Chapter 10 - Transitions During the 1990s

Summary

“We therefore, determined to adopt a Constitution which expresses for ourselves and our children our resolve to cherish and protect the gains of our long struggle for national independence.”

—Hage Geingob

Introduction

By 1990, apartheid seemed untenable. It had been weakened by a combination of internal resistance, Cold War geopolitics, and external sanctions, divestment and boycotts. At the same time, its supporters had enacted violent and tragic repression on South Africans. The Project tried to mitigate this during the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1990s, it shifted its attention to managing the logistics of South Africa's presumed transition. This entailed researching for constitutional workshops, finishing a few last cases, and managing elections logistics, actions outlined in the next chapter. When Nelson Mandela voted in 1994, Gay McDougall's presence at his side symbolized the ways in which the Project had become fundamental to global movements against apartheid. Yet, despite this prominence, apartheid's end remained disappointing to many, and its aftermath remains highly contested. Those facets of its transition comprise this chapter, too, along with a discussion of its attendant hopes and tribulations.

Diplomatic foreshadowing

Speaking to Americans in 2010, former activist, political prisoner and then South African Ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rassool commented with astonishment that relationships between the two nations remain warm during the twenty-first century, despite the US government's support of the NP regime. That warmth, Rassool remarked, emanated from the human face that prominent activists and sympathizers gave their country through solidarity work. “When the climate became ripe for negotiations”, Rassool told his audience, “there was a need for foresight on both sides.” That foresight became apparent during negotiations and the Constitutionbuilding process, which McDougall and her colleagues facilitated through organizing workshops, providing legal research and expertise, and monitoring elections.

Similarly, Richard Lugar recalled conversations with a newly-released Mandela, when the realities of international support set in:

He said, “I was sitting there in that cell all this time, and I felt that I was losing my family. I wasn't seeing my children. I was losing my marriage. I felt I was losing everything. Suddenly I got word that here in this Congress, this activity was going on. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much because I suddenly realized Mrs.