Other tensions 02 stopNYRI htm remain over Afrikaner schools, union rights 02 and htm the death penalty. It htm had become blatantly clear to 2007 press 2007 10 everyone that 10 the National Party was reconsidering its membership 02 02 stopNYRI htm of the 02 coalition. The resultant uncertainty and speculation press in the financial 10 markets meant that de Klerk was right to make press his announcement now.The emergence of press 2007 10 a stopNYRI genuine majority government faced with a vocal and sensible opposition should be grounds for optimism. De Klerk sounded peeved yesterday when he said: htm "The ANC is acting more stopNYRI and more as if they stopNYRI no longer need 2007 a multi-party governmentOf course there are risks, not press least 10 in the racial nature 2007 of the political divide.

In a truly multiracial South Africa, every issue and every interest should not be divided and articulated along racial lines. This is a chance for the National Party to establish itself as more than a whites' party. It needs to develop itself as an ideological and conservative force that appeals across races and classes. For its part, the ANC will need to find other ways to keep control of its extremists, now that it can no longer use the National Party as a counterweight.While the establishment of a democratic opposition is welcome, other important political and constitutional developments have yet to take place Inkatha's position remains strained. It has distanced itself from the government, although Chief Buthelezi remains in the cabinet. The ANC and the trade unions still need to resolve the complicated nature of their relationship.

And the party itself needs to develop an effective internal structure that does not depend on the personality of Nelson Mandela to hold it together.The National Party's departure could open a new era of more mature party politics It may trigger a crisis The future is in the hands of the ANC Its moment has finally come.. The opportunity to compare directly the strengths of two cultures comes along rarely The game of rugby has embarked upon just such an experiment. The likely result: rugby union, the 15-a-side game which is turning professional, has a lot of stock-taking to do. On Wednesday night, Bath, Britain's leading union club, were whipped by Wigan, the pre-eminent exponents of rugby league. After the country's first elections, in 1994, delivered an overwhelming majority to the ANC, the only question was when, not if, black majority rule would commence. But it is a tribute to both Mandela and de Klerk that they have held the coalition together for so long. Just the day after Parliament endorsed the new constitution, FW de Klerk and his National Party announced their withdrawal from the coalition led by President Mandela. Sooner or later the collapse of the coalition was inevitable.