Editing F. W. de Klerk (section)

===Becoming State President of South Africa===
[[File:Frederik de Klerk with Nelson Mandela - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 1992.jpg|thumb|de Klerk and [[Nelson Mandela]] shake hands at the Annual Meeting of the [[World Economic Forum]] held in [[Davos]], January 1992]]

Botha resigned on 14 August 1989, and de Klerk was named acting [[State President of South Africa]] until 20 September, when he was elected to a full five-year term as State President.{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} After he became acting State President, ANC leaders spoke out against him, believing that he would be no different from his predecessors;{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} he was widely regarded as a staunch supporter of apartheid.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=16}} The prominent anti-apartheid activist [[Desmond Tutu]] shared this assessment, stating: "I don't think we've got to even begin to pretend that there is any reason for thinking that we are entering a new phase. It's just musical chairs".{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=310}} Tutu and [[Allan Boesak]] had been planning a protest march in [[Cape Town]], which the security chiefs wanted to prevent. De Klerk nevertheless turned down their proposal to ban it, agreeing to let the march proceed and stating that "the door to a new South Africa is open, it is not necessary to batter it down".{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=309–310}} The march took place and was attended by approximately 30,000 people.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=311}} Further protest marches followed in [[Grahamstown]], Johannesburg, Pretoria, and [[Durban]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=311–312}} De Klerk later noted that his security forces could not have prevented the marchers from gathering: "The choice, therefore, was between breaking up an illegal march with all of the attendant risks of violence and negative publicity, or of allowing the march to continue, subject to conditions that could help to avoid violence and ensure good public order."{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=312}} This decision marked a clear departure from the Botha era.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=312}}

As State President, he authorised the continuation of secret talks in [[Geneva]] between his [[National Intelligence Service (South Africa)|National Intelligence Service]] and two exiled ANC leaders, [[Thabo Mbeki]] and [[Jacob Zuma]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=312}} In October, he personally agreed to meet with Tutu, Boesak, and [[Frank Chikane]] in a private meeting in Pretoria.{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=312–313}} That month, he also released a number of elderly anti-apartheid activists then imprisoned, including [[Walter Sisulu]].{{sfnm|1a1=Glad|1a2=Blanton|1y=1997|1p=567|2a1=Allen|2y=2006|2p=312}} He also ordered the closure of the [[National Security Management System]].{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} In December he visited Mandela in prison, speaking with him for three hours about the idea of transitioning away from white-minority rule.{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} The collapse of the [[Eastern Bloc]] and the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution]] of the [[Soviet Union]] meant that he no longer feared that [[Marxism|Marxists]] would manipulate the ANC.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=27}} As he later related, the collapse of "the Marxist economic system in Eastern Europe... serves as a warning to those who insist on persisting with it in Africa. Those who seek to force this failure of a system on South Africa should engage in a total revision of their point of view. It should be clear to all that it is not the answer here either."{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=35}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=History has placed a tremendous responsibility on the shoulders of this country's leadership, namely the responsibility of moving our country away from the current course of conflict and confrontation... The hope of millions of South Africans is fixed on us. The future of southern Africa depends on us. We dare not waver or fail.|salign=right |source=—&thinsp;de Klerk's speech to Parliament, February 1990{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} }}

On 2 February 1990, in [[Speech at the Opening of the Parliament of South Africa, 1990|an address to the country's parliament]], he introduced plans for sweeping reforms of the political system.{{sfnm|1a1=de Klerk|1y=1991|1pp=2–3|2a1=Glad|2a2=Blanton|2y=1997|2p=567}} A number of banned political parties, including the ANC and [[Communist Party of South Africa]], would be legalised,{{sfnm|1a1=de Klerk|1y=1991|1p=42|2a1=Glad|2a2=Blanton|2y=1997|2p=567|3a1=Allen|3y=2006|3p=313}} although he emphasised that this did not constitute an endorsement of their socialist economic policies nor of violent actions carried out by their members.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=43}} All of those who were imprisoned solely for belonging to a banned organisation would be freed,{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=42}} including Nelson Mandela;{{sfnm|1a1=de Klerk|1y=1991|1p=45|2a1=Glad|2a2=Blanton|2y=1997|2p=567|3a1=Allen|3y=2006|3p=313}} the latter was released a week later.{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=568}} He also announced the lifting of the [[Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953|Separate Amenities Act of 1953]], which governed the segregation of public facilities.{{sfnm|1a1=de Klerk|1y=1991|1p=48|2a1=Glad|2a2=Blanton|2y=1997|2p=567}} The vision set forth in de Klerk's address was for South Africa to become a Western-style [[liberal democracy]];{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=47}} with a market-oriented economy which valued private enterprise and restricted the government's role in economics.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=48}}

De Klerk later related that "that speech was mainly aimed at breaking our stalemate in Africa and the West. Internationally we were teetering on the edge of the abyss."{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=5}} Throughout South Africa and across the world, there was astonishment at de Klerk's move.{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} Foreign press coverage was largely positive and de Klerk received messages of support from other governments.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|pp=31–32}} Tutu said that "It's incredible... Give him credit. Give him credit, I do."{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} Some black radicals regarded it as a gimmick and that it would prove to be without substance.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=33}} It was also received negatively by some on the white right-wing, including in the [[Conservative Party (South Africa)|Conservative Party]], who believed that de Klerk was betraying the white population.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|pp=32, 33}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=South Africa: Mixed reaction to de Klerk reforms|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/01/South-Africa-Mixed-reaction-to-de-Klerk-reforms/5934665384400/|access-date=12 November 2021|language=en|work=United Press International|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112111033/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/01/South-Africa-Mixed-reaction-to-de-Klerk-reforms/5934665384400/|url-status=live}}</ref> De Klerk believed that the [[White backlash|sudden growth of the Conservatives and other white right-wing groups]] was a passing phase reflecting anxiety and insecurity.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=81}} These white right-wing groups were aware that they would not get what they wanted through the forthcoming negotiations, and so increasingly tried to derail the negotiations using reactionary violence.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=86}} The white-dominated liberal Democratic Party, meanwhile, found itself in limbo, as de Klerk embraced much of the platform it had espoused, leaving it without a clear purpose.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=89}}

Further reforms followed; membership of the National Party was opened up to non-whites.{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=568}} In June, parliament approved new legislation that repealed the [[Natives Land Act, 1913]] and [[Native Trust and Land Act, 1936]].{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=568}} The [[Population Registration Act]], which established the racial classificatory guidelines for South Africa, was rescinded.{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=568}}

In 1990, de Klerk gave orders to end [[South Africa and weapons of mass destruction|South Africa's nuclear weapons programme]]; the process of nuclear disarmament was essentially completed in 1991. The existence of the nuclear programme was not officially acknowledged before 1993.<ref>Von Wielligh, N. & von Wielligh-Steyn, L. (2015). The Bomb – South Africa's Nuclear Weapons Programme. Pretoria: Litera.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/SAfrica/Nuclear/2149_3277.html |title=Country Overviews: South Africa: Nuclear Chronology |publisher=NTI |access-date=29 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704204221/http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/SAfrica/Nuclear/2149_3277.html |archive-date=4 July 2008}}</ref>