President Thabo Mbeki and former president FW de Klerk met in what were described as constructive ”nation-building” talks at a game lodge near Pretoria at the weekend.
Mbeki was accompanied by a quarter of his Cabinet ministers, while De Klerk brought a group of largely Afrikaner community leaders assembled under the aegis of his De Klerk Foundation.
Presidential representative Bheki Khumalo described the discussions as ”very cordial, very frank, very constructive”.
Although it had been agreed that the talks were ”essentially private”, they had dealt with nation-building, problem areas in relationships between different communities, and mobilising South Africans to solve the challenges facing the country.
The government team had included Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, Safety Minister Charles Nqakula, Education Minister Kader Asmal and Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza.
The group assembled by the foundation had included Barlowrand chairman Warren Clewlow, Stellenbosch University chancellor Elize Botha, educationist Clive Roos, Niel van Heerden of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Afrikanerbond chairman Francois Venter.
The talks began on Friday afternoon, and ended on Saturday afternoon. Mbeki joined the discussions only on Saturday, Khumalo said.
Representative for the foundation Dave Steward also described the discussions as ”cordial and constructive”.
He said there was a previous meeting, with a similar agenda and participants, in March.
”That was more exploratory. This was substantive,” he said.
He said the participants assembled by the foundation had been there in their personal capacities, not as representatives of the organisations they belonged to. – Sapa