“There is an implicit assumption in the title which is very commonly seen,
heard and discussed here in South Africa, and perhaps, Southern Africa more
generally, that Nkomati represented a watershed in terms of the situation
in Southern Africa. From the Soviet perspective, that is not the case, and
what I want to do first of all is to lay out my perception of the way in which the Soviets have approached Southern Africa in recent years, then come back and relate Nkomati to the Soviets’ viewpoint, and finally talk a little about the prospects for the future.”
