6 June 19801
Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to see you presiding over this important series of Council meetings.2 The oppressed people of South Africa, whose struggle has now entered a decisive stage, expect unequivocal support from this body. The well-known position of your Government and your personal commitment to the struggle against apartheidinspire us with optimism that these meetings will represent an important milestone towards the just and lasting resolution of the conflict raging in South Africa, one which seriously threatens international peace and security. The African National Congress is highly indebted to you for giving us the opportunity to share with the honourable members of the Council the view of our organization on the highly explosive situation prevailing in South Africa today.
Allow me, through you, to thank Ambassador Ide Oumarou of the Niger, who greatly facilitated the preliminary steps towards the convening of these meetings by the African Group.
In June 1976, soon after the victory of FRELIMO in Mozambique, hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren and students took to the streets protesting the slave education imposed on them and designed to prepare them "to minister to the needs of the whites". Thousands were killed, maimed, crippled, detained, tortured and imprisoned. Today, in the wake of the Zimbabwean victory and on the eve of the fourth anniversary of that savage massacre, the Pretoria regime has once again resorted to escalating repression. That is an attempt to muzzle the legitimate protest by patriotic forces in our country.
Again the schoolchildren and students have played a pivotal role in what is now a general ferment which reflects a rapidly unfolding revolutionary situation obtaining in the country. For seven weeks now the entire country has been caught up in an unprecedented upsurge in which the so-called Coloured youths have fearlessly challenged the racist ideology of the regime as manifested in the educational system. Hundreds of thousands in cities and rural areas have boycotted schools, demanding equal remuneration for their teachers, objecting to the practice of interrogation on school grounds by secret police and indicting the racist character of the educational system. They are in fact rejecting the blatant racist formulation that "there is no place for the blacks in the white community above the levels of certain forms of labour". The traditional educational budget of South Africa clearly demonstrates that for the ruling clique the education of our people is intended to ensure the master-servant relationship. The Pretoria regime spends 654 rand on each white child, while the breakdown for the Asian, the so-called Coloured and the African children was, according to the 1979 statistics, 220, 158 and 48 rand respectively.
These figures show that, in pursuit of the divide-and-rule policy, the lion's share is spent on the white child. The discrimination between Coloured, Asian and African children is clearly intended to polarize the beleaguered majority population and also falls into line with the artificial racial hierarchy instituted by apartheid. The regime proffers a larger share of the crumbs to the so-called Coloured child and the Indian child, yet they too have unequivocally rejected this racist imperative by aligning themselves with the cause of the majority. This valiant act is a barometer of the militancy of the people and a vindication of the ANC policy of forging a broad patriotic front comprising the democratic whites as well as the oppressed blacks and thus effectively isolating the real enemy - namely the white supremacist apartheidregime. It is in keeping with the policy of the ANC and its allied organizations as reflected in the Freedom Charter, whose twenty-fifth anniversary we hope will be commemorated by committed Member States on 26 June.
Despite the victimization of hundreds of thousands of youths in mass arrests, in brutal dispersal with baton charges and police dogs, with large-scale use of tear-gas and sneeze cannons, the youths backed by their parents and teachers, have persisted in their protest. They have been characterized by eyewitnesses as highly organized, disciplined and determined to continue the struggle. Those children, some of them a mere 8 or 10 years old, are undaunted by the array of modern weapons at the disposal of the racist police. The stand of the heroes of Soweto and other African townships is an inspiration to them. They were inspired by the words of the great hero Solomon Mhlangu, who was hanged on 6 April 1979, despite the stand taken by the Council [2140th meeting, para. 24]: "My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruit of freedom". The people of South Africa are now demonstrating a heightened militancy that cannot be deterred by sophisticated weaponry or sugar-coated declarations intended to placate them.
P. W. Botha’s call for a conference of all races to deliberate on matters affecting South Africa was an example of such manoeuvres. Citing as the reason for this decision the fact that the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe victory had changed the strategic situation of South Africa, he went on to pledge the maintenance of white domination, declaring "The Nationalist Party will defend the white man, his political rights and culture, and his right to self-determination". He went further and reaffirmed that there would be "no one man, one vote" in South Africa.
While the racist regime obstinately persists in embracing retrogressive racial ideologies, the masses of black oppressed people, who constitute the principal, central instrument of change, every day show their determination to carry through the task of the struggle until victory is achieved. The militancy of our people is heightened to an unprecedented degree by the extension of freedom frontiers to the very doorstep of the last bastion, the collapse of the last buffer, and the completion of the encirclement of the Pretoria regime. The fact is that in South Africa today there is, first, a steady enlargement of the so-called operational areas within the country, resulting, among other things, in the enforced removal of 90,000 of the Batlokwa people in the northern Transvaal; secondly, a spate of political trials characterized by the singularly high political awareness of the accused, who defiantly raise the ANC clenched-fist salute and sing freedom songs, while contesting the authority of the racist courts; thirdly, desertion by large numbers of white draftees who refuse to take up arms in defence of apartheid; fourthly, failure by the regime to fill 10 per cent of the vacancies in the police force, which analysts within the country attribute to systematic ANC attacks on police stations and other facilities plus the liquidation of informers - and, in view of the all-time high unemployment figure, 25 per cent of the labour force, this inability to fill police vacancies is highly significant; fifthly, the mass removal of blacks from so-called white areas to bantustans and squatter camps – 2 million since 1948; sixthly, the chain of major industrial strikes by black workers in various cities; and, lastly, the growing involvement of clergy, which culminated in the arrest of Bishop Desmond Tutu and 52 prominent churchmen who were peacefully protesting the incarceration of the Reverend John Thome, who has been closely associated with the boycotting students. Those factors represent only a partial profile of the objective cases, but they illustrate the burgeoning problems of Botha and his clique.
On 12 June 1964, Nelson Mandela, the outstanding ANC leader, was sentenced to life imprisonment together with Walter Sisulu, the former secretary-general of the ANC; Govan Mbeki, a leading economist and historian; Ahmed Kathrada, a veteran ANC member of Asian extraction; and others for their leading collective role in challenging the illegal apartheidregime.
In his defence, after eloquently articulating the ideas enshrined in the Freedom Charter, Nelson Mandela declared:
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.
Seventeen years have elapsed since Nelson Mandela made that statement -17 years, during which there has been enacted a maze of oppressive legislation designed to perpetuate institutionalized racism, plunder and exploitation overseen by an army of Gestapo-type police equipped with the most modern and lethal weapons advanced Western technology can provide; 17 years during which over 2 million black people have been forcibly moved from their homes to desolate arid bantustans, during which 90-day and 180-day renewable detentions have become commonplace, during which over 50 freedom fighters have been killed in the prison cells and torture chambers of the secret police, during which the Pretoria regime has earned the record of being responsible for 60 per cent of the world's executions.
During those 17 years the apartheidregime has not only developed a nuclear capability but also arrogated to itself the right to intervene militarily in all African countries south of the equator. It has carried out a full-scale invasion of Angola and on several occasions threatened and committed aggression against Zambia, Angola and Mozambique. It frustrated the efforts of the international community by bolstering the erstwhile Smith regime. It has continued its illegal occupation of Namibia in defiance of numerous United Nations resolutions. It has been 17 years during which the South African regime, working in collusion with certain conservative elements, has developed a sophisticated propaganda network and planted large sums of money in some Western capitals to buy opinion, to buy opinion-makers, to promote apartheidand even to influence political campaigns and have the agents of BOSS [Bureau of State Security]infiltrate prestigious international organizations; and during which the erstwhile disciples of the Hitlerite regime have forged a close alliance with the Zionist regime.
But today that power is changing hands in South Africa, and, in response to Botha's manoeuvres designed to prepare for a Muzorewa-type so-called internal settlement, the people have imposed on South Africa's political agenda the question of the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela and his colleagues. Following an editorial by Percy Qoboza of the Sunday Post and endorsement by Bishop Desmond Tutu, Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches, as well as support from a cross-section of the South African population, including a section of the white student population, the campaign to free Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners, including Toivo Ja Toivo of Namibia, has gained tremendous momentum in South Africa and abroad.
But the cancerous system of apartheidis still threatening to embroil the whole world in a conflagration whose repercussions will be far-reaching and immeasurable. Like the fascist, militaristic and expansionist Hitler regime, which plunged Europe and the world into the Second World War, the apartheidregime must be stopped and crushed despite its attitude that everyone else is out of step.
Who is to blame? Is it those against whom armed forces have been mobilized in an attempt to cow and terrorize peaceful protesters, those whose legitimate demands have been met with ever-increasing violence at each turn? Nelson Mandela's prophecy that "by resorting continually to violence, the South African regime will breed in this country violence among the people" has been proved true.
The formation of the military wing of the ANC, Umkonto we Sizwe - the spear of the nation - marked the closing of the chapter of non-violence. The people, under the leadership of the ANC, have today taken up arms and they will not lay them down until final victory is achieved, that is, the overthrow of the apartheidregime and the seizure of power by the people. Suffice it for me to quote from theWashington Post:
“Black nationalist guerrillas have struck a telling blow at the security, physical and psychological, of white South Africa. From hit-and-run raids on random targets, they have moved up to a well planned and co-ordinated attack on three formidably guarded strategic installations - an oil refinery and two oil-from-coal plants. These plants are the cutting edge of South Africa's policy of trying to become self-sufficient in strategic imports. The attack on them represents the African National Congress's policy of trying to show that self-sufficiency won't work. In South Africa the war is on”.
Who is responsible for the Pretoria regime's intransigence? It is the transnational corporations that continue to provide the life-blood to this inhuman system; it is some Western countries - especially the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Israel - which continue to pay lip-service to United Nations resolutions while bolstering the South African regime through economic, military and even nuclear collaboration. We can no longer stop at accusing the apartheidregime of threatening peace and international security. Those countries which support South Africa have become active accomplices in all the crimes committed by that regime against the South African people and against neighbouring States.
Mr. President, in paying a special tribute to the Scandinavian countries, including your country, for the unstinting role they have played in the struggle against apartheid, we regret to say that our attention has been drawn to incidents involving a Danish shipping company. According to the newspaper Politiken, ships of that company have been collecting arms and ammunition from various European ports. The ships' names have been painted out and all marks of identity erased. We are pleased that the Danish Government has instituted an investigation into this flagrant violation of the international arms embargo. We regret, however, that our attention has been drawn to another report alleging that a Norwegian shipping company is involved in transporting oil from the Persian Gulf to South Africa. We are highly appreciative of the Norwegian Government's policy of not selling South Africa any of its oil, but we deeply regret to learn that Norwegian ships are undermining the oil embargo imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil-producing countries.
Notwithstanding what may appear to be a very gloomy picture, characterized by a surprisingly high degree of collaboration with the South African regime, we remain very confident that the exemplary position taken by Nigeria against British Petroleum will be emulated by a growing number of countries in the near future.
The warning given by Ambassador Clark3 the day before yesterday [2225th meeting] must not be taken lightly. It is in keeping with the general trend in African and non-aligned countries to move from rhetorical condemnation to action against a common enemy and its accomplices.
We will not at this stage dignify R. F. Botha's letter of 5 June [S/13986] by a rebuttal. Suffice it to say that we do not expect the enemies of progressive mankind to endorse the enlightened position adopted in support of the principles and ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We are encouraged by the growing awareness of some Western countries that the downfall of apartheidis inevitable. We note that a growing number of the traditional partners of the South African regime are moving towards a realistic position vis-a-vis the just cause of our people. We hope that that attitude will coalesce into a full commitment to the aspirations of all our people in this matter.
We urge the Council to support the campaign to free Nelson Mandela and all other political prisoners in South Africa. We urge all the members of the Council to ensure that their countries and the international community strictly observe the arms embargo and respect the oil embargo imposed by OPEC countries, and to step up the campaign for the isolation of the apartheidregime, strengthen the striking power of the ANC and thereby hasten the downfall of the apartheidregime.
It is our well-considered opinion that the virulent system of apartheidcannot be reformed; it must be destroyed. Our people, young and old, have taken up arms to break the chains of bondage, not to strengthen them.
1. United Nations document S/PV.2227