Nelson Mandela has finally been released from prison after 27 years of incarceration, the latest move in a string of South African governmental reforms initiated by the country’s newly-elected president F.W. de Klerk.

It was shaky there for a while. At first, it didn’t seem like the South African government was sincere about letting Mandela go. Then, Mandela said he wouldn’t leave prison unless de Klerk proved he was sincere about reinstating the power of the African National Congress.

Finally, in the first week of February, de Klerk took a huge brick out of Apartheid’s foundation by renouncing the 30-year-old ban on the congress, and said the government was committed to releasing Mandela within a couple of weeks.

In short, somehow or another, everybody got what they wanted and it all seems to have worked out for the best. No fairy tale endings, though. There is still a lot to deal with in South Africa.

More than 50,000 South African blacks who had fled their country because of Apartheid were invited to return to their homeland by de Klerk after Mandela was released. However, many will not come back unless the government proves it can be trusted and the reforms are not short-lived.

That’s the way it will be for a while. Thirty years of night do not end just because one man sees daylight.