Pretoria's actions soughttoweakenfurther theanti-a9artheid opposition through thebanning oforganlzations, thorestrictions imposed onformerdetainees, the selective useofthecourtstosilence dissent andthetolerance showntothe activities ofvigilante groups anddeathsquads. 10.Inthiscontext, recentpolitical diCferences between Mr.P.~,.Botha, who reslgned inAugust 1989,andMr.Frederik Willem deKlerkseemtoreflect morea concern withtheviability oftheapartheid systemratherthananessential break withtheideologico-political conception ofapartheid. Mr.deKlel'khasreiterated hisParty's convic".lon that"grouprights" willbeprotected underanypoHtic:al dispensation offered totheblackmajority. The f~ve-year planforpolitical reformmadepUblicinJune1989isrootedinthemaintenance ofracialdivisions andseekstoentrench thevetopowerofwhites. 11 11.Theelections Cortheth,eeb)usesoftheracially segregated Parliament (Whites, Colour&cs andIndiand), heldon6September 1989,onceagainexcluded the African majority andindicate thatPretoria willcontinue toimposeitspolicyof "reforms" through repression, reg.lrdless ofthewidespread oppusition toit.This policyisbasedonafour-pronge~ approach devised bytheNational Management System(NMS),whichisakey~omponent oftheregime's security strategy, to undermine th~anti-89artheid opposition. 11Theactions ofNMSat.tempt (a)to smashallopposition, inparticular cOlnmunity organizations andactivists, through detentions andintimidation, thegrowthofvigilante groupRanddeathsquadsbeing partofthisrepressive strategy, (b)toco-optblacksb'.'"h,.p-.oving" th~living conditions inselected townships, thereby defusLHJ theCOI'Ul,UI'it ...'Sgrievtinr.es; (c)torestore theauthority oftheregime-cr~ated town coulci'~ ~hrough elections, and(d)toaddress theissueofconstitutional rights f~rbla~ks.il 12.Theregime's constitutional planenvisages '..:.ha.:.themunicipal council representatives thatwere"elected" inthe26Octo1"€Ir J9~8municipal elections will becomepolitical representatives totheregional andnacional councils andthe building blocksoftheNational Council orGreatIr.dlbatThrough anintricate consultativeprocess, theCJuncil willdevisea"newconstitution" whichwi11 provide Africans withalimitedpolitical representation atthenational level, whiledenying themthepowertochallenge thefoundations ofa9artheid. Itshould benotedthat, i~theOctober 1968municipal elections, whichwerewidely boyeotted, onthebverage, only5per,'Jntoft~~eligible votersintheAfrican townships voted-nomorethanthepercentage whovotedin1983intheelections forbJacklQcalauthorities. ~/Thesefigures showoverwhelming rejection ofthe localcouncils andofanynational structure basedonthem. 13.Current urbanization trendsindicate agrowing gapbetween thetraditional urbanworking class-located mainlywithinestablished urbantownships -andthe lapidly increasing massesofunemployed andunhoused livingininformal settlements onthefringes oftheurbanareas.Itismanyoftheunemployed ~hojointheranks ofvigilante groups. The"upgrading" schemes intheurbanareasappeartobe ·-5-deliberately selective anddesigned tofavourcertain areasattheexpense of othersl theirrealobjective istodivide andcontrol communities. 14.Theconstitutional planisboundtofailbecause ofpersistent resistance to theregime's policies, asisevident intheDefiance Campaign. In1984,the nation-wide boycott oftheelections totheracially segregated tri-cameral Parliament yielded dismally lowpollsintheColoured andIndiancommunities, notabl~'" 18and16percent,respectively. Furthermore, the"upgrading" Rchemes willnotbeeasilyimplemented, giventheeconomic problems facedbytheregime. 15.Although therepressive actions oftheregimehavedisrupted theactivities of opponents, theyhavebeanunabletodestroy anti-apartheid organizations. Resistance totheregimeisresurging withanewvigour. Thegrowing participation ofwhitesintheopposition isadding animportant dimension tothestruggle andis areflection ofthegradual erosiou oftheNational Partymonolith. Bothwithin andoutside SouthAfrica, theliberation forcesaredeveloping initiatives concerning thefutureoftheanti-~rtheid struggle inSouthAfrica andare enlisting thesupport oftheinternational community fortheseinitiatives. B.R~ssion ofthepopulation 1.Qverview