I can't answer in the broad fashion you would like, but can offer this as both a starting point for others to add context to and to hopefully show how some 'truths' are fabricated:

"And then, FW de Klerk came on: 'First,' he said, 'I made sure that I had my party, my people and the state behind me. Then I made sure I had the majority of Whites behind me. And then I could release Mandela and face the risk of the negotiations', or words to that effect. I glanced sideways, and saw Meiring shaking his head with a look of incredulity on his face. 'So, General, what do you say?' I asked. In Afrikaans he said, 'Hel, hy vat 'n bietjie kortpad met die waarheid.' Literally translated: 'Hell, he takes a bit of a short cut with the truth.'

Over drinks that evening, he elaborated by saying that when De Klerk made his famous 2 February 1990 speech, it came as a complete surprise to most in the security establishment. They knew that a policy shift had to come, in fact most of the top generals, including Meiring and particularly Constand Viljoen, made it clear repeatedly that there was no military solution to South Africa's problems and that a political one had to be found. De Klerk called the generals together in November and told them that he was mindful of their views and was thinking along those lines, particularly to avoid the folly of having Mandela die in prison. But the scope of De Klerk's reforms, and the complete lack of consultation to prepare for the consequences, caught the security establishment off guard. Meiring said that once the speech became public, he, as head of the defense force, was concerned that there would be some kind of internal revolt."

The other side of history: An anecdotal reflection on political transition in South Africa Frederik van Zyl Slabbert

The author is discussing the invention of history, which was done and is still being done by both the previous and current regimes, as it is presumably done by all governments.

To put the author in context, part of the blurb from the back page of the book:

"His career in opposition politics culminated in 1979 when he became the leader of the opposition. He resigned from Parliament over the issue of the Tricameral Parliament, a foolish Nationalist constitutional development, as the ruling party stumbled towards finally accepting that Nelson Mandela must be released and a democratic South Africa negotiated. Throughout this period he arranged a number of conferences with the ANC in exile."

As an aside, he also goes into how a speech by Thabo Mbeki cast all races born in Africa as Africans, and how the 'definition' has since been changed to only include black people born in Africa.