We tend to think that there was a certain amount of inevitability to the end of white rule in South Africa. However, there were LOTS of things working against the ANC. For instance, if the Rwandan genocide and the civil wars in the Congo had happened earlier in the 1990s, I am not sure white South Africans would have agreed to free, multi racial elections. There was also a real possibility that South Africa would break up into several states due to the huge diversity within South Africa. Despite all this, Nelson Mandel got the job done, and South Africa is a unified, democratic country.