Pretoria, South Africa - Today marks the 20th anniversary of former President FW de Klerk's historic announcement to unban the African National Congress (ANC) and free Nelson Mandela who was a political prisoner at the time.

On 2 February 1990, de Klerk announced in Parliament: "I wish to put it plainly, that the government has taken a firm decision to release Mr Mandela unconditionally. I'm serious about bringing this matter to finality without delay. The government will take the decision soon on the date of his release."