer gave the order to the Ciskei homeland troops to fire on the ANC demonstrators.
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