1989 – F.W. de Klerk Lifts Ban on ANC Media in South Africa

On June 3, 1989, then-South African President F.W. de Klerk made a pivotal move by lifting the ban on media coverage of the African National Congress (ANC) and related opposition groups. This was one of the first clear signs that apartheid was beginning to crumble. Although Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned, the decision allowed ANC voices and ideas to be publicly aired for the first time in decades. The international community took this as a signal that democratic reforms might finally be on the horizon. The lifting of censorship helped shift public perception and laid the groundwork for Mandela’s release the following year and the first free elections in 1994. This milestone on June 3 represents a crack in the walls of apartheid and a turning point in the long struggle for Black South Africans’ right to representation and dignity.