oped, Nelson Mandela denounced Mugabc.but Mbeki handled him with
kid gloves. Publicly, Mbeki praised Muga be for leading the fight for
African freedom in Zimbabwe and privately, it is believed, he encouraged
him to stop the violence and respect the rule of law.118
We should not forget the enormity of the task that the new regime un-
dertook in 1994·-the
task of transforming a society that had been molded
by colonialism and then dominated with ruthless thoroughness by a racist
minority, into a nonracial, democratic society. Bear in mind that before
1994 Africans had been almost totally excluded from the authoritative
political system. No African had ever been a member of parliament, and
the small number of Africans who had been entitled to vote in the Cape
Colony lost that right under apartheid. It would, however, be unrealistic
to ignore the fact that in some crucial aspects conditions worsened in
South Africa after the transfer of political power, but it would also be un-
realistic to underestimate the achievements of the new regime. It restored
dignity to black South Africans; it pacified a country that was on the brink
of civil war; it entrenched a democratic constitutional order and main-
tained the rule of law; it adapted to the existence of an outspoken (though