South Africa: Any Week Now, Really

When Winnie Mandela appeared after a visit to her husband at the Victor Verster prison farm near Cape Town last week, she was radiant and smiling. For the first time Nelson Mandela had talked about making arrangements for his homecoming. According to family lawyer Dullah Omar, the black nationalist leader who has been imprisoned since 1962 was "buoyant, confident and raring to go."

While no date is set for Mandela's freedom, President F.W. de Klerk is almost certain to let him go within the next few weeks, possibly during the opening session of the South African parliament in early February. Mandela's release could be followed by the unbanning of the African National Congress, the liberation of political detainees and the return of A.N.C. exiles to South Africa, helping prepare the way for a round-table conference to discuss a new constitution that will finally give blacks the vote.

Those actions will depend on the behavior of Mandela and the A.N.C. In its 78th anniversary message from Lusaka last week, the A.N.C. urged an intensification of the armed struggle against the South African government. Privately, however, A.N.C. officials admitted that they had reduced their military operations and that if De Klerk delivered a reasonable package of reforms, they would be prepared to talk about talks.