Opening day of the CODESA negotiations.
The first plenary session of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) began on December 21 1991, at the World Trade Centre in Johannesburg. Chief Justice Michael Corbett opened the Convention with Petrus Shabort and Ismail Mohamed as presiding judges. About 228 delegates from nineteen political parties attended and pledged their commitment to negotiations by signing the Declaration of Intent. Absent from the Convention was the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) which had withdrawn from negotiations a few days earlier. The PAC believed that negotiations should be held outside the country under the stewardship of a neutral party, such as the United Nations or the Organisation of African Unity . Other more extremist organisations such as the Conservative Party and Azanian People's Organisation also did not attend.
Graeme Williams