9 State of Emergency

Chapter 9 State of Emergency South Africa was going bankrupt, because so many foreign businesses would have nothing to do with the country. Riots broke out regularly. So the government made some changes. They desegregated public buses and theaters and gave some townships electricity. They let Indian and "colored" citizens elect people to represent them in the government—but not in the chamber of parliament that represented the white citizens. Many Afrikaner voters were angry at the changes, while many nonwhites didn't see much of a difference.

Nelson Mandela did see a difference in his own life. In April 1982, Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor prison near Cape Town. For the first time in decades, he had a bed. Many believed Mandela had been moved in order to separate him from most of his Robben Island friends. This way Mandela couldn't have as much influence, couldn't cause as much trouble. The president of South Africa said he was willing to free Nelson if he came out against violence as a way of ending apartheid. When Mandela heard the offer he wrote out his answer and gave it to his daughter Zindzi. She read it in a crowded stadium in Soweto. It

was the first time that Mandela's words had been heard legally in public since he'd been sent to prison. Mandela wrote: "Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated." Nelson would not accept freedom if it required him to support apartheid in any way. In September 1989, fifty-three-year-old F. W. de Klerk was elected

president of South Africa. Although he was a Nat Party leader, de Klerk had promised to negotiate with the ANC to solve South Africa's problems. De Klerk had Sisulu and others released from Robben Island. He had Mandela brought to meet with him in December. Two months later de Klerk announced the ANC was no longer an illegal group. Then he made an even bigger announcement: Nelson Mandela was going to be released from prison!