Carte Blanche is denied permission to quote Oliver Tambo

On 30 January 1987 the Minister of Law and Order issued a message to the newspapers denying Carte Blanche, an investigative television programme permission to quote exiled president of the African National Congress (ANC) Oliver Tambo. The communication from the office of the minister stated that: "Please note that the Minister of law and order has not given Carte Blanche permission to quote Oliver Tambo. He has given permission to quote freely from three particular newspaper articles which appeared in the New York Times, New York Post and the Wall Street Journal." The message suggests a softening up on the part of the NP government. This may have been the result of the countrywide unrest that marked much of 1986, leading to the declaration of yet another state of emergency. The tone of this message, giving permission to newspapers to quote articles from the three American publications, was indicative of the pressure the apartheid government was feeling in 1987. Events in 1988, culminating in the removal of P. W, Botha in 1989 and the arrival of F. W. De Klerk were a prelude to the negotiated settlement that followed.