He played a key role as a representative of the South African government in the secret negotiations held between them and the ANC in exile which brought about the unbanning of the latter in 1990 and the release of Nelson Mandela.
[2] He was educated at the University of the Orange Free State and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with honours.
[1]: Ch12 The others were, Fanie van der Merwe, Director-General of the Ministry of Justice, General Willie Willemse, Commissioner of Prisons, and Niel Barnard.
[1]: Ch12 On 12 September 1989, in Lucerne Switzerland, Louw and Martiz Spaarwater (Chief of Operations NIS) met Thabo Mbeki (ANC National Executive Council member) and Jacob Zuma (Deputy Head of the Department of Intelligence and Security – ANC) at a hotel room in the Palace Hotel.
[3] The view of the NIS was that a negotiated settlement was the only route for South Africa[3] and this meeting would forge a way for a political solution to the end of apartheid, with the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress.
[3] The outcome of the meeting was that the ANC was prepared to enter into further discussions with the South African government while the NIS would report back to President FW de Klerk.
In January 1990, Louw instructed Martiz Spaarwater to organise a second meeting with Thabo Mbeki and Aziz Pahad, representing the ANZ in-exile, in Lucerne on 6 February 1990.