[66]
When I mentioned to Nimrod Mkele that more and more people abroad were having second thoughts about the usefulness of sanctions in combating apartheid, he replied, ‘Yes, I know.’ When I continued that the recently achieved détente in Southern Africa was for a large part due to fresh initiatives on behalf of the Gorbachev government, he said, ‘Actually, I am interested in what is now happening in the Soviet Union. This so-called new thinking is upsetting the entire lot of Gorbachev's bureaucrats. I rather like it, that some of the big names in the Soviet hierarchy lost in the [March 1989] election. It's amusing, but at the same time, it is a positive development. The same could happen in South Africa. At the moment, they talk a lot about new relations here, but with pw (Botha) as State President, you can forget about it. When free elections were held, white South Africa would dissipate. Look at what is happening in Namibia. That country is going to be free. But Pretoria does not want to apply the same lesson here.’
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