Presidents of Mozambique and South Africa meet

In  search of peace two Southern African presidents, Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, successor to Samora Machel who mysteriously died in a plane crash in South Africa, met his South African counterpart P.W. Botha at Songo, in Tete province, Mozambique. The purpose of the meeting was to affirm the two countries' pledge to abide by the Nkomati Accord, which was signed in 1984 by these two countries. P.W. Botha pledged during the meeting not to support RENAMO, to defend and rebuild the Cahora Bassa power lines and to increase economic cooperation between the two countries. Chissano, on the other hand, afforded permission to senior leaders of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant Churches to open direct contact with RENAMO leaders. These developments led to a significant breakthrough in February 1989, when church leaders returned from peace talks in Kenya with a clear message that Renamo was tired of war and committed to peace.