WORLD : National Party Opens to Blacks
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PRETORIA, South Africa — The governing National Party agreed to open its membership to all races today when the last of four provincial congresses voted to support the proposal of President Frederik W. de Klerk.
“Our goals are beyond reproach, and we can say with elation that the National Party is on course,” De Klerk told 1,000 congress delegates meeting in Pretoria.
The move represented a sharp reversal for the National Party, which implemented the apartheid system of racial segregation and white dominance after gaining power in 1948.
The party has traditionally been the political domain of Afrikaners, the Dutch-descended whites who dominate the government.
Despite the move, it was not clear if many blacks would join the National Party. African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela has said that any prominent black would be committing political suicide if he joined the governing party.
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