Walter Sisulu is released from prison, Albertina Sisulu is on his right and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, October 1989

By the end of the 1980s South Africa had in effect become a police state. When Botha suffered a stroke in 1989 and FW de Klerk took over it had become abundantly clear that a process of reform had to begin. He released a group of prominent political prisoners, including Walter Sisulu and began to consult with them.