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through paying more money. So the consideration should be made about whether
making a low starting offer will be beneficial in the long run.
During the negotiations for a democratic South Africa the ANC was originally
for the idea of the transfer of power to the majority of South Africans. However, it
lowered its demands by gradually accepting the notion of a coalition government
although it wanted to determine the rules for forming the coalition. This resulted in the
Government of National Unity (GNU), which would govern for five years, where the
decision-making process depended on sufficient consensus being reached i.e. if the
National Party and the ANC agreed. The National Party withdrew from the GNU
before the expiry of the five years. This caused an awkward situation for the ANC
because the White bureaucracy whose jobs had been guaranteed would carry out its
policies. The ANC also did not have bureaucratic capacity. The IFP was not part ofthe
decision-making process. There was a big debate on how the multiracial government
should be formed and over the allocation of powers between the regional and national
administrations.
In February 1991 Mr Mandela and Mr De Klerk reached a compromise on the
reduction of violence, the smuggling of arms into South Africa and the release of
political prisoners. The repatriation of exiles was finally achieved through the
intervention of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees especially because some of
them were returning from countries that did not have diplomatic ties with South Africa,
but their skills were sorely needed in the negotiation process.
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