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| 1990, Feb. 2 |
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| South African president F. W. de Klerck announced the unbanning of the ANC, the PAC, the SACP, and other opposition groups, beginning the process of negotiations for a transition to majority rule. | 1 |
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| Feb. 11 |
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| Nelson Mandela was released from prison and informally assumed the leadership of the ANC. | 2 |
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| Aug |
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| Violence broke out on the Rand between Inkatha-supporting migrant workers and township residents, resulting in more than 500 deaths. The violence was seen as the spread of the ANC-Inkatha rivalry in Natal Province, which had killed more than 3,000 since 1987. | 3 |
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