26 March 1986
On behalf of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) - men, women and children who are courageously fighting against the sophisticated barbarity of Nazism commonly known as apartheid so that others may attain and enjoy full freedom in the land of their forefathers - allow me to greet you, Mr. Chairman, and those present here today, and to express to you our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for affording us this opportunity to participate in the observance of the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. We would also express our appreciation and gratitude for what the Special Committee against Apartheid has done and continues to do to mobilize the international community on behalf of our just cause.
The delegation of the African National Congress is deeply moved by the powerful messages of solidarity and the deep, as well as principled, commitment expressed by those representatives who have spoken earlier. To any normal statesman, or any adult person for that matter, who has the interests of his country and people at heart, the ghastly massacre of women and children in Sharpeville and Langa on this day 26 years ago would certainly have imparted a lesson. The sight of scores of fellow South Africans dying and writhing in their own blood as a result of gunfire wounds inflicted by their own countrymen in reply to a peaceful demonstration, one inspired by their desire to be South Africans in their own right, should have registered some feeling that there is indeed something grossly wrong in that society - all the more so in light of the worldwide consternation and condemnation that immediately drove home the message that there are two worlds in South Africa, the world of metropolitan South Africa, rich, affluent and dastardly, standing astride our country like a colossus with licence to kill and maim at will, and the world of colonial South Africa, poor and miserable, but firm in its resolve to free itself from the shackles of colonial oppression and exploitation.
However, the fascist regime in our country, happy that there are still Governments in the world that see a reason for propping up and sustaining fascism, found that the grotesque massacres at Sharpeville and Langa have absolutely nothing to teach them. After all, so long as it remains a strategic source of mineral and military convenience to the so-called West, so long will it continue to maim and kill those in that country who clamour for democracy and social justice. Apartheid is here to stay. All it needs to do is to apply plastic surgery to its ugly and decomposing face and to inflict pain and death on all those sub-humans who have the courage to call to question both the leadership and the privilege of the white man in that country. Whether or not you accept it, that is the thinking within the ruling clique in our country on this particular occasion of the twenty-sixth anniversary of Sharpeville and Langa.
How else do we explain the fact that for almost two years now the blood of our people, young and old, has been flowing non-stop in the streets of our townships, in our schools, in the factories and mines, in our churches and cemeteries? How do we explain the fact that for almost two years now South Africa has become the only country in the world where, every day, people are shot at, wounded and killed simply because they demand to be people in their own country? Where else in the world has it become an acceptable norm that weekends are occasions for mass funerals and massacres?
Where else in the world have popular leaders mysteriously disappeared without trace? Where else have eminent men who, certainly, have reason to pour scorn on a fascist clique that enjoys the support of the United States and Britain because of its gold and its so-called strategic importance to the West disappeared, to be found dead and mutilated?
There is one thing I want to put across, and that is that the fascist regime in South Africa is carrying out a genocidal war against our people. Our homes where we stay, the factories and mines where we work, the churches and mosques where we pray to a deaf god, our schools and creches have, in typical Nazi fashion, been converted into war zones. That is South Africa on the occasion of the twenty-sixth anniversary of Sharpeville and Langa.
For our people in South Africa, whether they be in gaol or in exile, the memory of Sharpeville and Langa has only one message: Stop talking about apartheid and its being reprehensible; do something practical and concrete to eradicate it, now and not tomorrow.
From that position, with the United Democratic Front as the spearhead of the legal mass democratic political mobilization movement of our people, we have in the past two years been able to achieve tremendous political victories, rendering the country ungovernable and apartheid unworkable. The political initiative is now in our hands. We have been able to knock the fascist Botha regime out of an equilibrium which it will never regain. With or without American and British support Botha now stands naked before the world without even a scrap of philosophy to cover his nakedness. We have demonstrated beyond any doubt that our masses inside the country are the decisive factor and that the role of the international community is merely to influence events there.
Thanks to the presence on the ground of the African National Congress and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe - the only organization which has been able to engage the fascist clique militarily in our country - we are now able to talk in terms of dual power in South Africa: the people's power and fascist power. That is an achievement. Whether it is palatable or not, the fact of the matter is that, for our people in South Africa, the only alternative to the fascists is the African National Congress and its ever-green Freedom Charter. We are not aware of any other political organization of relevance to our democratic struggle, and we should like this world forum to take us seriously on that point. If we are to have problems in running a free non-racial democratic South Africa, they should be problems of our own making, not problems imposed through misinformation. Our struggle in South Africa is a life-and-death tussle. Organizations must not play the liberator and stride the corridors of this building as liberators when the vast masses of our people know nothing about them.
Finally, the African National Congress of South Africa and the entire democratic movement in the country reiterate their solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Namibia, led by the South West Africa People's Organization, and with the struggle of the Palestinian people, led by the Palestine Liberation Organization. We extend our revolutionary embraces to all peoples everywhere struggling for a free and just society, for peace and for a prosperous future.
It is appropriate on this solemn occasion to register the appreciation of the ANC for the support we have received and continue to receive from the front-line States in the southern African region. The great sacrifices that continue to be made by the people of Africa in support of our struggle are a source of great inspiration to us in our struggle for national independence and self-determination. We are confident that with the continuing and growing support of the international community our victory is assured, rather sooner than later. Our struggle is a struggle for justice and human decency. Our struggle is an affirmation of man's humanity and decency. We need this Committee's support to bring about an end to the racist tyranny of man over man and the eventual establishment of a non-racial and democratic South Africa.
The commitment of the United Nations to the total and genuine liberation of all mankind is a principle that we are all duty-bound to serve. But above all, as our leader, Nelson Mandela, put it, it is a principle for which we should all be ready to die.
Let it be clear to all that there is a state of civil war in South Africa and that all those who profess to stand for justice are duty-bound to endorse and support our noble struggle for national independence and self-determination.
1. Mr. Tshwete was incarcerated on Robben Island from 1964 to 1979, and detained for some time after serving his sentence. He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the United Democratic Front and President of the Border Region of UDF.