President Thabo Mbeki and key ministers on Wednesday met a Freedom Front (FF) delegation for talks on issues including language, affirmative action and farm security.
Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad said after the hour-long talks over lunch at Tuynhuys in Cape Town that they were part of ongoing discussions.
”I think what will happen is we will look in a more concrete manner with regard to these issues and listen to concrete proposals that will also come from the Freedom Front in terms of how we can find a way forward.”
He said Mbeki had undertaken to contact the ”relevant ministers” on these questions, and the government would then get back to the FF.
The recent bombings, allegedly by white right-wingers, were not raised in the talks, he said.
FF leader Pieter Mulder said he was ”quite satisfied” with the talks. The FF could not pretend to talk on behalf of all Afrikaners, but it could speak for its supporters.
He said the issue of self-determination was still on the table.
”I think we’ve gone a long way to make it a more sophisticated, more nuanced issue, but it’s still there and I think the whole message is to send a message out there that we are still busy addressing these issues.
”I really believe that in South Africa we need to end up with what I call a win-win situation… that everybody feels at home.”
Mbeki and Pahad were joined by Justice Minister Penuell Maduna in the talks; the FF sent its five-member executive committee. – Sapa