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Statement by Nelson Mandela on his meeting with the State President FW de Klerk

1 August 1990

This morning I met the State President, Mr De Klerk, having established in an earlier meeting with him that he was gravely concerned about recent alleged events that are now public knowledge. I understood his concern in this regard.

In my discussions with the State President today I reiterated the total commitment of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe and the SACP to the Groote Schuur Minute. I also made an undertaking that I personally, together with the National Executive Committee, will do whatever we can to ensure that steps are taken to guarantee strict adherence to the Groote Schuur Minute. The problems raised by President De Klerk with regard to the recent events will be discussed during the meeting of 6th August.

I also want to clarify a misunderstanding as a result of which I thought that the State President had demanded that Joe Slovo be excluded from the delegation of the ANC. The correct position is that the State President was disturbed by evidence placed before him suggested of statements and actions which went against the spirit of the Groote Schuur Minute. These were seen to go against the trust which has been built over the past months. I therefore inferred from this that the State President was no longer prepared to sit at the same meeting with Joe Slovo.

In the light of the facts that I conveyed to the State President today as well as the discussions between us, I am positive that the talks on the 6th of August will go ahead in good spirit.

Source: Nelson Mandela Foundation

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