van der Merwe, Johan
(1950–2012). Police officer. Joined the South African Police Force in 1953. Commanded the security branch of the police from January 1986 until October 1989 when he was promoted to deputy commissioner of the South African Police. Became a general in January 1990 when he became commissioner of the South African Police. Retired in March 1995.
Verwoerd, Dr Hendrik Frensch
(1901–66). Prime minister of South Africa, 1958–66. Minister of native affairs, 1950–58. National Party politician. Widely considered the architect of apartheid, he advocated a system of ‘separate development’. Under his leadership South Africa became a republic on 31 May 1961. Assassinated in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.
Victor Verster Prison
Low-security prison located between Paarl and Franschhoek in the Western Cape. Mandela was transferred there in 1988 from Pollsmoor Prison, and lived in a private house inside the prison compound. There is a statue of Mandela just outside the prison gates. Now named Drakenstein Correctional Centre.
Viljoen, Constand
(1933–). Politician and military commander. Joined the Union Defence Force in 1956 and by 1977 was chief of the army in South Africa. Along with fellow retired army generals, he formed the Afrikaner Volksfront in 1993. Before South Africa’s first democratic elections he was thought to have amassed a force of between 50,000 and 60,000 to prepare for war to stop the democratic transition. In March 1994 he led a military effort to protect the head of the Bophuthatswana homeland against a popular coup. He then split from the Volksfront and co-founded the Freedom Front of which he became leader. His decision to participate in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 is credited with the prevention of loss of life. Retired in 2001 and handed over leadership of the Freedom Front to Pieter Mulder.
Xhamela
(See Sisulu, Walter.)
Zuma, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa
(1942–). Politician and anti-apartheid activist. Joined the ANC in 1959 and its armed wing, MK, in 1962. Convicted of conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government in 1963 and sentenced to ten years in prison. On his release, he continued to work for the ANC and rose to the position of chief of intelligence. Became a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee in 1977. Returned to South Africa in 1990 after the legalisation of the ANC. After the 1994 election, he served as provincial minister of economic affairs and tourism in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Elected deputy president of the ANC in December 1997 and deputy president of South Africa in June 1999. On 14 June 2005, President Mbeki removed Zuma from his post as deputy president due to allegations of corruption and fraud. Sworn in as president of South Africa, May 2009.
Appendix C
Timeline: 1990–99
11 February 1990:
Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison, near Paarl.
27 February 1990:
Arrives in Lusaka, Zambia, on his first trip out of South Africa since 1962.
4 May 1990:
He and President F. W. de Klerk sign the Groote Schuur Minute agreeing on a common commitment towards the resolution of the political conflict, peaceful negotiations, the return of exiles, release of political prisoners and to lifting the State of Emergency.
6 August 1990:
Signs the Pretoria Minute suspending the armed struggle and concerning the release of political prisoners, the return of exiles and obstacles in the Internal Security Act.
12 February 1991:
Signs the D. F. Malan Accord with President de Klerk in an attempt to resolve deadlock between the ANC and the government over details of the Pretoria Minute, including what the ANC’s suspension of armed conflict entailed and the ongoing release of political prisoners. It is agreed that MK will stop training in South Africa.
14 September 1991:
Signs the National Peace Accord, which attempted to curb political violence by specifying codes of conduct for all political parties. It was signed by twenty-seven political, trade union and government leaders.
20 December 1991:
Attends the opening of the multiparty negotiations, the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), at the World Trade Centre, Kempton Park, near Johannesburg.
24 September 1993:
Addresses the United Nations in New York, asking for an end to sanctions against South Africa.
17 November 1993:
Attends the CODESA negotiations where the final pieces of the interim constitution are agreed upon.
10 December 1993:
Receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, with F. W. de Klerk.
18 December 1993:
Meets with the United Nations Special Representative over bringing the Freedom Alliance (white right-wing groups, the IFP and the Bophuthatswana and Ciskei Bantustan governments) into South Africa’s peace process.
27 April 1994:
Votes for the first time in his life, in South Africa’s first democratic elections, at Ohlange High School in KwaZulu-Natal.
6 May 1994:
South Africa’s first democratic elections are declared free and fair by the Independent Electoral Commission.
10 May 1994:
Is inaugurated in Pretoria as South Africa’s first democratically elected president.
24 May 1994:
Makes his first State of the Nation Address in Parliament as president of South Africa.
13 June 1994:
Addresses an Organisation of African Unity Summit in Tunisia.
18 August 1994:
Makes a speech in Parliament to mark his first hundred days as president.
17 November 1994:
Passes the Restitution of Land Rights Act into law, restoring the rights of those dispossessed by discriminatory land legislation dating back to the 1913 Land Act.
15 December 1994:
Launches his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.
17 December 1994:
Addresses the Forty-Ninth National Conference of the ANC in Bloemfontein.
10 February 1995:
Returns to Robben Island for a reunion with former political prisoners.
15 February 1995:
Announces that he will not run for re-election at the end of his term as president.
18 March 1995:
Receives the Africa Peace Award in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
20 March 1995:
Receives the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II in Cape Town.
8 May 1995:
Addresses the launch of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in Pretoria.
24 June 1995:
Attends the final of the Rugby World Cup, which South Africa wins.
19 July 1995:
Signs the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
15 August 1995:
Visits Betsie Verwoerd, the widow of Prime Minister H. F. Verwoerd, in the white enclave of Orania.
19 August 1995:
Addresses a rally in Alexandra township, Johannesburg.
3 September 1995:
Holds talks with Suharto, president of Indonesia, on the conflict in East Timor.
23 October 1995:
Addresses the fiftieth anniversary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, USA.
9 November 1995:
Attends the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Zealand.
23 November 1995:
Meets Rivonia Trial prosecutor Dr Percy Yutar at his official residence in Pretoria.
13 January 1996:
Speaks at the opening of the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament.
23 January 1996:
Meets with Mangosuthu Buthelezi in a bid to stop violence in KwaZulu-Natal.
1 February 1996:
Opens the Southern African Development Community Consultative Conference’s Investment Forum, Johannesburg.
23 February 1996:
Sp
eaks at the National Conference of Commitment: Gender and Women Empowerment, Johannesburg.
19 March 1996:
He and his wife Winnie Mandela (née Madikizela) are divorced.
8 May 1996:
Attends a dinner in Cape Town to celebrate the adoption of South Africa’s new constitution.
9 May 1996:
Makes a statement on the withdrawal of the National Party from the Government of National Unity.
14 June 1996:
Makes a statement on the launch of South Africa’s macroeconomic policy, Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR).
23 June 1996:
Addresses a thanksgiving service upon the retirement of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town.
11 July 1996:
Addresses the Joint Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom, London, United Kingdom.
14 July 1996:
Accompanies French President Jacques Chirac at a military parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France.
22 August 1996:
Meets the Dalai Lama in Cape Town.
1 September 1996:
His office confirms he is in a relationship with Graça Machel.
9 September 1996:
Begins three-year term as chair of SADC (South African Development Community).
2 November 1996:
Attends a reunion with his surviving law school classmates from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
27 November 1996:
Announces that South Africa will cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and adopt diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
7 December 1996:
Makes a speech to the International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commissions.
10 December 1996:
Signs South Africa’s new constitution at Sharpeville.
3 February 1997:
Addresses the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
2 May 1997:
Travels to Pointe-Noire in Zaire for peace talks aboard SAS Outeniqua between president of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko and Congolese politician and rebel leader Laurent Kabila.
14 May 1997:
Arrives and leaves Pointe-Noire after the failure of a second round of peace talks between Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko and Laurent Kabila.
21 May 1997:
Attends a World Economic Forum Southern Africa Economic Summit meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe.
2 June 1997:
Attends an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Summit, Harare, Zimbabwe.
4 July 1997:
Hosts a party for more than 1,000 children affected with HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses.
25 July 1997:
Meets with the imprisoned leader of the East Timor Resistance Movement, Xanana Gusmão, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
25 August 1997:
Meets with President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
26 August 1997:
Pays tribute to F. W. de Klerk on the day in which De Klerk announces his resignation from the leadership of the National Party.
8 September 1997:
Attends a Southern African Development Community Summit in Blantyre, Malawi.
24 September 1997:
Declares Robben Island a national heritage site.
25 October 1997:
Attends the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
29 October 1997:
Visits Libya to present Colonel Muammar Gaddafi with South Africa’s highest award, the Order of Good Hope, in recognition of Libya’s support of South Africa during the apartheid struggle.
31 October 1997:
Attends the coronation of King Letsie III in Maseru, Lesotho.
22 November 1997:
Addresses the National Men’s March against rape, domestic violence and child abuse in Pretoria.
4 December 1997:
Meets with former Robben Island prison commander Colonel Prinsloo at a retirement home in Pretoria.
20 December 1997:
Hands over the reins of the ANC to Thabo Mbeki.
19 March 1998:
Attends the court case brought against him by the South African Rugby Football Union, Pretoria.
27 March 1998:
Visits Robben Island with US President Bill Clinton.
28 April 1998:
Holds discussions in Cape Town with the South African National Editors’ Forum.
29 April 1998:
Addresses the Angolan National Assembly, Angola.
19 May 1998:
Attends the World Trade Organisation Summit in Geneva, Switzerland.
8 June 1998:
Addresses the summit of the Organisation of African Unity Heads of State and Government in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
18 June 1998:
Meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
3 July 1998:
Attends the Caribbean Community and Common Market conference in St Lucia.
12 July 1998:
Visits the site of a massacre in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal.
18 July 1998:
Marries his third wife Graça Machel, on his eightieth birthday.
24 July 1998:
Attends the Mercosur (the Southern Common Market) Summit in Argentina.
13 September 1998:
Speaks at the opening of a Southern African Development Community Summit of Heads of State and Government in Mauritius.
21 September 1998:
Attends the fifty-third General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.
23 September 1998:
Receives the Congressional Gold Medal of the United States, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, USA.
24 September 1998:
Becomes the first foreign leader to receive the Companion of the Order of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
8 October 1998:
Visits the Swazi royal family in Swaziland.
22 October 1998:
Opens the Morals Summit called by the National Religious Leaders Forum of South Africa in Johannesburg.
29 October 1998:
Receives the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Pretoria.
30 October 1998:
Addresses a meeting of the Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States, Abuja, Nigeria.
17 November 1998:
Addresses a rally in Dar es Salaam on a one-day official visit to Tanzania.
7 December 1998:
Attends the nineteenth summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
13 December 1998:
Addresses the fiftieth anniversary of the World Council of Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe.
29 January 1999:
Addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
5 February 1999:
Gives his last State of the Nation Address in Parliament, Cape Town.
13 February 1999:
Makes a statement on his discussions with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi on the Lockerbie issue.
29 April 1999:
Meets Russian president Boris Yeltsin on a state visit to Moscow.
30 May 1999:
Attends the ANC’s final election rally after participating in the campaign.
2 June 1999:
Votes in South Africa’s second democratic elections.
9 June 1999:
Attends his last meeting of cabinet, Pretoria.
14 June 1999:
Attends the election and swearing-in of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, Parliament, Cape Town.
Dare Not Linger Page 43