Cape Town peace march

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People Vernon Berrangé P. W. Botha Steve Biko Mangosuthu Buthelezi F. W. de Klerk Ruth First Bram Fischer Arthur Goldreich Chris Hani Bantu Holomisa Joel Joffe Ahmed Kathrada Albert Luthuli Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Mac Maharaj D. F. Malan Nelson Mandela Govan Mbeki Thabo Mbeki Raymond Mhlaba Benjamin Moloise Albertina Sisulu Walter Sisulu J. G. Strijdom Joe Slovo Robert Sobukwe Helen Suzman Adelaide Tambo Oliver Tambo Eugène Terre'Blanche Desmond Tutu H. F. Verwoerd B. J. Vorster Jacob Zuma
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On 13 September 1989, 30 000

, following years of violent clashes between anti-apartheid protestors and the police, and was the first such event to include elected world government functionaries. It was considered the "last illegal march" at the time, and went ahead without a major confrontation. The size of the protest, despite the open defiance, and the restrained response from the police signalled the beginning of the transition to democracy.

Build-up

An anti-apartheid Defiance Campaign had been announced in the run up to the

.

More than 20 people were killed in the vicinity of Cape Town on the election day of 6 September 1989, and at a memorial service for these deaths, Tutu called for a wider protest march to take place the following week. The march gathered wide support, including from groups not usually active in protest marches, including businesses and white opposition parties.^[1]

State response

Earlier in 1989, the

. De Klerk led his party to victory in the whites-only election on 6 September and was due to be inaugurated as State President a week after the march.

The march polarised support within the government. The security establishment opposed it, but De Klerk decided that the march would not be broken up by force to prevent a violent confrontation and the associated negative publicity.[2] Fearing a "Velvet Revolution" of the kind which was occurring in Eastern Europe, De Klerk capitulated to demands from the anti-apartheid movement. This signalled a significant change from the Botha era and lead to concessions that ushered in the transition to democracy.

The march

The march began near Cape Town's

.

Aftermath

The success of the march and the fact that the police refused to enforce the ban against such gatherings under the then State of Emergency led to further marches in many parts of the country, often instigated by religious leaders. Liberal commentator Allister Sparks regards the march as the beginning of the normalisation of South African politics and September 1989 as the culmination of De Klerk's conversion to negotiations.^[3]

A few months later, South Africa entered a new political era when De Klerk unbanned the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid organisations and freed Nelson Mandela and other prisoners. Formal negotiations to end apartheid began soon afterwards.

References