South Africa's government apologized for apartheid Friday and pushed the all-white Parliament to adopt a new constitution that would effectively abolish the body and treat all races equally.
"If ever, in the eventful history of our beloved land, there was a day that dawned with great promise, it is this day," Constitutional Minister Roelf Meyer said.Meyer addressed South African lawmakers as they began debate on a 200-page constitution that will end white minority rule and, with it, the all-white parliament.
The constitution is the product of two years of negotiation by the government, the African National Congress and about 20 other political parties. It was approved at multiparty talks in November.
However, an alliance of pro-apartheid whites and conservative blacks who boycotted the talks oppose the constitution. They say it doesn't ensure them enough autonomy.
The document is virtually guaranteed approval because President F.W. de Klerk's National Party holds a majority in parliament. The vote, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, will be the last major action by South Africa's white parliament chamber.
Meyer, the government's chief negotiator, used the occasion to offer a formal apology for the policy of apartheid, or racial separation.
"We, who were responsible for apartheid, are now saying that we want to leave that wrong behind. We are saying we are sorry. But we are also saying that we are now determined to rectify what went wrong," Meyer said.
De Klerk had issued the white minority government's first apology for apartheid in a speech last year.
The ANC, led by Nelson Mandela, sent a delegation headed by its general secretary, Cyril Ramaphosa, to watch the debate. The ANC is expected to win the nation's first multiracial elections set for April 27.