The collapse ofthe Soviet bloc closed down the socialist alternative for the ANC, and put to an end any residual hope that power could be seized by force. Although the ANC would accept the entrenchment ofproperty rights, and a constitution based largely on the Western liberal model, it remained ideologically committed to the goals ofnational (though no longer social) revolution. The ANC now sought to attain these goals peacefully and through phases. The ANC's primary concern in the run up to the 1994 elections was effecting a smooth transfer ofpower. While Nelson Mandela placated the immediate fears ofthe white minority, Thabo Mbeki .defended the longer term goals ofthe movement. Once the threat ofcounterrevolution had pasF this dual discourse was discarded and the ANC turned towards unpicking the constraints ofthe transition. By the end of 1996 it had largely done so.