Thabo Mbeki and the Afrikaners, 1986-2004

Thabo Mbeki en die afrikaners, 1986-2004

J.P. Brits

Japie Brits is emeritus Professor of History at the University of South Africa. His field of research is Afrikaner history and the history of race relations in South Africa in the twentieth century. In recent years he has also researched relations between South Africa and the United States in the 1950s, and his publications on this topic include an article on the ambiguous role of the United States towards South Africa during the United Nations debate on the treatment of Indians in South Africa in 1952, which was published in The International History Review, 27, December 2005. The author wishes to thank the following people who read the draft of this article, assisted with editing, and provided information on the topic: Judith Tayler; Professors Alex Mouton, Willie Esterhuyse, Sampie Terreblanche, Hermann Giliomee; Doctors Willem de Klerk and Essop Pahad; General Constand Viljoen; Brigadier-General Lets Kok and Riëtte Lubbe

ABSTRACT

Thabo Mbeki's clandestine contacts from 1985 to 1990 with influential individuals and groups of "establishment" Afrikaners, notably the envoys to Britain, largely facilitated formal negotiations between the NP government and the ANC, culminating in the transition to democracy in 1994. He was also instrumental in negotiating an agreement with Constand Viljoen, thereby preventing a possible insurrection from the Afrikaner rightwing. While demonstrating sympathy with Afrikaners' sentiments of self-determination, he firmly rejected an ethnic Afrikaner state (volkstaat) as envisaged by right-wing Afrikaners. Talking to various organised Afrikaner groups, Mbeki impressed with his intellect and willingness to listen to their concerns. He showed understanding of their fears and aspirations, and Afrikaners assumed that Mbeki would provide leverage for Afrikaners to live their ideals, notably the protection of the Afrikaans language and Afrikaans educational institutions. However, Afrikaners in due course became impatient with Mbeki's apparent inertia to implement practical measures to protect their rights. Although talks with him continued, by the early 2000s doubts about Mbeki's resolve to translate words into action had become pervasive among Afrikaners.

Key words: African National Congress; Africanist; Afrikaans culture; Constand Viljoen; discussions in Britain; far-right Afrikaners; liberal Afrikaners; National Intelligence Service; National Party; Niel Barnard; rapprochement; right-wing Afrikaners; self-determination; Thabo Mbeki; verligte Afrikaners; volkstaat; Willie Esterhuyse

OPSOMMING

Thabo Mbeki se geheime ontmoetings van 1985 tot 1990 met invloedryke individue en groepe van "establishment Afrikaners" - veral die afvaardigings na Brittanje - het grootliks formele onderhandelinge tussen die ANC en die regering moontlik gemaak, wat uitgeloop het op die oorgang na demokrasie in 1994. Sy rol in die ooreenkoms met Constand Viljoen om 'n moontlike regse opstand te verhoed, was ook deurslaggewend. Hoewel Mbeki simpatie met Afrikanersentimente rakende selfbeskikking getoon het, het hy die totstandkoming van n etniese Afrikanerstaat (volkstaat), soos deur die Afrikanerregtervleuel voorsien, op ferme wyse teengestaan. In sy gesprekke met verskillende georganiseerde Afrikanergroepe, het Mbeki beïndruk met sy intellek en sy bereidwilligheid om na hulle besorgdhede te luister. Hy het begrip vir hulle vrese en aspirasies getoon, en Afrikaners het aanvaar dat Mbeki die geleentheid vir Afrikaners sou skep om hulle ideale, veral die beskerming van die Afrikaanse taal en Afrikaanse opvoedkundige instansies, te verwesenlik. Met verloop van tyd het Afrikaners egter ongeduldig begin raak met Mbeki se skynbare traagheid om praktiese maatreëls in te stel om hulle regte te beskerm. Hoewel gesprekke met hom voortgeduur het, het daar teen die vroeë 2000's wydverspreide twyfel by Afrikaners bestaan oor Mbeki se wil om die daad by die woord te voeg.

Sleutelwoorde: African National Congress; Afrikanis; Afrikanerkultuur; Constand Viljoen; gesprekke in Brittanje; liberale Afrikaners; Nasionale Intelligensiediens; Nasionale Party; Niel Barnard; regtervleuel-Afrikaners; selfbeskikking; Thabo Mbeki; toenadering; "verligte" Afrikaners; ver-regse Afrikaners; volkstaat; Willie Esterhuyse

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1. Useful biographical studies of Mbeki's early career are: T. Mbeki, Africa The Time has Come (Tafelberg/Mafube, Cape Town/Johannesburg, 1998);         [ Links ] W.M. Gumede, Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC (Zebra Press, Cape Town, 2005), pp 35-37;         [ Links ] M. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki The Dream Deferred (Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg/Cape Town, 2007),         [ Links ] chapters 1-12. Also see: T. Lodge, Politics in South Africa From Mandela to Mbeki (David Philip, Cape Town, 2002), pp 241-243.         [ Links ]
2. Gumede, Thabo Mbeki, p 37; P. van Niekerk and B. Ludman (eds), Mail & Guardian A-Z of South African Politics 1999 The Essential Handbook (Penguin Books, London, 1999), p 179.         [ Links ]
3. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 297; Mbeki, Africa The Time has Come, pp 9, 20, 22, 26, 41-42; 63. Ronald Roberts rejects a suggestion by James Myburgh that Mbeki was a Stalinist in the 1970s. See R. Roberts, Fit to Govern The Native Intelligence of Thabo Mbeki (STE Publishers, Johannesburg, 2007), p 55.         [ Links ]
4. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 317-318.
5. L. Mathebe, Bound by Tradition The World of Thabo Mbeki (University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2001), pp 31, 36, 52, 60-61, 76, 86, 121, 154, 166, 189.         [ Links ]
6. S. Zunes, "The Role of Non-Violent Action in the Downfall of Apartheid", Journal of Modern African Studies, 37, March 1999, pp 140-141, 145.         [ Links ] Mbeki believed that, instead of overthrowing the NP government, so many people had to be turned against apartheid that the government would be forced to abandon the policy. His philosophical view was that it was braver to talk than to fight. See Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 500. Essop Pahad confirms Mbeki's views on the matter, but maintains that Mbeki always acted within the framework of the strategy of ANC's NEC. Personal interview, Author with Doctor Essop G. Pahad, 29 January 2008.
7. Gumede, Thabo Mbeki, pp 38-39.
8. Gumede, Thabo Mbeki, pp 46-49.
9. The period 1961-1985 has been discussed by a number of scholars, including R.M. Price, The Apartheid State in Crisis Political Transformation in South Africa 1975-1990 (Oxford University Press, New York/Oxford, 1991),         [ Links ] chapters 2-9; H. Giliomee, The Afrikaners Biography of a People (Tafelberg, Cape Town, 2003),         [ Links ] chapters 14-17; H. Giliomee, "'Broedertwis': Intra-Afrikaner Conflicts in the Transition from Apartheid", African Affairs, 91, 364, July 1992, pp 342-357;         [ Links ] M. Lipton, Capitalism and Apartheid South Africa, 1910-1986 (David Philip/Wildwood House, Cape Town/London, 1989),         [ Links ] chapters 2, 3, 8 and 9; D. O'Meara, Forty Lost Years The Apartheid State and the Politics of the National Party, 1948-1994 (Raven Press, Randburg, 1996),         [ Links ] chapters 5-18.
10. Afrikaner reflections on the viability of apartheid to protect the volk have been analysed in Hermann Giliomee's brilliant article "'Survival in Justice': An Afrikaner Debate over Apartheid", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 36, 3 (July 1994).
11. A study based on questionnaire responses shows that by 1988, prominent Afrikaners felt pessimistic about the government's ability to protect their interests any longer. The turmoil in the country after 1984, spurred on by black resistance, was seen by respondents as a major threat to stability, but not necessarily a threat caused by apartheid. Thus, Afrikaners' fears for safety and the loss of identity were just as salient as the threat to their material position. Communism was widely regarded as a driving force behind the threat. K. Manzo and P. McGowan, "Afrikaner Fears and the Politics of Despair: Understanding Change in South Africa", International Studies Quarterly, 36, 1 (March 1992), pp 10-14.         [ Links ]
12. W. Beinart, Twentieth-Century South Africa (Oxford University Press, Cape Town/Oxford, 1994), p 254;         [ Links ] Personal interview, Author with Professor Sampie Terreblance (Professor of Economics at the University of Stellenbosch), 10 July 2007.
13. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 501.
14. A. Sparks, Tomorrow is Another Country The Inside Story of South Africa's Negotiated Revolution (Struik, Sandton, 1994), p 72;         [ Links ] P. Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa (Viking, London, 1997), pp 68-69.         [ Links ]
15. It should be made clear that the talks with Muller and De Lange were not the first meeting of Afrikaans-speaking white men with Mbeki. Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, who was leader of the liberal opposition against the NP government, the Progressive Federal Party, had already talked to Mbeki in October 1985 in Lusaka when the executive of the PFP had gathered with prominent members of the ANC leadership. Later Slabbert's liberal organisation, the Institute for a Democratic Alternative (Idasa) which had been established in November 1986, had several meetings with the ANC in the late 1980s. See F. van Zyl Slabbert, Duskant die Geskiedenis h Persoonlike Terugblik op die Politieke Oorgang in Suid-Afrika (Tafelberg/Jonathan Ball Publishers, Kaapstad/Jeppestown, 2006), p 55;         [ Links ] Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 496-497.
16. Sparks, Tomorrow is Another Country, pp 73-74; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, p 69.
17. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 491-492; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, p 75; Personal interview, Author with Doctor Essop Pahad, 29 January 2008.
18. Sparks, Tomorrow is Another Country, pp 78-79; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, pp 73-80.
19. Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, p 77.
20. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 41.
21. Most of these Afrikaners could be described as verligte, "establishment" Afrikaners belonging to Afrikaner organisations and/or supporting the National Party government. Although in favour of reform, they were also referred to in some circles as the representatives of the "regime". Sources differ about the names of the Afrikaners that attended the first meeting.
22. R. Harvey, The Fall of Apartheid The Inside Story from Smuts to Mbeki (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2003), pp 127-129.         [ Links ]
23. Personal interview, Author with Professor W.P. Esterhuyse, 10 July 2007.
24. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 499, 544. Also see: Harvey, The Fall of Apartheid, pp 133-139; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, pp 77-79; Sparks, Tomorrow is Another Country, pp 76-86.
25. Doctor Willem (Wimpie) de Klerk recalls that talks started on Friday and continued throughout the weekend, and often about two-thirds of Monday as well. He and Mbeki were friendly towards each other and on one occasion had a long walk together, talking about a variety of topics, excluding politics. Personal interview, Author with Doctor W.J. de Klerk, 13 February 2007.
26. Personal interview, Author with Professors W.P. Esterhuyse and S.J. Terreblanche, 10 July 2007; Personal interview, Author with Doctor Essop Pahad, 29 January 2008; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, pp 78-80.
27. Personal interview, Author with Professor S.J. Terreblanche, 10 July 2007.
28. M. du Preez, Pale Native Memories of a Renegade Reporter (Zebra Press, Cape Town, 2004), pp 147, 150-151, 156-157;         [ Links ] Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, p 74; Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 510-515; F. van Zyl Slabbert, Afrikaner Afrikaan Anekdotes en Analise (Tafelberg, Cape Town, 1999), pp 78-79;         [ Links ] Slabbert, Duskant die Geskiedenis, p 37.
29. Mark Gevisser, for instance, chose as the caption of chapter 32 of his biography of Mbeki, "The seducer".
30. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 531. In October 1989, Mbeki convinced the Commonwealth to accept the OAU's Harare declaration which embodied the ANC's conditions for a negotiated settlement. At the same time, at a National Executive Meeting of the ANC, some members strongly favoured intensified military confrontation with the South African government.
31. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 544-545.
32. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 546.
33. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 552-553. Essop Pahad points out that differences within the ANC were to a large extent about the timing of the talks. Personal interview, Author with Doctor Essop Pahad, 29 January 2008.
34. Personal interview, Author with Doctor Essop Pahad, 29 January 2008.
35. Sparks, Tomorrow is Another Country, pp 19, 21, 37-39, 48-56; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, pp 86-106.
36. Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, pp 607-611; Gumede, Thabo Mbeki, p 43.
37. Esterhuyse recalls that Mbeki took copious notes of discussions between the Esterhuyse group and the Mbeki group as far as the threat of the right-wing Afrikaners was concerned. Tambo was also informed by Mbeki (Personal interview, Author with W.P. Esterhuyse, 10 July 2007). Pahad confirms that the ANC was concerned about the far-right, and considered Constand Viljoen as a moderate leader who had wide influence among the security forces. However, the ANC leadership also thought that an encounter with right-wing leaders might be useful to create a mutual understanding of each others' expectations and aspirations (Personal interview, Author with Doctor Essop Pahad, 29 January 2008).
38. A. Hadland and J. Rantao, The Life and Times of Thabo Mbeki (Zebra Press, Rivonia, 1999), pp 78-79.         [ Links ] According to this source, Mbeki had already sensed the potential danger of the right wing by 1991, and tried to establish contact with the Conservative Party. For a discussion of far-right organisations up to 1991, also see B.M. du Toit, "The Far-Right in Current South African Politics", The Journal of Modern African Studies, 29, 4, December 1991, pp 642, 644-645, 651-652, 661-663.         [ Links ]
39. S. Ellis, "The Historical Significance of South Africa's Third Force", Journal of Southern African Studies, 24, 2, June 1998, pp 280-299.         [ Links ]
40. R. Southall, "The South African Elections of 1994: The Remaking of a Dominant-Party State", The Journal of Modern African Studies, 32, 4, December 1994, p 631.         [ Links ]
41. Slabbert, Duskant die Geskiedenis, p 23.
42. Memorandum of Agreement between the African National Congress and the Afrikaner Volksfront [December 1993], pp 1-5 (document in the possession of General C.L. Viljoen).
43. Interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
44. Interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
45. Y.G. Muthien and M.M. Khosa, "The Kingdom, the Volkstaat and the New South Africa: Drawing South Africa's New Regional Boundaries", Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 2, June 1995, p 309.         [ Links ]
46. Interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
47. Accord on Afrikaner Self-determination between the Freedom Front, the African National Congress and the South African Government/National Party, 23 April 1994, pp 2-15 (document in the possession of General C.L. Viljoen).
48. See for instance: F.W. de Klerk, The Last Trek - a New Beginning the Autobiography (Macmillan, London, 1998), pp 311-316;         [ Links ] Sparks, Beyond the Miracle, p 4; Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, pp 238-240, 246-247, 250.
49. Interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
50. Interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
51. H. Hamann, Days of the Generals: The Untold Story of South Africa's Apartheid-Era Military Generals (Zebra Press, Cape Town, 2001), pp 209-213.         [ Links ]
52. Personal interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
53. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, pp 101-102, 131.
54. The Cape Times, 17 June 1994 ("Mbeki praises Freedom Front").
55. Melissa Steyn's book "Whiteness Just isn't What it Used to be" White Identity in a Changing South Africa (State University of New York Press, New York, 2001) contains insightful descriptions of South African whites' experiences and attitudes towards the new dispensation after 1994, but the author did not make a distinction between Afrikaners and English-speaking South Africans in her analysis of the respondents' answers.
56. Bilateral meeting between the ANC and the Freedom Front - 8 March 1997, Document 1, Introduction, pp 1-3; Document 2, pp 1-13; Document 3, pp 1-7; Document 4, pp 1-8 (documents in possession of General C. L. Viljoen).
57. The Citizen, 14 July 1997 ("Mbeki and Viljoen to discuss concept of volkstaat" ).
58. Beeld, 15 Julie 1997 ("Eenheid vs etnisiteit: die pendulum swaai").
59. The Citizen, 17 June 1994 ("Volkstaat Council has our confidence: Mbeki").
60. Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, pp 239-240.
61. Personal interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
62. The Citizen, 9 January 1996 ("Mbeki no to volkstaat").
63. Die Burger, 12 Januarie 1996 ("Blufspul oor volkstaat").
64. Beeld, 11 Januarie 1996 ("Raad sê regering kan nie volkstaatstrewe onderdruk"). See also Viljoen's speech in Hansard, 11 February 1997, column 60.
65. Beeld, 11 Januarie 1996 ("Selfbeskikking steeds Vryheidsfront-doelwit").
66. Rapport, 21 Desember 1997 ("Mbeki reik na Afrikaners").
67. Die Burger, 23 Julie 1997 ("Afrikaner het reg op plek"); Beeld, 15 Julie 1997 ("Eenheid vs etnisiteit: die pendulum swaai").
68. Beeld, 6 Junie 1998 ("VF-leier, Mbeki praat oor selfbeskikking").
69. Eastern Province Herald, 8 June 1998 ("Leaders find the answers").
70. Die Burger, 29 Mei 1997 ("Volkstaatraad op sy sterfbed"); Frontnuus, 31 Julie 1997 ("VSR se toekoms bespreek"); Die Volksblad, 6 Augustus 1998 ("Volkstaatraad gaan in Maart 1999 ontbind ná bestaan van sowat 5 jaar").
71. P.M. Sebetlela, "Nation-building in South Africa: Mandela and Mbeki Compared." M. Phil. dissertation, University of Stellenbosch, 2003, p 2.         [ Links ]
72. Personal interview, Author with General C.L. Viljoen, 9 February 2007.
73. Personal interview, Author with Professor W.P. Esterhuyse, 10 July 2007.
74. T. Mbeki, Africa Define Yourself (Tafelberg/Mafube Publishing, Cape Town/Randburg, 2002), pp 89-91, 94, 136-137 (Address at Third African Renaissance Festival,         [ Links ] 31 March 2001).
75. L. Mathebe, Bound by Tradition, pp 120-121.
76. P. Vale and S. Maseko, "South Africa and the African Renaissance", International Affairs, 74, 2, April 1998, p 280.         [ Links ]
77. Mbeki, Africa Define Yourself, p 72 (Address at the University of Havana, Cuba, 27 March 2001).
78. An alternative explanation for Mbeki's great African vision is that he needed to establish an image of his own and not merely follow in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela when becoming the next President of South Africa (Personal interview, Author with Professor H.B. Giliomee, 11 July 2007).
79. The Citizen, 28 April 1997 ("Mbeki hails involvement of Afrikaners"); Beeld, 1 November 1997 ("Afrikaners hoef nie bedreig te voel, sê Mbeki"); Die Burger, 1 November 1997 ("Afrikaners moet eerder saamwerk as laer trek"); Rapport, 21 Desember 1997 ("Mbeki reik na Afrikaners").
80. Die Burger, 12 Maart 1998 ("As Mbeki Afrikanerdebat stimuleer, sal dit pluspunt wees").
81. Beeld, 19 Desember 1997 ("Afrikaners bly oor Thabo-plan").
82. Beeld, 19 Desember 1997 (Hoofartikel: "Mbeki-olyftak").
83. Die Burger, 23 Februarie 1998 ("ANC hoës wil Mbeki Afrikaner se hart help wen").
84. Rapport, 15 Februarie 1998 ("Vier vrae voor Afrikaner-gesprek").
85. Beeld, 24 Februarie 1998 ("ANC se toenadering met voorbehoude verwelkom"); Sunday Tribune, 1 March 1998 ("Afrikaners welcome Mbeki's hand of peace with reservations").
86. Beeld, 24 Februarie 1998 ("ANC se toenadering met voorbehoude verwelkom").
87. The Citizen, 14 March 1998 ("Don't limit talks to whites only - NP tells ANC").
88. Beeld, 4 Mei 1998 ("Regse Afrikanerleiers in Magaliesburg byeen").
89. Rapport, 24 Mei 1998 ("AB bespreek kommer met Mbeki").
90. Hansard, 29 May 1998, column 3441; Die Burger, 30 Mei 1998 ("Mbeki 'bemoedig' ná gesprek met Afrikaners").
91. Die Burger, 20 Maart 1999 ("Watse, wiese Afrikaners?").
92. Sunday Times, 25 April 1999 (Willie Breytenbach, Professor of Political Science at the University of Stellenbosch: "Still on the Great Trek to freedom").
93. The Sunday Independent, 14 March 1999 (Harald Pakendorf: "Afrikaners united only by language").
94. Die Afrikaner, 8 April 1999 ("Jaap Marais vat Afrikaanses vas oor aanmatigende houding").
95. Hansard, 24 March 1999, column 3128-3138; The Cape Times, 25 March 1999 ("Govt perceived as hostile"); Beeld, 25 Maart 1999 ("Mbeki gaan self haakplekke uitstryk om taal en kultuur"; "Regering belowe om na Afrikaner belange om te sien").
96. Beeld, 27 Maart 1999 ("Gesprek het begin oor Afrikaners se rol in toekoms").
97. Die Burger, 12 April 1999 ("Mbeki glo Afrikaners is noodsaaklik, sê Pik").
98. Interim Afrikaner Council meeting with Mr Mbeki, Report in Parliament 24 March 1999 (Document in the possession of General C.L. Viljoen); Cape Argus, 25 March 1999 ("Cautious welcome for Mbeki's Afrikaner talks").
99. Beeld, 30 Maart 1999 (Brief: C. Landman).
100. Beeld, 26 Maart 1999 ("Deel van Afrika: Afrikaners praat Mbeki se taal").
101. Cape Argus, 28 July 1999 ("Mbeki urges Afrikaners to join Renaissance"); Pretoria News, 28 July 1999 ("You are Africans, Mbeki tells Afrikaners").
102. Beeld, 29 Julie 1999 ("Simboliese begin"); Beeld, 4 Augustus 1999 ("'Ons' Afrikaners").
103. Rapport, 1 Augustus 1999 ("Afrikaners se rol as wit Afrikane").
104. Die Burger, 30 Julie 1999 ("Mbeki 'moet nou tot daad oorgaan'").
105. Sunday World, 15 August 1999 ("Not all SA citizens are Africans").
106. Beeld, 24 Januarie 2000 ("Afrikaners, Jacob Zuma bekyk regte"); Personal interview, Author with Professor H.B. Giliomee, 11 July 2007.
107. Beeld, 21 September 2000 ("Nie net Afrikaners skuldig oor verlede").
108. Rapport, 17 Junie 2001 ("Die Afrikaners bring hul kant").
109. The Citizen, 23 June 2001 ("Mbeki says whites have place in South Africa").
110. Personal interview, Author with Doctor W.J. de Klerk, 13 February 2007; Personal interview, Author with Professor H.B. Giliomee, 11 July 2007.
111. Financial Mail, 17 May 2002 ("New partner in a joint venture").
112. The Citizen, 28 October 2002 ("Mbeki, FW and Afrikaners hold bosberaad").
113. Beeld, 20 Februarie 2002 ("Skeptisisme oor Mbeki se goeie punt in 'belofte-toets'; wedersydse gepamperlang").
114. Die Burger, 8 Februarie 2002 ("Teenprestasie nodig vir Afrikanersamewerking").
115. The Citizen, 9 November 2002 ("Afrikaans intellectuals 'do not speak for all'").
116. Beeld, 6 Augustus 2003 ("NG Kerk, Mbeki praat oor vrese"); Die Burger, 1 September 2003 ("Niks skort vandag met NG Kerk").
117. Sunday Independent, 30 May 2004 ("Afrikaners rally around president"); Pretoria News, 31 May 2004 ("Prominent Afrikaners backing Mbeki").
118. Quoted in Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki, p 505.
119. Personal interview, Author with Doctor W.J. de Klerk, 13 February 2007.