Multiparty negotiating forum meets for the first time since December 1993

Despite the negative response from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Chief Gatsha Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the multiparty negotiating forum met for the first time since December 1993 to discuss the African National Congress (ANC)'s proposals. The ANC had proposed inclusion of a constitutional principle on self-determination, to include provisions for a notion of a Volkstaat; the double-ballot system; provision for each province to manage its own finances; guarantees that the powers of provinces would not be substantially diminished by the future elected government; provision for each province to determine its own legislative and executive structures and a provision for the change of the name of the province of Natal to KwaZulu-Natal. The multiparty forum had agreed to the proposal despite the absence of the Freedom Alliance (FA), which in turn issued a statement rejecting the proposed constitutional amendments, saying that the Constitution would remain fatally flawed and the powers of the regions would still be less than those enjoyed by the non-independent homelands. The IFP rejected the proposal as utter hypocrisy and no more than cheap politicking on life-and-death issues. Buthelezi's statement came out despite the four conditions that he had set for Nelson Mandela had been accommodated. The multiparty forum also agreed that the deadline for the election date would be moved to the 4 th of March 1994.