The second round of talks between the ANC and the South African government aimed at removing the obstacles to negotiations concluded on 6 August with various commitments from each side. They agreed that against the background of those commitments the way is now open to proceed towards negotiating a new constitution. Nevertheless the extent of what the government still needs to do to bring about a climate in which negotiations could actually begin, was highlighted by differences expressed at a press conference after the talks over the role of the police.
In June a United Nations team visited South Africa. The visit arose out of the adoption by the UN General Assembly in December 1989 of a declaration, similar to the Organisation of African Unity's Harare Declaration, setting out guidelines for negotiations in South Africa. The UN declaration required the Secretary General to report in July to the General Assembly on progress towards 'fundamental and irreversible change' in South Africa. The report compiled by the team, while acknowledging the significance of the changes introduced by President De Klerk, maintained that 'the political process towards the dismantlement of the apartheid system is still at an early stage'.
The Pretoria Minute agreed by the ANC and the government on 6 August took the process a step further by dealing to varying degrees with the obstacles to negotiations which remained after the first discussions between the two in May. These included the key question of the definition of a political offence, a prerequisite for the granting of amnesty to political prisoners and exiles which had been referred to a working party; changes in security legislation, which the Government undertook to review; and the State of Emergency in Natal which was re-imposed when it lapsed in the other three provinces on 8 June, and which the Government undertook on 6 August to 'consider lifting as early as possible'.
The Minute also announced the suspension of armed actions by the ANC and the development of local, regional and national mechanisms of communication between the two sides to 'enable public grievances to be addressed peacefully and in good time, avoiding conflict'.
In advance of the meeting, while insisting that the ANC end the armed struggle the regime had committed extra resources to enhance the repressive role of its own forces. In the President's address to Parliament on 7 June he said that R814 million would be drawn from emergency reserve funds to strengthen the police, prisons services and intelligence agencies in order to 'control the situation in Natal and to fill any vacuum that may have been left by not renewing the State of Emergency in the rest of the country.'
The South African Police (SAP), currently about 60,000 strong, would be increased by 12,000 men and women; salary increases of up to 80 per cent would be implemented on 1 July; police reservists would be called up; SAP 'logistical capabilities' would be strengthened and Neighbourhood Watch schemes used more extensively. The Minister of Law and Order told the UN group that the police force would be increased by '10,000 men within 12 months'.
De Klerk also announced a more prominent role for the South African Defence Force (SADF) in supporting the police and carrying out internal 'security' tasks, a role contrary to the demands of the Harare Declaration. This would be achieved 'by using routine patrols, road blocks ... etc., as well as by allocating more SADF forces in Natal'. Police units patrolling the borders would be replaced by SADF units and there were indications that more conscripts would perform their compulsory National Service in the police rather than the army.
The regime presented the measures as part of a crackdown on ordinary crime, rather than political protest. The next day the Minister of Justice announced the allocation of an extra R33m to his department to help it cope with the expected increase in the load on legal services which would follow the partial lifting of the emergency. 'Sharper police action and more court hearings' were expected to follow the increase in the armed forces.
An earlier example of the regime's move in this direction was Operation Watchdog, a supposed anti-crime drive which was widely criticised for targetting anti-apartheid activists. The Minister of Law and Order told the UN Group that arrests for 'violent activities' had increased from 1,371 in February to 2,136 in March. The Prisons Service was granted an additional R88m in terms of the 7 June pronouncements, partly to increase warders' wages following widespread industrial action.
