SOUTH AFRICA: MANDELA HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE TUTU HOME/CELEBRATIONS AND PREPARATIONS CONTINUE/RIGHT-WING POLITICIAN WARNS OF DISASTER

Record ID: 859297

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: MANDELA HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE TUTU HOME/CELEBRATIONS AND PREPARATIONS CONTINUE/RIGHT-WING POLITICIAN WARNS OF DISASTER
  • Date: 12th February 1990
  • Summary: TEMBISA TOWNSHIP SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 12, 1990) (VISNEWS - QUBEKA) GV AND SVS CROWDS CELEBRATING (3 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 27th February 1990 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CAPE TOWN/ TEMBISA/ JOHANNESBURG/ SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA
  • City:
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVASFQKX3PBUSLISARVLKHQ0VK5
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Nelson Mandela told reporters in Cape Town on Monday (February 12) that he was committed to seeking peace and racial harmony, but endorsed anti-government violence as a necessary "defensive act" against apartheid.

    The 71-year-old black leader, at his first news conference since emerging Sunday (February 11) from 27 years in prison, told journalists that negotiations between the ANC (African National Congress) and the government would begin "very soon" if President F.W. de Klerk continued his recent peace initiative.

    "The state of emergency has to be lifted in its entirety and political prisoners have to be released," Mandela told more than 200 reporters assembled on the lawn outside the official residence of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

    He denied there was any conflict between his commitment to peaceful solution and his endorsement of the ANC's guerrilla campaign.

    "I have committed myself to the promotion of peace in the country. But I have done so as part and parcel of the decisions and campaign that have been taken by the ANC...The armed struggle is a defensive act against apartheid."
    Mandela said he wanted to travel soon to Lusaka, Zambia, to consult with the ANC's exiled leadership. He said he had no right to decide unilaterally what role he would play, and he reaffirming his support for economic sanctions and for the ANC's commitment to nationalization of South Africa's mines.

    But he stressed that whites should not fear the ANC.

    "Whites are fellow South Africans," he said. "we want them to feel safe."
    Before starting the news conference, Mandela strolled with his wife and other family members around the gardens of Tutu's mansion where he spent his first night of freedom.

    In Johannesburg on Monday (February 12) right-wing politician Koos Van Der Merwe warned of impending disaster following the release of Mandela. The law and Order spokesman for the Conservative Party, Van Der Merwe said there was now a revolution within South Africa and that the white community's property and lives were now threatened.

    Activities arranging Mandelas' schedule said he would return Tuesday (February 13) from Care Town to his home in Soweto, the huge black township outside Johannesburg, and address a mass rally at a soccer stadium there.

    This news came as a disappointment to more than 50,000 Sowetans who thought Mandela was returning Monday, and packed into a stadium to await him.

    Mandela laneded at Lanseria airport near Johannesburg on Monday (February 12) and was expected to drive to his home in Soweto where crowds of excited supporters and journalists have been waiting for the past two days.
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