This is an illegal gathering.
You must disperse immediately.
Stay down.
Pass.
You're in Soweto. Why?
My sister lives in District Three.
What's in the back?
Furniture.
Wait.
Okay, it's fine.
He was out collecting wood with his father and his sister.
The Police came out of nowhere and grabbed us and took us to the bridge.
They took my dad and tied him in a canvas bag...
and dropped him into the river.
They made us watch him drown.
They told us to go home and tell the others the price for being ANC.
We have a word...
'Ubuntu'.
It means a person's humanity...
is measured according to their relationship with others.
We tell the children that these people, who commit these crimes...
have lost their humanity...
and are as much victims of Apartheid as we are.
Who the hell is he?
He's a friend I can vouch for him.
He's here to help. He's from Consolidated Goldfields.
To talk about fund raising for our schools programme.
We didn't ask for his hand-outs.
- Leave him be! Let him be! - Michael Young.
Sir?
Go, go, go!
- It's Michael Young. - What progress?
This isn't going to work for us. We need to aim higher.
Safer to stay in the foothills.
The more visible, the more vulnerable we are.
Yes, it's much safer. Yes.
A bit of hush.
It is my pleasure to present Thabo Mbeki.
The African National Congress' Head of Information...
who is here representing the ANC president, Oliver Tambo.
I know that you'll make Mr Mbeki feel most welcome.
My name is Thabo Mbeki...
and I am a terrorist.
No doubt, that is what you have been told.
No incendiary devices.
No concealed weapons.
I am just a man, as you are.
Every day the President of South Africa...
under the mantle of his State of Emergency...
deploys thousands more of his troops in the townships...
brutally crushing the rising resistance to his oppressive regime.
Yet, the UK, is still one of South Africa's leading trading partners.
Every company...
every financial institution which continues to invest there...
is a source of political and economic strength to P.W. Botha.
If it is true that money talks, then let it speak, clearly.
Let your voice join ours when we say the bloodshed of our people must end.
The time to shout 'enough' has come.
The time for you to act is here.
Mr Mbeki?
Michael Young.
Public Affairs Director, Consolidated Goldfields.
Tell me how we can help.
It's not an offer to make lightly, Mr Young. We might take you up on it.
It wasn't made lightly.
As you say, we too have an incentive to ensure your country's survival.
We have this recurring nightmare, Mr Young...
that one day the South African Government will send us a message...
indicating that it is ready to talk to us about ending apartheid.
Because of our antagonism and mistrust, we fail to hear the message.
We fail to respond.
We miss the moment.
Thank you.
An apparatchik working for a reactionary outfit like Goldfields?
Is that what it's come to?
The fact that he works for Goldfields means he'll be listened to.
You know a better entry card?
And if the Public Affairs thing is just a front?
I doubt he's Ml6.
I need a word.
He's expecting you.
Come in.
I think I have a way forward on our problem.
I'm listening.
Mr Vijoan?
It's Michael Young. I called last week about the meetings...
I'm trying to set up between the ANC and leading Afrikaners.
The risk is too great.
I have a young family to think of.
Please don't call me again.
They're just exploratory meetings...
and someone representing the Dutch Reform Church...
who better to act as a mediator between the two sides?
It's not the policy of our church to involve ourselves in politics.
I can't help you. I am sorry.
There are those on both sides who favour force over dialogue.
To maintain secrecy, it's best if we hold the talks in the U.K.
In South Africa secrets are a way of life.
They also have a habit of exploding in your face.
I can't be bothered. I'm sorry.
- Can I use your toilet? - Yeah, it's around the back.
Love has a habit of pushing us into the arms of philosophy.
An earthquake claims a thousand lives.
Families bludgeoned to death by intruders.
The death of a much loved child.
Such events prompt us to ask how a benign deity can allow...
such tragedies to happen.
The task of Philosophy is to rise above the futility and chaos of daily life...
to seek a deeper truth to our existence.
I'll finish with the words of Pascal.
'If man's dignity lies in thought...
then let us all strive to think well.'
Good day.
Be warned!
Those who have not yet handed in their assignment on Freedom and the State...
will find their own freedom curtailed.
Mr Gruber, make my day.
Treat yourself to a new typewriter ribbon.
Mr Young, I assume?
An audacious mission you've undertaken.
A mission impossible, might be more apt.
What you are asking is impossible.
No sane man would put his livelihood, not to mention his life...
on the line to break bread with the devil.
In this country, those who go public against Apartheid...
acquire the status of a pariah.
Yet, you still agreed to meet with me?
You say Consolidated Goldfields have agreed to fund these meetings?
Your founder would turn in his grave.
Rhodes knew that market forces can succeed where politicians fail.
You are being disingenuous.
This is about your company protecting it's investments here, is it not?
They know apartheid is an anathema morally and economically.
They've colluded with it long enough.
It's an open secret that a silent coup has taken place in our country.
Botha no longer consults Parliament or the cabinet...
but rules in the manner of a medieval monarch.
Only his inner sanctum of security advisors have his ear.
It's they who wield the power, and they are not interested...
in a political solution.
Like most Afrikaners, I find...
the murderous methodology of the ANC morally repugnant...
and the idea of cosying up to them is abhorrent...
even the thought makes me retch.
I'm sorry that you had a wasted journey.
I am not the man for your mission.
Get on the move.
If you are not otherwise engaged, Mr Mandela...
the Minister of Justice invites you to join him for tea.
I'm told it's cucumber sandwiches this time.
It seems you have another visitor, too.
The Head of National Intelligence, no less.
Doctor Barnard is here?
A moment if you please, Mr Brand.
Copy, control.
Thank you.
Control. Confirm subject's arrival.
Mr Coatsee. Good to see you again.
Good to see you too, Mr Mandela.
Doctor Neil Barnard is here, Head of National Intelligence.
He's asked to sit in on our discussions.
Mr Nelson Mandela. Doctor Neil Barnard.
I've waited a long time for this opportunity, Doctor.
Likewise, sir.
...used tear gas to disperse the crowd...
in what a security forces spokesperson described as...
'necessary measures to contain the violence'.
And, there were further arrests when Eugène Terre'Blanche's AWB party...
held a recruitment rally, four people were detained.
If they want to take this country by force and violence...
they'll meet us over the barrel of a gun.
A! W! B!
Michael Young.
I cannot stand by and do nothing while my country is reduced to ashes.
I'll come to your meeting.
Let me know where and when.
Doctor Barnard, Mr President.
- Did he take the bait? - And deny his moment of destiny?
- He took it alright. - Vanity... vanity.
Tambo's waiting to see you.
Oliver, maybe these talks are the opportunity we've been waiting for.
Yes, but not everyone is going to like it.
Many will see this as a betrayal.
So, we need to keep this between us, and report back only to me.
Be careful, Thabo.
We're in.
Some housekeeping notes.
No telephone communication with the ANC either...
in Lusaka or here in London.
South African Intelligence have our phones tapped. Yours too, by now.
Don't think because you're back in London you're not vulnerable.
Car and letter bombs are the weapons of choice of the security agents.
Welcome to our world.
The board get wind we're jumping into bed...
with a bunch of Kalashnikov carrying terrorists...
we'll both be out on our ears. You realise that?
They can't ignore reality.
Every day Botha gets more isolated, the country more ungovernable.
Something doesn't give, and soon the company will go down with it.
You see your role in this as what?
To create a neutral arena and step aside.
Hope that they can see each other as men, rather than as enemies.
A risky strategy.
Others are risking more than that.
Heroics don't cut much ice with shareholders.
A 'need to know' basis. Only. Trust no-one. Confide in no-one.
I'll bury the costs under Research and Development, or some such.
Arrangements for my personal affairs should anything happen to me.
- You think that's likely? - A precaution.
Michael?
If this ever gets out...
I shall have to deny all knowledge of it and, disown you.
And, I'll be nothing, if not convincing.
Passport? Ticket?
Taxi.
It's okay.
Professor.
In the nick of time.
May I come in?
In public, Botha's still holding the party line...
that you must defeat terrorists before you can negotiate with them.
Privately, he wants you to continue the dialogue for as long as possible.
The more we know about the ANC's fault lines in their power structure...
the better we are equipped to control the end game.
So, I am to act as your spy?
A go between is more what we had in mind.
Have you thought why you were chosen to lead these talks, Professor?
You're a soft target.
They think your reputation as an advocate for social justice...
gives them a way in.
Play along.
Mbeki must think you are just a...
respected academic on a fact-finding mission.
A soft target is not a soft touch, Doctor.
I'm going to that meeting to hear what they have to say.
As importantly for them to hear what I have to say.
The whole process is futile otherwise.
Ja, but the thing is, you see, Professor.
You don't co-operate...
your participation in the process will be terminated.
My direct line. Call me.
You need to be vigilant about incendiary devices now.
Always check under your car before using it.
I'll send my people over to show you how.
And your ticket?
Don't forget to ring Albi Sachs.
Hello?
This is Thabo Mbeki. I need a quick word.
He's just left for the airport. I'll try and catch him, hold on.
Albi!
- Get another line. - Another line, please!
Background checks on staff. And they know that security is an issue?
I briefed them this morning.
Brief them every morning. Just keep hammering it home.
- This is Mr Mambenki's room. - Mbeki.
- All the rooms are ensuite. - It's nice.
- And, next door? - His colleague. Mr... Pahad.
Put Professor Esterhuyse next to Mbeki.
We need to mix them up. Maximise the opportunity for chance meetings.
- Right. - Good. Thank you.
'Welcome' seems a meagre word for such an occasion.
But, it is no less sincere, all the same.
Now, as you can see from the agenda I drew up...
we have a lot of ground to cover.
So, if we're to get through it I think it is essential that...
With respect, Mr Young.
Since you are not South African, it's not your agenda.
It's ours.
And, with respect, Mr Mbeki...
I must remind you that the agenda was agreed by both sides in advance.
Item one. The ANC perspective.
We know that you Afrikaners have paid in blood for your country.
As, we have.
We know too, that it was from your suffering...
that a system of apartheid was incubated.
The need to dominate is often a consequence of survival.
Our problem is, as exiles, we are...
outside the political system.
So, we are not in a position to offer any concessions or compromises...
in any potential negotiations with the government.
If you can't offer concessions, what can you offer?
All we can do is set out our stall of demands.
The release of Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners.
The unbanning of all proscribed political organisations.
Only then can a negotiated transition to majority rule take place.
So, then, we can take it that there is no truth in the rumour...
that the ANC hopes Mandela will die in prison?
Thus elevating him to the status of martyr.
You don't think he's achieved that status already?
That rumour, along with most information about us...
is based on disinformation.
And, the riots and bloodshed if he does get released?
Can you guarantee you can control your guerrilla extremists?
Controlling Mrs Mandela and her necklacing would be a start.
As would controlling the brutality of your security police.
Can you guarantee that?
There's talk in Pretoria that Botha is considering...
forming a new body to be affiliated to Parliament...
where black representatives can join the coloured and Indian delegates...
as a prelude to power sharing.
Can we ask your opinion on such a proposal?
What is yours?
I'm just here on a fact-finding mission, Mr Mbeki.
Your opinion is the issue.
My understanding is we are not here to discuss reforming Apartheid.
Or, disguising it under some new administrative structure.
We're here to talk about how to abolish it.
What we are seeking, is a prelude to majority rule.
Power sharing, is not an option.
Ah, Professor.
Okay. Good, good. Gentlemen, please. Good.
Perhaps, if you outline the specific nature of your fears...
relating to majority rule.
It's not bloody rocket science.
The blacks come after our blood,
and our children get slaughtered in their beds. That, is the reality.
A communist leaning administration will destroy our economic stability.
They'll end up in the same post colonial chaos...
as the other African states.
Professor?
You'll obliterate not only our language and our culture, but our human rights.
Fear is the first weapon of the oppressor.
It blinds us all from seeing the humanity of the other.
Your hands are not so clean either, Mr Mbeki.
What is your campaign of terror based on if not fear?
The culture of fear is not of our making, Professor.
We learnt it at the feet of our masters.
You're looking tired, Mr Mandela. We've kept you talking too late again.
Fortunately, I had no other plans tonight.
I look forward to our next conversation, Doctor.
For a moment I thought you said, 'negotiation'.
My ear's playing tricks on me.
Good night, Doctor.
- Mr. Coatsee. - Good night.
Stop all contact with the other Robben Islanders.
We don't need their Greek Chorus in his ear.
Alright.
And get him a suit for next time.
We'll get more out of him if he thinks he's an equal.
Okay. It's a good idea.
I'll leave you to it.
I just think things might free up a bit without an outsider present.
Bored with us already?
It's a tactical withdrawal.
So, Professor.
When you first saw me, did you think...
'Ah, so that's what a fucking, communist terrorist looks like'?
And, you? Did you think...
'Ah, so that's what a fucking racist Boer looks like'?
No doubt, you assume our claim to be non-racial...
is just a rhetoric of political convenience, but you are mistaken.
It's what defines us.
And you are mistaken in your assumptions about us, Mr Mbeki.
Our fear doesn't stem from propaganda...
but from the deep rooted knowledge that one day we will be punished...
for all the terrible wrongs we have inflicted.
Good night, Professor.
Goodnight.
Hello?
Professor?
Can I help you?
Young gave his assurance the place was clean of bugs.
I couldn't take the chance.
I hope to God, you don't make me regret what I'm about to do.
To the press and parliament, Botha's still on message that...
you must abandon your weapons before he'll conduct a dialogue with you.
But, my presence here suggests otherwise.
Botha knows about these talks?
I'm instructed to report back to him via Doctor Barnard...
in National Intelligence.
I'm to be their Trojan horse.
You take a risk telling me this, Professor.
It would be a risk not telling you.
Without trust, we'll achieve nothing.
Tambo says if we are to...
win our freedom we must first...
banish bitterness.
This will be the test of it.
For all of us.
Get him ready.
Let's give him a taste of what he's been missing.
If you could just turn around.
- Okay. It's good? - Ja.
I've lost the knack of tying them over the years.
Well, shall we?
Got it. I've got it.
Barnard.
Did he enjoy his day of freedom?
Enough to get a taste for it, let's hope.
- And the UK talks? - Work in progress.
I need more than that to placate the bloody doves in Cabinet.
Sir, the Cabinet must know absolutely nothing about this.
If some loose lips blabs to CNN the whole process could implode on us.
You sold me these talks to get the inside track on the ANC.
To give us leverage over Mandela.
If you're not going to deliver. What's the damn point?
I have his exact words here somewhere.
Leave us.
I do have a home to go to, Doctor.
At the risk of invoking more accusations that I'm gullible and naive, I repeat...
In my view, Mbeki, is a man the government can do business with.
A view based on what?
Your cosy fireside chats?
His existential ramblings about universal suffrage?
One can respect a man's commitment to his ideals...
without sharing his methods of achieving them.
Forgive me, if I don't also genuflect at his altar of self government.
Talk is cheap, Professor.
He made no concessions, did he? Not one.
His so called conversion to moderation is a ploy, orchestrated by Tambo.
And you...
you fell for it.
- Can I go home? - Not yet.
Mandela sent his lawyer with a message for me.
They've isolated him from Sisulu and the other Robben Islanders.
He's been holding secret talks with Doctor Barnard from the N.I. S...
who reports back to Botha.
I pressed Bizoz on the content of the meetings.
He claims Nelson said nothing.
He wanted to assure me he's acting in good faith.
He's walking into a trap.
Botha knows about the U.K. talks.
Barnard recruited Esterhuyse to act as his informer.
They're playing 'divide and rule' with us.
Pretoria will claim that South Africa's most famous prisoner...
wanted a peaceful settlement but the ANC terrorists...
rejected it to pursue their doctrine of violence.
Madiba would never fall for such a trick.
How do we know what his mental state is?
The pressure he's under?
What concessions he'll make in return for his freedom?
If he's so solid with us why not tell us what he's doing?
Why exclude you, of all people.
This Esterhuyse, do you trust him?
Yes.
A man you've barely known a few hours?
Yet, I'm supposed to doubt a man I've known a lifetime.
Who sacrificed everything for us.
If trust is the issue...
perhaps it is my judgement which is in doubt.
If we let ourselves be tainted by distrust...
Botha's tactics will succeed. We play into his hands.
The bombing came less than 24 hours after President Botha told parliament...
that security forces had uncovered a terrorist cell in Natal...
and arrested 23 suspected insurgents.
We understand that two of the terrorists evaded capture.
Security Forces have stepped up their search in the Soweto area.
Get in here.
I'm home, Marie. Anyone home?
Target is confirmed. Tomorrow at twelve p.m.
Sure.
And the bloodshed in South Africa today...
after a bomb exploded outside a shopping centre...
in Roodeport, near Johannesburg.
Four civilians were killed and 18 others injured.
A spokesman claimed that the target was a nearby bank.
He declined to give details on the operational difficulties...
which caused the explosion.
Is that how you justify your campaign of indiscriminate bombings...
the killing of innocent civilians?
We have never supported the killing of civilians.
Tell that to the women and children that you maim and kill...
with your limpet bombs and your pipe bombs.
Or are dead children legitimate collateral damage...
to promote your cycle of terror?
I can quote you chapter and verse on dead children, Professor.
Names, ages and dates, my son included.
I think a break is in order, gentlemen.
ANC policy is, and always has been...
that only military and economic targets are legitimate.
If it smells like crap and it sounds like crap...
chances are, it is crap.
Not once have I tried to justify...
the excesses of the South African Security Forces.
Yet, you persist in spouting this pre-digested dogma at me.
Maybe they think if they say it enough times, we'll buy it.
This really is not productive, so either we move on...
The timing, of the Roodeport bomb isn't coincidental.
Lusaka authorised it...
in the full knowledge of our meetings.
It's the old terror tactic...
once the talking starts, step up the violence.
If you think that's going to strengthen your hand...
in any negotiations with the Government...
you've seen to it that all chance of that is off the table.
Frankly...
so are these talks.
- Time to turn up the heat. - Alright.
Hello, Mr Mandela. Please.
Let's talk about Roodeport.
It needed saying.
There was no getting round it.
Perhaps.
But, box a man into a corner and...
The President is running out of patience, Mr Mandela.
Either, you denounce the communist links with the ANC...
condemn the violence...
or, frankly, you and I? We have nothing further to discuss.
When political movements are forced underground...
they inevitably are thrown together...
and, no man of honour would desert a lifelong friend...
at the request of a common enemy.
Gentlemen, excuse us.
You're not the only game in town, Mr Mandela.
Don't you see?
This is your chance to seize the initiative.
The ANC think they can bomb their way into power...
but a few words from you, condemning the violence...
will not only secure your freedom...
but will ensure that you alone...
will be the man the Government deals with.
You, alone, can lead us all out of this impasse.
Haven't your years of sacrifice earned you that right?
This is the situation.
All ANC bombing operations...
fall under the command and control structure in Lusaka.
But, some of our cadres, believing force to be the only way...
sometimes act without authority.
Operations can get bungled.
Innocent people...
get killed.
But, you have my word...
that I will do everything in my power...
to ensure that civilians no longer suffer from our inadequacies.
Are you telling us that you are unable to control some of your...
renegade cadres, Mr Mbeki?
If you know the truth of our situation, Professor...
you will see that the issue of violence...
is irrevocably connected to the other issues we wrestle with.
Only when we can participate in a truly democratic process...
will our armed struggle become obsolete.
Only then will the conflict between us end.
- How did you sleep? - Not too bad. You?
Alright, except for terrible dreams about lawyers.
Oh, yes. That is a nightmare.
So, anyway, Thatcher is in Moscow...
the crowds in Red Square are all over her, mobbing her...
She's getting quite queasy with all this adulation...
so, she says to her interpreter, 'I'm not a communist, you know? '
And, they shout back, 'Neither are we! '
I came here believing what happened at Roodeport had derailed everything...
you changed that.
What you said in that room will go no further.
- Safe home, Willie. - May I tell you...
how truly sorry I am about your son.
Thank you.
Thabo?
Come off the road.
There was an incident on the way from the airport.
They were not security agents.
Word is out about your talks.
Some of the militants will use any tactics to halt them.
For two decades we've said only force will crush the enemy.
Instead of force, we now preach talks.
They see that as a betrayal.
And when you pressed him on the violence issue...
did he admit the ANC high command now sanction civilian targets?
He made the same point he has made from the beginning...
cessation of violence...
is contingent on the Government committing to a democratic process.
You told him there can be no question of that while the violence continues?
Tell me, Doctor, should they agree to...
give up the armed struggle and negotiate with the government...
what would you give them in return?
You cannot go into negotiation without bringing something to the table.
Yet you send me in empty handed.
Don't be surprised if I come back empty handed.
You are not empowered to negotiate, Professor.
You're wrong. Doctor. Talk is not cheap.
It's all we have left.
Mr Esterhuyse takes the view that...
before formal negotiations can take place...
concessions, must be made on both sides.
If we make a gesture by releasing Mandela...
I said nothing about making concessions to Mandela's freedom.
This is no longer a matter of political survival, sir.
Your policy of buying us time has created a...
a vacuum of uncertainty that is only fuelling the violence.
You know what I think?
This is about your own survival, covering your own sorry arse.
If you are seen to take the initiative with the ANC...
history will always acknowledge it was you who had the statesmanship...
and vision to pull this country back, from the brink of civil war.
You alone averted that catastrophe.
History might also say I took my hand off the tiller too soon.
I give way on Mandela's freedom now, I give away our trump card.
He's a man like any other.
The more he gets of it, the more he'll want it.
Mandela is the key.
- Where to today? - A surprise.
Control, confirm subject arrival.
Everything is alright, no problems.
I hope you like your new quarters, Mr Mandela?
This is Warrant Officer Swart.
He'll look after you. Do your cooking and so on.
We've met before, at Robben Island.
I used to drive you to the quarry.
I hope you are a better cook than you were a driver.
Give him the tour. I'll leave you to settle in.
There's three bedrooms. This is the largest.
I'm sure you'll find the bed more comfortable than you're used to.
The departmental conference is postponed, professor.
We know exactly what's going on in the UK...
between you and the ANC thugs professor.
Think carefully before going next time or learn to sleep with your eyes open.
This is Michael Young. Please leave a message.
This is Esterhuyse.
I suggest...
that you make a date for the next meeting as soon as possible.
- I missed you. - It's nice to see you back.
Marigolds. Pansies.
This one is in the wrong place. It needs more light.
You pick a spot. I'll fetch a shovel.
Mr President?
Mr President, are you alright?
We need an ambulance now.
Hip, hip, hooray!
Bye bye, Tata.
My dear friend.
At best, Botha regarded my gilded cage as a way to seduce me into submission.
But I have had twenty years to prepare me for this moment.
Talking to Barnard was a high risk strategy...
but you can trust in one thing.
That I am not negotiating terms with the government...
but facilitating the process for the ANC to do so.
Surely, you and I have come too far to let them divide us now.
The election of the new State President F. W. De Klerk...
has sparked a wave of violence across the country.
And sensitivity about his commitment to reform...
seems to be fuelling the violence.
Mr De Klerk's position to the right of the National Party...
have left some observers to question his appetite for change.
Botha's mistake was his reliance on his security apparatus...
at the expense of protecting his power base in Parliament.
I must tell you, that is a mistake I do not intend to repeat.
My mistake was accommodating his plan to try and divide Mandela...
from the ANC in a futile attempt to cling on to power.
My discussions with Mr Mandela have convinced me that the only way...
of doing that now is to give some of it away and negotiate.
Before it's taken from us.
You've been detained long enough, Doctor.
Gentlemen, shall we?
Help us end Apartheid now!
I doubt we're looking at the Messiah of change.
De Klerk is a life long apologist for apartheid.
Presumably that's why his party chose him.
Names for the next meeting. I've added a new one.
- Mix things up a bit. - Willem De Klerk?
- Yes, the President's brother. - How prescient of you.
I'm hoping he's got his brother's ear.
Unlike F.W., he's on record condemning apartheid.
What if his brother vetoes his attendance? Along with Esterhuyse?
Esterhuyse is committed now. Nothing will keep him away.
Unless his passport is revoked.
This is the Esterhuyse residence. We're not home right now.
If you leave a message. We'll call you back.
And you're sure that he's nowhere in the University?
I've tried him at home.
Thabo. Tony. Aziz. Good to see you again.
- The others aren't here yet? - They will be. They will be.
If he contacts you, or if you see him...
tell him to call Michael Young as soon as possible.
I'll be waiting by the phone.
Tell him that I can't see him now.
The President will be unable to see you today after all, Doctor.
His diary secretary will be in touch, sir.
Bloody highway pile-up. Stuck there for hours.
Gentlemen.
- Michael Young, Mr De Klerk. - How do you do?
Willem De Klerk, Journalist and political commentator, Thabo Mbeki.
- Pleased to meet you. - Pleasure, sir.
Shall we?
You had us worried there.
You don't get rid of me that easily.
My dear friend and comrade.
I cannot tell you my relief to hear from you at last.
Had you contacted me before, I could have warned you...
that yours are not the only talks taking place with the Government.
Your release is high on the agenda of those discussions.
Given the hard line position of the new State President...
the future of those talks must now hang in the balance.
Call it what it is, Willie. Minority rights, equals white rights.
In other words, you want us to ensure...
the privileges whites enjoy are perpetuated.
The idea of group rights is that no group has dominance over another.
White or black.
Isn't that what your non-racial credo is all about?
But without assurance of that...
the President will never come to the negotiating table.
Is that not so, Willem?
That's not for me to say, Professor.
De Klerk's brother doesn't give much away.
He frequently points out he's not his brother's keeper.
He barely got his feet under the table, give him time.
Time is the enemy.
Every day he procrastinates, is one closer to bloody insurrection.
What is Barnard's sense of him?
Barnard's access to the President's office is not what it used to be.
We must rely on his brother for that now.
I thought we might discuss your impressions of the day, Willem?
I've some excellent brandy in my room.
Another night, perhaps.
My dear friend...
our struggle is now at a tipping point, as is our country.
We must try and convince De Klerk and his government...
that the whites have nothing to fear from us.
It is not revenge that governs us, but reconciliation.
We must use every method open to us to make him understand...
that unless he acts soon, we cannot deliver.
What is he waiting for?
How many more weeks, how many more months until he acts?
And where is he on Mandela? Can he not see the longer he keeps him in prison...
the more time he is giving for mob rule to take hold?
Exactly!
I do not have the answers you're looking for, Mr Mbeki.
My brother is not in the habit of confiding in me about Government policy.
Or anyone else, it seems.
Yes.
Yes, I understand well. Are you absolutely sure?
We can't put it like that.
Yes, it's important, but it's a waste of time.
I apologise. I lost track of...
Shall we start by returning to the outstanding items from yesterday?
I wonder... Do you mind, I'm sorry?
On behalf of my brother, I have some issues for clarification.
If you will bear with me.
One...
when would it be possible for the ANC to embark on talks...
about how to progress formal negotiations with the Government?
Two.
What would your preconditions be to such talks...
and, three... what agenda would be acceptable to you?
You can... tell the President...
there will be no preconditions on our side...
and we leave it to him to determine the agenda.
As for timing...
we are ready when he is.
And your position on the cease fire of violence?
We would order that all violence be suspended...
while negotiations take place.
When a new constitution has been agreed...
we will give the instruction that the armed struggle...
is to be abandoned.
Oliver.
Thabo.
Would you read this for me, please?
"Although we have been apart all these years..."
It's as if I've been conducting a lifelong conversation...
with you in my head.
All I pray now, is that you recover so, God willing...
we can continue it face to face.
As for my freedom...
it is a secondary matter until you are strong again.
And, until all those imprisoned have won theirs.
I must be the last to gain his liberty.
He wouldn't give a name, much less take no for an answer.
Esterhuyse.
I suppose the weather's the usual crap?
Is that what you called to discuss?
What time is it over there?
- Noon. - Turn on your TV. 2 pm, your time.
Now, as we wait for what's been billed as an historic address.
Let's reflect on the momentous events of the past few months.
The tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.
But, South Africa has had many false dawns.
So many speeches which have promised so much, yet delivered so little.
Here now is President De Klerk flanked by his cabinet.
As he makes his way to the podium, all of South Africa...
and indeed the world, holds it's breath.
My Government has taken the decision to immediately and unconditionally...
release Mr Nelson Mandela.
I've also instructed that the prohibition...
of the African National Congress the Pan African Congress...
and the South African Communist Party be immediately lifted.
The time has come to negotiate.
The hopes of millions of South Africans...
will be centred on that process.
We must not falter. We dare not fail.
Thank you.
We go now to Victor Verster Prison, where Mr Mandela...
the man who's been imprisoned for nearly three decades...
72 years old, will be appearing in public...
for the first time, any moment now.
International media perched.
The crowd getting excited.
That's him.
And there is Mister Mandela. Nelson Mandela. A free man.
Taking his first steps into a new South Africa.
Mrs Winnie Mandela next to him waving to the crowds.
And a salute from Mr Nelson Mandela.
His wife greeting the people who have been waiting for so long for this day.
This is the man that the world's been waiting to see.
His first public appearance in 27 years.
The day for which he too, has waited so long.
We owe you so much more.
It takes a big man to make himself invisible.
Thank you.
Thank you. Michael. Thank you.
Stay safe.
And you...
comrade.
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