9 DAYS AWAY
A crisis loomed as COSATU refused to abandon its plan for a national strike, scheduled to take place the following day. Further to-ing and fro-ing on the education and property clauses continued. The possibility that the Constitution might not be finished was becoming very real. The issues remained the same. The ANC would not agree to single-medium education, which it saw as an attempt to continue white privilege. For Blade Nzimande, the ANC’s chief negotiator on education, ‘to constitutionally entrench single-medium and clearly Afrikaans schools would have entrenched one of the relics of apartheid forever. It was a choice between an apartheid and a democratic South Africa. The bottom lines were very clear’. Roelf Meyer was equally adamant. He insisted to the assembled press after an NP caucus, ‘Where a school has students that all speak a specific language, a school should not be forced to cater for other languages of a dual or parallel nature.’ The NP was clearly under pressure from its white constituency.
I received so many veiled threats, that if this is going to happen, it’s going to be disastrous for the parties, it’s going to be disastrous for you. You are going to be blamed for selling us out and all that.
Piet Marais
Then National Party Member of The Constitutional Assembly
Some of the newspapers, like Rapport for instance, clearly almost put the gun against the National Party’s head: ‘If you give in on education, that’s the end of it.’
Dr Corné Mulder
then Conservative Party member of the Constitutional Assembly
The frustrations were starting to show even between the two most consummate negotiators:
Cyril Ramaphosa: “The concession we made on education at Sunday’s meeting must be seen to be the very last. The ANC is not in a position to go any further than that.”
Roelf Meyer: “We hear what you’re saying, but this is more or less your bottom line – what you have on the table. We respect that, but on the other hand you have to have an understanding that we also have particular requirements …”
Cyril Ramaphosa: “I see the Constitution being torpedoed on this one. I don’t think we are going to adopt a Constitution, quite frankly, if both of us still hold on to our positions.”
Tensions reached fever pitch. Negotiators felt stretched to their limits.
At a personal level, I was dreading that we might be heading for a deadlock over this issue because then I was going to be the only ANC negotiator who is left with an issue. I would say that it was one of the most difficult periods that I’ve gone through as a politician, frankly.
BLADE Nzimande
Then ANC member of the constitutional assembly
Great commitment was required all round:
We had situations where individuals also started to pull back and say, ‘Now I’ve almost had enough.’ It was under those circumstances that we had to renew every effort and put in everything.
LEON WESSELS
then Deputy Chair of the Constitutional Assembly
The Constitutional Committee reconvened to hear accusations by the FF and DP that the two big parties have taken over and are not providing feedback on bilaterals. Ramaphosa responded: “Nothing has been finalised.” Negotiators battle to progress beyond agreements on minor points. It was agreed that further meetings would have to be convened.
