THEPOLITICALTRANSITION
(SACP); the removal of restrictions on thirty-three domestic organizations,
including the United Democratic Front and the Congress of South African
Trade Unions; the freeing of political prisoners who had been incarcerated
for nonviolent actions; and the suspension of capital punishment. That
speech went a long way toward meeting the preconditions for negotia-
tions set by Ma.ndela and the Harare Declaration. It was de Klerk's great
moment in history.l"
Nine days later, Mandela was released unconditionally after twenty-
seven years in jail. Soon afterward he began a series of foreign travels to
become acquainted with the contemporary world. He went first to Lusaka
to meet his ANC friends in exile, then to England and the United States. He
was treated as a hero everywhere. In New York, he had a triumphant
ticker-tape parade down Broadway in a forty-car motorcade; in Washing-
ton he addressed both houses of Congress, where he received a standing
ovation."? De Klerk, too, visited Europe and the United States, where he
received a warm welcome from politicians and businesspeople.!"
Talks about Talks
Before they could start negotiations on substantial issues, the parties
had to agree upon a format-who
should participate and what should the