Mandela and Buthelezi address an ANC-IFP peace summit

1 November 1990

Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee announced procedures, but the government and ANC disputed how many prisoners qualified.

6 December 1990

ANC mobilizations in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein protested delays in freeing people jailed for resistance to apartheid.

13 December 1990

The ANC president came home after leading the external mission through decades of banning, armed struggle and international mobilization.

14 December 1990

Delegates demanded removal of obstacles to negotiation, retained sanctions pressure and called 1991 a year of mass action.

28 January 1991

The movement gave De Klerk a list of officers it believed had participated in township attacks, making state accountability central to negotiations.

29 January 1991

The Durban summit called for political tolerance and effective peacekeeping after severe conflict between supporters of the two movements.

12 February 1991

The accord affirmed peaceful protest and specified steps for suspending armed action while negotiations advanced.

16 February 1991

The human-rights lawyer died when he opened a disguised Walkman bomb intended for former police captain Dirk Coetzee.

15 April 1991

The two liberation movements discussed cooperation under mediation by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

2 May 1991

Facing an ANC ultimatum, the president proposed including Black opposition figures in government and amending repressive laws.

17 June 1991

A central pillar of apartheid racial classification was removed, though the structures and inequalities built upon it remained.

People in this event