At the beginning of the New Year, I would like to send cordial seasonal greetings to all friends of our cause, and particularly to our friends in the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid.
Those of us who are engaged in the struggle for justice and for the destruction of racial oppression in our country are deeply grateful for all the help that is being given, both materially and morally, in our fight against a ruthless tyranny.
At this time of joy, there is much for us to sorrow over in our country, and unhappiness for many persons and families in South Africa who are bearing the brunt of apartheid oppression. But we are also conscious of the generous help which is being given by our friends, to alleviate hardship, to give legal assistance to those being persecuted for their resistance to apartheid, and to enable us to go on fighting in good heart.
For this we are especially grateful to the U.N. Special Committee on Apartheid and all its devoted workers. The Special Committee on Apartheid has engaged in many worthy ventures on behalf of the struggling masses of South Africa and I would particularly like to commend support for the Campaign for the Release of Imprisoned Politicians in South Africa; this is one project which we can never abandon, and which we must continually be working on. There can be no letting up until the men who are condemned to spend their lives in prison because they fought injustice are free: this is the duty which we owe to them and which we cannot abandon, and so I am especially glad to commend this project to which Defence and Aid International are now giving a great deal of their support and attention.since 1963, welcomed that Campaign as a means to promote greater public action.
The fight for freedom must go on until it is won; until our country is free and happy and peaceful as part of the community of man, we cannot rest. And so, at the beginning of a New Year, I greet you all and wish you well and say: Thank you, and forward to the freedom of our country.