South African regime. It seems clear that for de Klerk the gamble of ordering Mandela's release - triggering an even bigger backlash among the ultra- right and fascist elements of whites than even the unbanning of the ANC - represents more than a token exer- cise: it is a key part of a serious shift of policy, in which some kind of negotiated settlement will be sought to take the place Youth atop a statue of Smuts of the costly, unstable and internationally isolated policy of brute repression. But the new policy is contentious within the white population, not least the influential ultra-right within the armed forces of the state, who may not be able openly to challenge de Klerk but are nevertheless opposed to any concessions, and determined to mini- mise the leeway that the present concessions can open up for the emergence of mass struggle by the black population. Hence the bizarre contradiction between the final steps towards Mandela's release and the simultaneous brutal violence of police against anti-cricket tour protestors, police tactics of encouraging scabs to launch vicious attacks on striking rail workers, and the heavy- handed baton-charges against the first legal ANC rallies. Mandela's release has been accompanied by a massive hype by the world's press, designed to promote him as the one black leader with the authority to represent the repressed majority In negotiations with the ruling whites. This clearly suits de Klerk's