ABSTRACT
The current upheavals in South Africa have generated a voluminous literature of commentary and speculation. While the various authors differ in their predictions of the speed and course of apartheid’s demise, they generally agree that the events of the last seven years heralded the beginning of the end for old-style White domination. The process of change has gained new impetus since P.W.Botha’s resignation as State President in late 1989. His successor, F.W. de Klerk, immediately adopted a rather different tone, pledging to incorporate Africans directly into the power structure and acknowledging that this required some form of accommodation with the hitherto banned African National Congress (ANC). Dramatic moves, such as the release of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and fellow ANC leaders convinced many within South Africa that a watershed in the country’s history had been reached.
