Margaret Thatcher 'urged South Africa to free Nelson Mandela from prison'
MARGARET Thatcher privately urged the South African apartheid regime to free Nelson Mandela from prison, archives revealed yesterday.
Archives revealed that the Conservative Prime Minister privately urged for the release of Mandela
The Iron Lady warned President PW Botha he should arrange an "early release" of the African National Congress leader, jailed in 1964.
By not doing so, she said, his country risked suffering continued international trade sanctions.
Mandela presents the World Cup to South Africa in 1995
Mrs Thatcher's call to free Mandela came in July 1986, when Pretoria's policy of racial segregation made it an international pariah.
a commitment to the early release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC
She gained a reputation for being a friend of Pretoria after opposing sanctions against the apartheid state.
She believed complete isolation of the regime was a bad idea.
In a letter to Botha, ahead of a visit to South Africa by Foreign Secretary Geoffrey
Mandela's fellow inmates receive award for racial equality fight
Thatcher said South Africa risked more sanctions if they did not release Mandela
Howe, she first addressed Botha's reluctance to meet Mr Howe, adding that "a commitment to the early release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC" would help to fend off the threat of sanctions.
The reveal came from Whitehall documents released by the National Archives in Kew, which contain papers from the mid-1980s.
It was also revealed that Mrs Thatcher was warned that homeless people would try to dodge her flagship "poll tax" by giving up shelter to sleep on the streets.