Working to bridge the divides in the Western Cape

This week a new government was formed in the Western Cape. This brought the ANC and the NNP back into the same executive for the first time since 1996, when the NNP left the Government of National Unity.

The process leading up to the formation of the new provincial government has been attended by much public comment about the meaning of this co-operation. Some of this has been critical and even hostile. It is perhaps right that we say something about these matters.

As we negotiated the 1993 constitution, one of the matters that was uppermost in our minds was the need to ensure that those who had benefited from apartheid should not feel threatened by democracy. We reasoned that if they felt threatened, they would resist the change, which our country needed desperately. It was clear that if this resulted in the perpetuation of conflict, this might very well turn our country into a wasteland, with unacceptable losses in human lives.

We were conscious of the fact that the then NP represented the majority of the white population of our country. These included people who exercised considerable power in our society, including the state administration, the security forces and the economy. It would clearly have been fundamentally wrong to turn these powerful sections of our population into enemies of the process of the transformation of our country into a non-racial and non-sexist democracy.

Taking all this into account, the ANC proposed the "sunset clause" which created the possibility for the establishment of the Government of National Unity (GNU). In other words we took the deliberate decision that the oppressed and the oppressor should work together to manage our transition to democracy.

Consistent with this approach, the ANC also took the deliberate decision that we should handle the issue of crimes committed in defence of the apartheid system in a particular way. We wanted to ensure that the resolution of these crimes of the past should not serve as the cause of renewed conflict. We therefore proposed that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be established.

When the NNP decided to withdraw from the GNU, we sought to discourage its leadership from taking this step. This was not because we felt that we could not govern the country without the NNP. It was because we remained convinced that it was necessary for the political forces that had been opposed to each other, together with the constituencies they represented, to continue to work together to take the country through its transition.

Again, in 1999, when the NNP wanted to enter into coalition with the DP in the Western Cape, we tried to discourage the leadership of the NNP from taking this step. It was clear to us that the formation of this coalition government, excluding the single largest political organisation in the Western Cape, the ANC, would only serve to take us backwards towards the racial divisions we were striving to overcome.

This view was reinforced by what had happened to the DP in the period since 1994. The transformation of the DP into a right wing political party is extensively dealt with in the recently published book, "A Marriage made in Heaven". That account makes the point clear that the DP took advantage of the fact that the NNP was striving to shed its apartheid past to occupy the political space originally occupied by the NP.

Accordingly, the DP presented itself as the most determined representative of white interests. It sought to project everything the ANC was doing as constituting a threat to the white section of our population. Evoking the old scares previously used by the NP to keep itself in power, the DP became the new proponent of "die swart gevaar". Naturally, in the end, the DP had to arrive at the position in which it would commit itself to "fight back" against the "black danger".

It was therefore clear that once the NNP went into an alliance with the DP, it would be obliged to abandon its own efforts to outgrow its apartheid past. Thus the NNP-DP government in the Western Cape would bring together parties that had no base among the African majority. This would also be on the basis of the divisive right wing platform that had enabled the DP to displace the NNP as the largest representative of the white population.

Even more worrisome, was the fact that here we were dealing with the Western Cape. Arguably, this province stands out as the one area in our country with the most acute racial tensions. This arises directly from policies pursued by the apartheid regime according to which, among other things, the Western Cape was governed as a "Coloured labour preference area". An NNP-DP coalition could not but move us further away from the goal of transforming the province into a non-racial entity.

Our country continues to be defined by its colonial and apartheid past. The ANC has made this point many times. Some in our country have accused us of focusing on this reality because we want to "re-racialise" South Africa. These have argued that we draw attention to the challenge to eradicate the legacy of colonialism and apartheid for opportunistic political reasons, to retain our support especially among the African population.

The truth however is that racial divisions and disparities remain a fact of our lives. It will take a considerable period of time for us to achieve the objective prescribed by our constitution, of the creation of a non-racial society. As part of this process, we have to defeat the scourge of poverty. We have to narrow the enormous socio-economic disparities that divide black and white. As we all know, these disparities affect every aspect of our national life. They are clearly visible everywhere and stand out as a constant challenge to all of us. All thinking people can see that considerable effort and resources will be required for us to build the new society.

Happily, it is true that we are making progress in the socio-economic field, to build the new society we have to construct. I am certain we would all agree that we are not moving as fast as the situation demands. All of us would like to see our situation changed in a day. The reality however is that our possibility to move forward faster is dependent on such resources as we can generate.

The question therefore is not whether we want to achieve faster progress, which is unquestionable. The issue is whether we have all the means to achieve this goal. The answer to that is clear. We do not. Nevertheless, we will persist with whatever we have to do what needs to be done to provide the better life for all to which we are committed.

At the same time, we have to continue to address the persistence of racist ideas and practices in our society. It is obvious that this is a difficult matter to deal with. To hide their racism, some accuse those who point to their racism, of using the "racist card". This makes it impossible to confront the real challenge we have to deal with.

Yet we know that many opinions in our country are informed by persistent and deep-rooted stereotypes of black people. This even relates to the future of our country about which, strangely, some people continue to be pessimistic. Many concerned foreign business people constantly tell us of South African business people who seem quite happy to paint as bleak a picture of our country as possible.

Other South Africans seem forever determined to project our country as being the worst in the world in many respects, regardless of facts and actual reality. This determination to ensure that our country is seen as "the capital" of everything bad covers a number of areas, including crime and disease. Much of this effort is driven by the centuries-old racist convictions about what black people are and how they behave. Any incident is therefore seized upon to reaffirm the racist stereotypes. Any factual information that challenges these stereotypes is dismissed as being mere "denial".

These racist attitudes continue to inform the actions of some of our citizens. They constitute part of the mixture that complicates the important struggle we have to wage to build a non-racial society and a common patriotism. To hide this reality will not help us to solve the problem. To deny the existence of these attitudes is to ensure their preservation. Bearing in mind all these considerations, and given our unwavering commitment to ensure the transformation of ours into a non-racial society, we were greatly encouraged by the efforts of the NNP to rid itself of its racist past. We saw the New NP as an important player in the critically important struggle to create a non-racial South Africa. We were and are very willing to work with the NNP to achieve this objective.

Some have sought to counterpose such united action with the need for strong political opposition to the ANC. It is argued that this is more important than the unity of all political forces in our country to defeat and root out the scourge of racism. Naturally, those who make this argument know nothing about the impact of racism on the overwhelming majority of our people. To them this becomes a matter of secondary importance, which can and should be superseded by other considerations.

However, our experience and the conditions of life of millions of our people do not allow that we treat the matter of racism and the racial divisions of our country as a peripheral issue. This is what stands at the heart of the decision of the ANC to work with the NNP in the Western Cape and elsewhere in our country.

The new government of that province will have to work together to bridge the gaps among the white, Coloured and African populations of the Western Cape. It will have to act together to reduce and eliminate any antagonisms and mutual suspicions that might exist among these various sections of our population.

It will have to act firmly to alleviate the poverty that afflicts especially the Coloureds and the Africans. It will have to address the social demoralisation and alienation that result in the commission of horrible crimes by disempowered black people against other disempowered black people.

The tasks facing the new government of the Western Cape are a matter of national importance. Its successes will play a major role in the national struggle to end poverty, dehumanisation and racism. For this reason, this provincial government deserves our fullest support. We wish the Western Cape government success in its vital work for the genuine liberation of all our people, both black and white.

Isreal-Palestine conflict I

Declaration of conscience challenges roots of mistrust

The declaration of conscience by several South Africans of Jewish descent on the Isreali-Palestinian conflict will contribute to the global effort to achieve a just resolution of the conflict, the ANC said today in a statement of support.

The declaration, which has been signed by a number of prominent South Africans of Jewish descent, calls on the Isreali government to work in partnership with the Palestinian leadership and the international community to build a lasting peace. This should be on the basis of reconciliation and realising the solution of two independent states living side by side in friendship and co-operation.

The declaration correctly identifies the denial of the right of Palestinian people to self-determination as the central obstacle to the achievement of lasting peace and justice for both the Palestinian and Isreali people.

Peace will never be achieved in the Middle East until the legitimate desire by both Isrealis and Palestinians for security, nationhood and dignity are equally realised, the ANC statement said.

"At this moment of increased terror and heightened violence and tension, it is essential that voices such as these are heard throughout the world. It is essential that in such a climate of anger, suspicion, accusation and counter-accusation, there are people who are able to throw off the blinkers of prejudice and hate and honestly seek workable solutions to this problem," it said.

While all South Africans need to stand up for a just peace in the Middle East, the significance of this stance by South Africans of Jewish descent should be appreciated. This act of declaration - while advocating for a constructive approach to the conflict - begins to challenges some of the prejudices and stereotypes that have fuelled the conflict.

The involvement of white South Africans in the struggle against apartheid helped to cement the strong non-racial approach of the struggle for democracy. Similarly, this act should challenge the notion that Jewish people are bound to support the oppressive policies and practices of the Isreali state. It must also challenge the notion that support for the rights of the Palestinian people necessarily means the denial of the rights of the people of Isreal.

"The horrific events of the last few days have demonstrated that, now more than ever, people of conscience need to stand up and publicly challenge those actions which are bound to prolong the conflict even further, exacting an ever-greater toll on ordinary people and rendering a sustainable solution that much further from reach.

"Now is not the time for a hardening of attitudes. It is instead the moment when people of different faiths, nationalities and cultures must harden their resolve to find peaceful and just solutions. This declaration is part of just such a resolve," the ANC statement said.

Isreal-Palestine conflict II

'Our history compels us to speak out'

A number of South Africans of Jewish descent have chosen to express themselves on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "as a matter of conscience and concern for the safety and well being of the Israeli and Palestinian Peoples and for world peace". This is the text of their declaration:

The Fundamental Causes of the Conflict
"We assert that the fundamental causes of the current conflict are Israel's suppression of the Palestinian struggle for national self-determination and its continued occupation of Palestinian lands.

"We do not dispute that certain sectors of the Palestinian population have resorted to terror and we condemn innocent killings of civilians from whatever quarter. Yet this is not the root cause of the problem.

"The state of Israel was founded as a homeland for the persecuted Jews of Europe. It came into being as a result of a war of independence. The action of the British in assuming that Palestine was theirs by colonial mandate to dispose of, inflicted a great injustice on the Palestinian people. This was compounded by the subsequent Israeli rule of the Occupied Territories and the denial of the legitimate claims of the Palestinian refugees.

"Recognition of the fundamental causes of the ongoing violence does not constitute anti-Semitism. Rather, it constitutes an urgent call on the Israeli government to redress injustice, uphold human rights, and satisfy legitimate claims, without which peace negotiations will fail. Nor does it amount to a denial of Israel's right to exist. It recognises that such negotiations require that the Western Powers, the Arab States and the Non-aligned States through the aegis of the United Nations guarantee the mutual security of the state of Israel and the state of Palestine."

Our History Compels Us to Speak Out
"All Jews live in the shadow of the Holocaust. For some of us, the lesson of that tragedy has been that survival is the highest morality. For others of us, the lesson is that Jews must support justice and freedom from persecution for all people. Many feel torn between these two. But we believe that Jewish survival and the fulfilment of Palestinian national aspirations are not mutually exclusive goals. We believe that the path forward is through championing the legitimate desires of the Palestinian people, and we reject an approach that is guided by existential fear and which sacrifices principles of justice in the name of collective survival."

Repression Intensifies Resistance
"In light of the suffering that we Jews have experienced ourselves, especially in the past century, we object to the ruthless security methods employed by the Israeli government against Palestinians. These include the deployment of bulldozers, tanks, helicopter gunships, and fighter planes; the use of lethal force, as a matter of policy, even against civilians armed with stones and slings; the targeted assassination and extra-judicial killing of political leaders and activists; the "collective punishment" of Palestinian communities; the demolition of homes, destruction of farms, and uprooting of olive groves; and the stringent curfews and roadblocks that make normal life impossible and create a daily ritual of control and humiliation. These intolerable practices, together with the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, invite condemnation of the Israeli government and give rise to further resistance against it.

"In November 2000 the Israeli cabinet considered a document prepared by the Prime Minister's office on alleged transgressions by the Palestinians. The Acting Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, opposed the distribution of the document on the grounds that no one would be surprised that a people under occupation had failed to honor its agreements with its occupier: "Accusations made by a well-established society about how a people it is oppressing is breaking rules to attain its rights do not have much credence."

"We take note of the fact-finding report by members of South Africa's Parliament who visited the Middle East in July 2001. The report observes: "It becomes difficult, particularly from a South African perspective, not to draw parallels with the oppression experienced by Palestinians under the hand of Israel and the oppression experienced in South Africa under apartheid rule."

"We are committed to justice and freedom for pragmatic as well as ethical reasons. Oppression almost always gives rise to rebellion and thereby threatens the security of the oppressor. Repression and reprisals in response to rebellion provide no relief. They only deepen, broaden and prolong the cycle of violence and counter-violence. The notion that security can be achieved through reliance on force is demonstrably false, as the struggle against apartheid testified.

"The struggle against apartheid also demonstrated that successful resistance to oppression depends on a coherent non-violent strategy alongside the armed struggle. Palestinian intellectual and activist Edward Said recently wrote: "The answer to our needs is in principled resistance, well-organised civil disobedience against military occupation and illegal settlement, and an education system that promotes co-existence." We also note that the key to successful resistance in South Africa was a commitment in good faith by the resistance movement to the suspension of the armed struggle once negotiations had begun. This commitment has also recently been made by the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.

"We note that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has repeatedly condemned terrorism and we call on him to pursue every effort to end terrorist acts committed by some sectors of the Palestinian population. President Mbeki has provided moral guidance by stating that "no circumstances whatsoever can ever justify resort to terrorism". We note that Chairman Arafat is only able to rule with great difficulty in the Palestinian areas and hope that the situation in the Occupied Territories improves to the point where the Palestinian leadership can offer security guarantees to the Israeli people. But this will be impossible to achieve in the context of current Israeli policies - especially the expansion of settlements, the aggressive and pointless reprisals, and the collective punishment of the Palestinian people for individual acts of terror. "

The Security of Israelis and Palestinians is Inseparable
"We understand the fears of Jews in Israel and their longing for security. The security of Israelis and Palestinians, however, is inseparably intertwined. Neither group will be secure as long as the other is insecure. There is consequently no alternative to a negotiated settlement that is just, that recognises both Palestine and Israel as fully independent sovereign states, and that provides for peaceful coexistence and co-operation between these states. It is only on this basis that peace and security can be achieved. Shimon Peres recently stated: "We want to see an independent Palestinian state successful, flourishing. We think that the better the Palestinians have it, the better neighbour we shall have." We fully agree, and stress that it is incumbent on Israel, the dominant force and power over the Palestinians, to demonstrate its serious intent in this respect.

"We also call attention to the insecure status of Palestinians and non-Jews living within Israel's 1948 boundaries. We insist that Israel take steps to guarantee the full and equal rights of all who dwell within its borders -Jews and non-Jews alike."

A Call For Peace and Security
"Israel carries a great responsibility to improve the dangerous state of affairs, in the Middle East and internationally, by recognising the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and creating the basis for peace and stability.

"We fully support the joint call to the international community by President Bouteflika of Algeria and President Mbeki of South Africa in October 2001 to ensure that peace be restored to the region through dialogue and negotiations. We support their call for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Palestinian Territories.

"We call on South Africans of Jewish descent, and Jews everywhere, to raise their voices and join with all governments and people in support of justice for Palestine and peace and security for all in the Holy Land. This is a vital step towards reducing the grave threat of international disorder and anarchy which the September 11 terrorism in the USA has so horrifically demonstrated.

"As an immediate step toward peace, we call on the government of Israel:

• To resume and sustain negotiations with the Palestinian Authority in good faith.
• To conduct negotiations within the framework of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations - Resolutions 242 and 338 in particular -and expanding on the proposals tabled at negotiations in early 2001.
• To conduct its security operations with restraint and in accordance with humanitarian law.
• To work in partnership with the Palestinian leadership and the international community to build a lasting peace on the basis of reconciliation and realising the solution of two independent states living side by side in friendship and co-operation."

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