FW de Klerk's landmark speech on 2 February 1990 effectively brought an end to white minority rule in South Africa

Title Your Name Subject and Section Professor’s Name Date Picture a nation where people had no say in the affairs of their nation for about thirty years, and then a single speech alters the course of the nation. We could counter-argue that FW de Klerk's speech on February 2, 1990, which paved the way to the dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa, could be considered the initial phase of ending white minority rule. This remark is true, given the critical shifts of the speech and consequent actions that led to the dismantlement of apartheid. According to Mariotti & Fourie (2014), the apartheid system of racially based political separation as well as discrimination had characterized South Africa with political freedom for the black South African population of the country. In the late 1980s, apartheid grew to become more and more irredeemably unsustainable due to the challenges posed by the world community, internal disturbances together, and economic boycotts. In this historical context, de Klerk's (1990) speech was significant as it marked a crucial change to South Africa's political map. Thus, de Klerk’s (1990) decision to talk to political groups that were once banned and his understanding of the necessity of a negotiation process paved the way for the elimination of apartheid and the creation of a new South Africa. South Africa had many challenges that hindered its way to democracy between 1990 and 1994, and the main hindrances included political opposition and violence. The first major obstacle was internal political opposition from white racist elements and black leadership skepticism (von Holdt, 2013). Some white racists, especially the National Party and other extreme right-wing organizations, did not want the destruction of apartheid because of the possibility of losing their positions of self-rule over the black population. Black people's leaders, such as the African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation movements, were also cynical and did not trust the government's sincerity, insisting on actions, not words. To avoid this resistance, the government of de Klerk launched massive negotiation and consensus-making processes. Some measures included legalizing the ANC and other political groups and freeing Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, showing the willingness to change for real (Britannica Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2024). At the same time, the country remained the epicenter of large-scale violence and various conflicts. Organized violence was characteristic of this period; it included fighting between supporters of the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), as well as acts of terror perpetrated by right-wing extremists. This led to the government and people like Nelson Mandela taking drastic action to control the violen...