Word: klerk
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...violence, however, rapid progress is still being made toward breaking down apartheid. The gradual easing of restrictions that began in 1982 has accelerated considerably since De Klerk took office in 1989. His government has done away with the segregation of facilities, such as public parks and government hospitals -- the last statutory vestiges of so-called petty apartheid -- lifted the ban on the African National Congress and freed many political prisoners, most prominently Nelson Mandela. Now De Klerk is about to pull down what are generally regarded as the last remaining legal pillars of apartheid: the laws that forbid blacks...
Overshadowing everything else by far is the problem of framing a new constitution that would finally empower blacks to vote, hold office and share in governing the nation. Major differences remain, but De Klerk's government and Mandela's A.N.C. have already agreed on some important ideas. The document, for example, must contain a bill of rights and set up a two-chamber legislature with some form of proportional representation. De Klerk reportedly told British Prime Minister John Major on a visit to London early in May that a constitution could be in effect and elections held...
Some U.S. experts fear that De Klerk is endangering this time-table by "backsliding," seeking tactical advantage by playing black leaders such as Mandela and Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi off against each other. But Mandela voices faith in De Klerk's sincerity, and De Klerk reportedly told Major that he recognizes that the future of South Africa can be settled only between his government and the A.N.C...
According to British sources, De Klerk also confided to Major that he expected some whites to emigrate to Canada, Australia or New Zealand rather than live in a state with a newly empowered black majority. Simultaneously, though, he has speculated publicly about winning an eventual multiracial election by putting together a coalition of the National Party, Inkatha and perhaps some other moderate-to-conservative black groups that could reap a substantial share of the black vote, and an overwhelming majority of whites...
Despite his moves to eliminate apartheid, De Klerk seems to have retained most of his white support. His main opposition, the right-wing Conservative Party, has nothing to offer except a return to "grand apartheid" that most whites recognize to be impossible. Both South African and foreign experts agree that the dismantling of apartheid has gone too far to be reversed. But the big question remains: Can the now inevitable transition to a multiracial state be achieved smoothly by negotiation or only haltingly after more harrowing violence...