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What did F.W. de Klerk announce in February 1990?

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Southern Africa Sand dunes and vegetation at Sossusvlei in the Namib desert, Namibia.

In a dramatic address to Parliament on February 2, 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk announced a program of radical change to dismantle the apartheid system.12

Following this address, he took several significant actions to initiate the transition to a nonracial democracy, including:

Lifting the ban on the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania.2
Moving to release important political prisoners, most notably Nelson Mandela, who was freed nine days later.12
Committing to negotiations regarding a new postapartheid constitution that would enfranchise the Black majority.2

These steps marked the beginning of the end for institutionalized racial segregation in South Africa, leading to the country's first all-race elections in 1994.12