South Africa Frees Mandela - February 1990

South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk, February 2, that black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela, who had been in prison for treason for 27 years, would soon be freed. In a surprising speech, de Klerk also said his government was lifting its ban on the African National Congress, the principal black organization opposing white minority rule. He also announced legislation of the South African Communist Party and the Pan-African Congress, and the lifting the restrictions on 33 groups and 374 individuals. He said news censorship would end, executions would be suspended, nonviolent political prisoners would be freed, and power-sharing talks with black leaders were on the horizon. Mandela, 71, was released from prison, February 11. His release was hailed around the world. In his first speech, in Cape Town, February 11, he urged that the pressure to be kept on the white government until the apartheid system of racial segregation was destroyed. More than 100,000 people welcomed him home to Soweto, February 13. Up to 20,000 conservative whites protested in Pretoria, February 15, against the legalization of ANC and the freeing of Mandela. In his first trip outside of South Africa since being released, Mandela went to Zambia, February 27, to meet with ANC leaders. He was greeted by official delegations from many countries. Meeting with Pres. George bush in Washington, D.C., February 28, Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi called on the president to lift economic sanctions against South Africa.