September 1988
In September, the British Trade Union Congress presented its gold medal to Nelson Mandela. The award was received by Secretary-General Alfred Nzo of the ANC, who gave this address to the Congress.
The National Executive Committee and the entire membership of the African National Congress are deeply moved by the presentation of the TUC's Gold Medal to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Mandela, a giant and a living symbol of our revolutionary struggle or a future non-racial, democratic South Africa, a true patriot of our country and of Africa as a whole, has asked us to convey his profound thanks for this high honour.
He would have loved to have been here in person, but regrettably, this was not possible because of the well-known circumstances under which he is living at the moment. He remains a prisoner of apartheid, 26 years after incarceration in the fascist gaols.
He is at present fighting to overcome an affliction which tells volumes on conditions he has been living under for the past quarter of a century.
Honour for our People
Our leader emphasises that this award is recognition of the brave, courageous and unconquerable struggle waged by the oppressed, exploited and dehumanised masses of our country. It is a struggle which has helped to sustain him and all other political prisoners and detainees, some of them mere children, languishing in Botha's dungeons.
Amongst this large group of imprisoned and detained men, women and children are trade union leaders and activists. There is Moses Mayekiso, facing charges of High Treason. There is Oscar Mpetha and there is Harry Gwala; both are old and in deteriorating health. Instead of receiving proper medical care and attention and the comfort, care and attention of their families and friends, they remain incarcerated. Only an inhuman regime would continue to imprison these veteran trade unionists and freedom fighters.
In the past year, the apartheid regime has refined its instruments of torture and bloody repression. Atrocities are perpetrated every single day, with death and destruction wrought upon the peoples and countries of the Front Line States and Namibia. The curtain of silence which has descended upon South Africa cannot hide this painful truth.
The mass democratic and trade union movements are under severe attack. Indeed, the very existence of an independent trade union movement is in jeopardy. The recently promulgated Labour Relations Amendment Act is designed to speed up this process. We urge the TUC and trade unions throughout the world to protest against this Act and to increase solidarity and support for SACTU, COSATU and NACTU, the democratic trade union movement in our country.
Working Class Steeled in Struggle
We are confident that the working class, steeled in struggle, and conscious of their responsibility to lead the struggle for national liberation, will never be cowed into submission. It is a working class whose history is saturated with the blood of countless heroes. During the highly successful three-day general strike in June this year, our working class gave a fitting rebuff to the pessimists who were counselling undue caution and unprincipled retreat. With your support, the trade union movement in South Africa can grow stronger and stronger.
The ferocity of the apartheid monster knows no bounds. Just two weeks ago, 27-year-old Alfred Makaleng, a trade union organiser and prominent activist of the UDF, died in prison. He had been detained for over two years. Individuals who appear on international TV programmes or give interviews are physically attacked and, in some cases, killed. Let us remember Sicelo Dhlomo, who was murdered because he appeared on a CBS television programme, and a woman reporter, Velism Mhlawuli, who was shot in the eye because she appeared on a programme, Suffer the Children, broadcast by the BBC.
Religious institutions and religious leaders are under constant attack. just a week ago, the headquarters of the South African Council of Churches was bombed and destroyed, and now the so-called Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok. describes them as "wolves in sheep's clothing," and threatens to "clip their, wings." Already, the offices of the Archbishop of Cape Town, His Grace the Right Reverend Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have been raided.
If these men and women of peace are ftwolves in sheep's clothing, " then even the English language has no words to adequately describe those who wield power in South Africa.
Arsenal of Destruction
Vigilante groups constitute a part of Pretoria's arsenal of death and destruction. In the province of Natal, more than 1,000 people have been killed by vigilante groups with the connivance of the state. We welcome the recent accords signed by Cosatu and Inkatha, to put an end to this carnage.
The apartheid regime has called ethnic local elections for October 26th. It is part of Pretoria's campaign to hoodwink the people of South Africa and the world. By this election, the racist regime seeks to demonstrate that it has crushed the unprecedented upsurge of people's power over the past few years, regained the initiative, and is on course with its programme of humanising apartheid. It beats me how anybody can imagine that you can humanise something that is inherently evil, violent and inhuman.
Botha is so confident of his reform strategy that he has made it a criminal offence to call for a boycott of these ethnic elections. It is even illegal for the media to report any call for a boycott. The state is spending millions of rands in a publicity campaign, and offering different types of inducements and bribes. They have even introduced 'prior' voting which enables people to vote privately at home two weeks before the elections. In one reported case, illiterate pensioners were given special prior-voting registration forms under the guise of pension forms.
Our People Are Not Deceived
Pretoria is reduced to this chicanery because it knows that our people will never accept the status of third class citizens. The ANC has called for a massive boycott. We have already produced and distributed under conditions of illegality - thousands of leaflets, stickers, posters and other material. The mass democratic and trade union movements are organising -special structures to meet the situation. Church leaders, Archbishop Tutu and Allan Boesak, have publicly called for a boycott. These church leaders could be arrested and in tent of the law, be subject to ten years' imprisonment or a heavy fine. The militant youth, the young lions of our country, are actively engaged in a number of actions. Government posters are ripped down, boycott slogans are superimposed on billboards advertising the elections, and slogans denouncing the elections are painted on the walls.
At this Congress we call upon the TUC, the affiliates, and all trade unionists, to protest against the con-Ling ethnic election, expose its fraudulent character and express support for a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa. The only solution is the elimination of apartheid and the establishment of a just and democratic society based on the free exercise of one person, one vote by all the people in a united and non-fragmented South Africa.
Sisters and brothers, we are only too painfully aware that the struggle is long and arduous. But the might of the South African army can be defeated. The losses suffered by the SADF in Angola have compelled Pretoria to withdraw from Angola and enter into negotiations with the governments of Angola and Cuba. The hangmen of the SADF must not be allowed to stop in Namibia. They must get out of that country, so that our ally, SWAPO, can begin to implement its programme for the building of a happy and democratic future for all the people of a free Namibia.
We Are Freedom Fighters
There are no easy victories. By their violence, brutality and daily atrocities, the apartheid regime has turned our struggle into a bloody one. Under conditions of a fascist reign of terror, in which the ANC is banned, and open political and trade union activities severely restricted or criminalised, armed struggle remains a central component of our revolutionary strategy and tactics.
We are not passive victims, offering our bodies to be tortured, mutilated or shot at. We are freedom fighters, conscious of our responsibility and duty to our own people and to the international community. Our struggle is governed by political aims and objectives. We shall continue to utilise different forms of struggle, legal and illegal, armed and unarmed, and the purposeful unity in action of the masses, to pursue the struggle until final victory is achieved. We are in no doubt that that victory will come.
We are equally certain that if there is united common international action on an even greater scale, the day of victory will be nearer still.. We therefore have to intensify all-round action for the imposition of comprehensive, mandatory sanctions. The demand for sanctions should be so powerful that even the intransigent lady would be compelled to follow suit.
We of the ANC call upon all antiapartheid forces to examine the ways and means of implementing people's sanctions. At the same time we should do all we can to increase aid, assistance and support to the Front Line States and SWAPO.
Let our demand for the release of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, Moses Mayekiso, Oscar Mpetha, Harry Gwala and all other political prisoners and detainees reach tidal wave proportions.
Let our demand for the isolation of racist South Africa become irresistible. Let our demand for support for the ANC and the mass democratic and trade union movement be taken up in every part of this country. Let us together, hand in hand, side by side, eliminate this crime against humanity.
In the name of Mandela and all those who have fallen victims to apartheid terror, let us cry out with one voice: "Apartheid has persisted far too long! Apartheid must go! It must go now!"
Thank you.