Speech at the Opening of the Parliament of South Africa, 1990

On 2 February 1990, the State President F. W. de Klerk delivered a speech at the opening of the 1990 session of the Parliament of South Africa in which he announced sweeping reforms that marked the beginning of the negotiated transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy. The reforms promised in the speech included the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other anti-apartheid organisations, the release of political prisoners including Nelson Mandela, the end of the state of emergency, and a moratorium on the death penalty.