May 2, 1990

Groote Schuur Minute

South African government–ANC formal talks open at Groote Schuur

Mandela opened by addressing white Afrikaners in Afrikaans, telling them they had nothing to fear from the ANC.

Cape Town, 2 May 1990

Delegations of the South African government and the African National Congress formally sat down at the Groote Schuur presidential residence in Cape Town on 2 May 1990. State President F. W. de Klerk led one side; ANC deputy president Nelson Mandela led the other.

The opening session ran about four hours. Each side set out what it regarded as the obstacles to substantive negotiation: political prisoners, returning exiles, security laws, the state of emergency, political violence and the ANC’s armed struggle.

Talks about talks

This was preliminary — clearing the way for constitutional negotiations rather than conducting them. A communiqué called the exchanges open and straightforward and set an agenda for continuing.

Getting there had taken a detour: talks planned for 11 April were suspended by the ANC after police killed demonstrators at Sebokeng, and Mandela and de Klerk met on 5 April to reschedule for 2–4 May. On 4 May the parties issued the Groote Schuur Minute.

Two corruptions in the listing

The entry’s “05-02-4” and the leading “4 –” in its title look like a mangled 2–4 May date range. And its linked topic is the African Union, an organization launched in 2002 with no connection to these talks.

One further caution: the ANC did not suspend its armed struggle at Groote Schuur. That commitment came in the Pretoria Minute of 6 August 1990.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The opening date is certain. The slug’s “05-02-4” and listed title’s leading “4 –” appear to be a corrupted representation of the 2–4 May date range.
The talks began on 2 May and the resulting Groote Schuur Minute was concluded on 4 May; those are related but distinct dated events.