STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - CONDEMNING BRUTAL SENTENCE IMPOSED ON REVEREND DAVID RUSSELL, FEBRUARY 29, 1980(1)
The Reverend David Russell, an Anglican priest in the African township of Nyanga, has been highly respected for his opposition to apartheid and his efforts to assist and show compassion to the African people who had been deported to desolate camps and to the squatters who had been threatened with the demolition of their communities.
The apartheid regime served him with five-year banning orders in 1977, restricting him to Cape Town, prohibiting him from meeting more than one person at a time and confining him to his home every night and at week-ends. The press was prohibited from reporting any of his statements.
Reverend Russell defied the banning orders last December to attend the Anglican Synod in Port Elizabeth.
For this "offence" and for the possession of a book - Biko - by Donald Woods which had been sent to him - he was sentenced yesterday to one year in jail. He was also given additional sentences of 27 months' imprisonment, suspended for five years.
Bishop Desmond Tutu, Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches, commended Reverend Russell as "a tremendous agent for God's grace" and said "his only crime is that he cares about God's suffering children". He denounced the sentence as vicious and pointed out that such injustice filled the people with "revulsion, bitterness and anger".
I trust that all Governments and men and women of conscience will join in denouncing the sentence on Reverend Russell and redouble action for the elimination of apartheid.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - COMMENDING ANTI-APARTHEID ACTIVITY BY STUDENT AND YOUTH GROUPS, MARCH 12, 1980(2)
The Special Committee against Apartheid has noted with great satisfaction that student groups in the United States intend to observe the period from March 21, 1980, the twentieth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, to April 6, as a time of special activity for divestment from South Africa and in support of the struggle of the national liberation movement of South Africa.
It has also been informed that regional conferences of student groups will be organised - in New York City, Kalamazoo, Michigan and Seattle, Washington - to ensure coordination and intensification of activity against apartheid. The Special Committee has decided to send delegations to these Conferences, the first of which will be held in Columbia University, for campus groups from the northeast region.
The Special Committee has been greatly encouraged by the activities of student and youth groups around the world in support of the liberation of South Africa. It is taking a number of measures to encourage and promote these activities.
Student actions in the United States and other Western countries are of particular importance since the Governments, corporations and institutions in these countries continue to collaborate with the racist regime and thereby encourage it to persist in its inhuman and criminal system of apartheid. By their campaigns for divestment from South Africa, the students are pressing their societies to live up to their moral professions and educating their communities to the real issues involved in South Africa where the overwhelming majority of the people are struggling against a racist system and its allies.
The Special Committee commends them and assures them of its full support.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - EXTENDING CONDOLENCES ON DEATH OF LILLIAN NGOYI, MARCH 20, 1980(3)
It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the passing away on 13 March in Soweto of Lillian Masediba Ngoyi, a great leader of the oppressed people of South Africa and an indomitable fighter against apartheid.
On this occasion I would like, on behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, to extend to her two children and family our heartfelt condolences.
Lillian Ngoyi will always be remembered by friends and foes alike, for she never wavered in her faith in the ultimate downfall of the apartheid system and the advent of a just, free and non-racial South Africa. Throughout her life, she spared neither effort nor sacrifice to live up to her word and commitments. In so doing, she gained the admiration and support of the oppressed people of South Africa and of her many friends throughout the world while forcing the respect of her racist foes.
A garment worker by trade, Lillian Ngoyi was President of the African National Congress of South Africa Women's League and the Federation of South African Women before she was banned in 1962 and again in November 1965 until November 1972. This ban was renewed until 1975, when she was served with a new ban which was to expire on May 31, 1980.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - COMMENDING FREE SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICAL PRISONERS CAMPAIGN, MARCH 21, 1980(4)
I have learned with satisfaction of the campaign launched in South Africa, on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, for the release of Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the people. There is little doubt that the demand for the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners represents not only the view of the overwhelming majority of the South African people but an imperative prerequisite to avert a catastrophe in South Africa.
At a meeting at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, attended by many black leaders and others, Miss Zinzi Mandela, daughter of Nelson Mandela, said:
"I have seen the anger of my people mounting. But perhaps with the release of my father, there could be an alternative to the bloodbath."
I hope that all those South Africans who are blinded by racism and the propaganda of the apartheid regime will wake up to this reality and avert a bloodbath.
The twentieth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre must mark an ever wider international effort for the release of political prisoners and for the participation of the genuine leaders of the people in the determination of the destiny of South Africa.
MESSAGE BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - GREETING CANON COLLINS, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE AND AID FUND FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA, ON HIS 75TH BIRTHDAY, MARCH 24, 1980(5)
I have great pleasure, on behalf of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid to send you my greetings and best wishes on the occasion of your seventy-fifth birthday.
Thirty years of your life have been devoted to the support of the righteous struggle of the African peoples - especially the peoples of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the territories formerly under Portuguese domination - for freedom.
You have constantly appealed to all men and women of conscience to appreciate the aspirations of the oppressed people for human equality irrespective of race, colour or creed.
You have performed a historic service through assistance to the victims of racial discrimination and repression in southern Africa.
Through your efforts millions of people, especially in Western countries, have expressed solidarity with the oppressed people of southern Africa and demonstrated it by action. Your pioneering work has also contributed to the establishment of United Nations programmes of assistance.
You have always respected the right of the peoples of southern Africa to determine their means of struggle and their destiny by providing assistance without regard to differences of ideology and other considerations.
By your convictions, your sacrifice and your contribution, you have earned the unqualified gratitude and respect of the national liberation movements and all their true friends.
We recognise that there can be no recompense for your many sacrifices except the triumph of freedom.
On this occasion, I would like to assure you, on behalf of the Special Committee, that we will redouble our efforts so that the cause of freedom and majority rule which has triumphed in Zimbabwe shall soon triumph in South Africa itself.
We pledge to continue our efforts to ensure that the International Defence and Aid Fund for southern Africa, which you have led, receives all necessary support to enable it to assist the oppressed people and their national liberation struggle and to continue to rouse the conscience of the world to the issues at stake in South Africa in this crucial period of the struggle for emancipation.
LETTER BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - TO OLIVER TAMBO, PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, GREETING ANC ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FREEDOM CHARTER (26 JUNE), JUNE 17, 1980(6)
I have great pleasure in sending you my greetings, on behalf of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, on the occasion of the South Africa Freedom Day which coincides this year with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter.
The Freedom Charter, I may recall, was adopted by the Congress of People in 1955, seven years after the apartheid regime came to power in South Africa and enacted series of draconian measures to institutionalise racist domination and to suppress by force the legitimate aspirations of the black people in violation of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It is to its great credit that when the apartheid regime was provoking bitterness and hatred along racial lines, particularly against the black majority of the population of the Republic, the African National Congress of South Africa convened a conference to adopt a Charter for the rights of all the people of South Africa, irrespective of race, colour or creed. It thereby proved that the struggle of the African people is indeed for the liberation of all the people of South Africa from racist tyranny and for the establishment of a genuinely democratic State.
The Freedom Charter assisted world public opinion to understand and admire the righteous struggle of the oppressed people of South Africa. In the hard and difficult struggle against a ruthless regime backed by greedy and powerful forces from abroad, the Charter has enabled the liberation struggle to increasingly obtain the solidarity and support of the great majority of humanity.
I note with great appreciation that in spite of the increasing savagery of the racist regime, the African National Congress and its allied organisations have continued to uphold the principles of the Freedom Charter.
Today, as the South African people enter the final and decisive stage of their struggle for emancipation, it is only right that their legitimate aspirations should be made clear to the entire world.
In its determination to fulfil those aspirations - in peace if possible and by armed resistance if necessary - the national liberation movement deserves the unequivocal support of all men and women of conscience.
I wish you success.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - APPEALING TO CBS-TV NOT TO BROADCAST BOXING MATCH IN BOPHUTHATSWANA, OCTOBER 3, 1980(7)
My attention has been drawn to plans by CBS-TV to televise the World Boxing Association Heavyweight Championship fight between the American Mike Weaver and the South African Gerrie Coetzee. The fight will be held on October 25, 1980, in the South African bantustan, Bophuthatswana.
On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, I would appeal to CBS-TV to cancel the projected broadcast which would be in contravention of the International Declaration against Apartheid in Sports and United Nations resolutions and, indeed, a hostile act against the great majority of the people of South Africa. The planned broadcast secures only the propaganda that the apartheid regime seeks to divert the world opinion from its racist policy.
The Pretoria regime remains committed to racism in all fields, including in sports. In spite of cosmetic integration at the international level, sports at the local level is still totally segregated. Worse than this, it is a regime without parallel which has been repeatedly condemned, not only for violations of law and morality but for massacres of unarmed people and numerous acts of aggression.
In addition to that, the fight would be televised from the bantustan Bophuthatswana, one of the so-called "homelands". This is the very symbol of the apartheid structure which was designed to consolidate the inhuman policy of apartheid, to destroy the territorial integrity of the country, to perpetuate white minority domination and to deprive the African people of South Africa of their inalienable rights.
The General Assembly unanimously declared that policy as totally invalid and called upon the international community to deny any form of recognition to a so-called "independent" bantustan. By televising the fight from Bophuthatswana, CBS, in effect, would legitimise this inhuman policy.
Therefore, the telecast by CBS-TV would be an act of contempt against millions of oppressed people struggling against racist tyranny in southern Africa and an affront to humanity.
In conformity with General Assembly resolution 34/93 G, paragraph 6, of October 12, 1979, I also appeal to the Government of the United States to take effective measures to prohibit CBS-TV from having any dealings with the so-called "independent" bantustan.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - COMMENDING SIX UNITED STATES ORGANISATIONS FOR CAMPAIGN AGAINST INVESTMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA, JANUARY 9, 1981(8)
I am delighted to learn that six United States organisations - American Committee on Africa, Transafrica, Washington Office on Africa, Clergy and Laity Concerned, American Friends Service Committee and Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility - have initiated a campaign to press for further action by state legislatures and city councils to divest from banks and corporations involved in South Africa.
The Special Committee has, ever since its inception in 1963, constantly called for an end to loans to, and investments in, South Africa. It has pointed out that investment in apartheid, a criminal system of oppression and exploitation of the great majority of the population of the country, is utterly immoral. Such investment constitutes encouragement and assistance to racist rulers and is a hostile act against the people struggling against racist tyranny.
Most of the Member States of the United Nations - especially the African, non-aligned and socialist States - have imposed sanctions against South Africa in response to the appeals of liberation movements and the United Nations General Assembly, often at substantial sacrifice. The Special Committee has noted with satisfaction that several of the smaller Western countries have, in recent years, responded to these appeals and to public opinion in their countries by taking action to prohibit or discourage new investments in South Africa. But regrettably the major Western Powers continue stubbornly to resist any economic measures against the apartheid regime which remain the only effective peaceful measures for the elimination of apartheid.
The Special Committee has, therefore, followed with interest actions taken by state governments, city councils and other institutions - in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries - to withdraw investments from banks and corporations which continue involvement in South Africa. These actions - promoted by churches, trade unions, students and other groups committed to liberation of South Africa - are acts of conscience and expressions of solidarity with the struggling people of South Africa. They constitute significant support to the efforts of the United Nations to promote effective action at the national and international levels.
The Special Committee has, therefore, encouraged and commended such actions. I hope that other public organisations will join with the six United States groups which have initiated the present coordinated campaign and work actively at state and city levels to secure wider action. The question of apartheid must be of particular concern to public opinion in the United States in so far as it involves oppression, humiliation and exploitation of black people on the grounds of the colour of their skin.
The Special Committee is this year redoubling its efforts for sanctions against the apartheid regime and organising an International Conference on Sanctions against South Africa in cooperation with the Organisation of African Unity. It will promote not only actions by Governments of Member States but also by organisations and by men and women of conscience all over the world.
While commending the initiative of the six United States organisations, I must add that the Special Committee is promoting similar activities in other countries and welcomes the cooperation of all organisations committed to the cause of freedom and equality.
LETTER BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - TO COR GRONENDIJK, CHAIRPERSON OF WORKGROEP KAIROS AND OF SHIPPING RESEARCH BUREAU IN THE NETHERLANDS, COMMENDING CAMPAIGN FOR AN OIL EMBARGO AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA, MARCH 20, 1981(9)
On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, and on my own behalf, I would like to commend the excellent contribution made by the Shipping Research Bureau to the efforts for an effective oil embargo against South Africa as an important means for the elimination of apartheid.
We have followed with great appreciation the very effective and nation-wide campaign launched by the Holland Committee on Southern Africa and Work Group Kairos in 1979 for the oil embargo. The mobilisation of wide public support, which resulted in the resolutions adopted by a large majority in Parliament, were a tribute to the painstaking efforts of the two organisations dedicated to freedom in southern Africa.
The Shipping Research Bureau - established after the International Seminar on an Oil Embargo against South Africa, organised by the Holland Committee and Work Group Kairos, in cooperation with the Special Committee - was intended to undertake essential research on violations of the oil embargo in order to facilitate governmental and non-governmental efforts for the implementation of the embargo.
The Bureau has already, within its first year, fully justified its existence. It has documented and drawn attention to the nefarious means used by various interests to frustrate the embargoes against South Africa instituted by almost all oil-exporting countries. It has thereby helped public opinion in several Western countries to exert its influence towards essential action.
The reports of the Bureau have also been valuable to the Special Committee against Apartheid in its continuing efforts for the oil embargo.
The work of the Bureau must continue and be extended until there is an effective international machinery to monitor the oil embargo and punish the culprits. I hope that it will receive the necessary cooperation, as well as material and financial support, towards this end.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - APPEALING FOR SUPPORT TO BISHOP DESMOND TUTU, APRIL 10, 1981(10)
The Special Committee against Apartheid is highly gratified and encouraged to learn that Bishop Desmond Tutu, General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches and sometime Bishop of Lesotho, was granted an audience by His Holiness Pope John Paul II at the Vatican last Wednesday (8 April). Coming so soon after he had been received by His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, on 2 April, it is an event of great significance in the growing awareness of the international community of the evil of apartheid and of the increasing concern and interest of church leaders to support the cause of the oppressed people of South Africa.
It will be recalled that in his address to the United Nations on October 2, 1979, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, in describing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the basic cornerstone of the United Nations, said:
"This Declaration was paid for by millions of our brothers and sisters, at the cost of their suffering and sacrifice brought about by the brutalisation that darkened and made insensitive the human consciences of the oppressors and of those who carried out a real genocide. This price cannot have been paid in vain. If the truth and principles contained in this document were to be forgotten or ignored, and were thus to lose the genuine self-evidence that so distinguished them at the time they were brought painfully to birth, then the noble purpose of the United Nations Organisation would be faced with the threat of a new destruction."
Bishop Desmond Tutu's efforts for peaceful change in South Africa aim at the achievement of the basic human rights and liberties embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He has demanded common citizenship for all South Africans, the abolition of the hated Bantu Education and Pass Laws, and the convening of a national convention of all people of South Africa to jointly determine their future. The Special Committee has all along strongly supported these demands.
Yet, Bishop Tutu's efforts to get the international community to persuade the South African regime to sit at the negotiating table in good faith in order to avert a violent conflict have met with that regime's repressive measures.
In London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, who met Bishop Tutu on 2 April, praised him as "a loving, sincere Christian and a man of passionate conviction". He fully supported Bishop Tutu in speaking "on behalf of the many who did not have a voice or vote" and said that "it is the duty of the Christian Church to support the cause of the poor and the oppressed and, as a bishop of the Church, Desmond has done this without fear or favour".
Bishop Tutu was met on his return to Johannesburg on 9 April by a tumultuous crowd and given a hero's welcome.
Bishop Tutu, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, has received increasing national and international praise for his peaceful efforts, including an honorary degree from Harvard University.
While Bishop Tutu was having talks with United Nations officials, including the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, and with leading churchmen and politicians in the United States and the United Kingdom, it was disclosed that the South Africa racist minority regime had secretly funded the Christian League to break the influence of the South African Council of Churches, of which Bishop Tutu is the General Secretary.
Soon after he spoke before the Special Committee on 23 March, the Prime Minister of South Africa announced that Bishop Tutu's passport would be seized upon his return to South Africa. That threat was repeated yesterday. There seems to be no limit beyond which the apartheid regime will not go to silence the opponents of apartheid by persecution and repression.
On behalf of the Special Committee, I urge again all Governments, organisations and individuals to denounce the persecution of Bishop Desmond Tutu by the South African regime and to exert all possible influence on that regime to desist from acts of repression on opponents of apartheid.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - ON ELECTION OF FRANCOIS MITTERAND AS PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, MAY 13, 1981(11)
On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, I wish to extend my congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Francois Mitterand on his election as President of the Republic of France.
The Special Committee recalls the inspiring message he addressed to the World Conference for Action against Apartheid held in Lagos in August 1977. It has also taken note with great satisfaction of a letter addressed by him on May 1981 to the French Anti-Apartheid Movement in which he said:
"If the French people were to give me their support in a few days I shall endeavour to develop a rigorous policy that will favour respect for human rights, justice, freedom and peace in southern Africa.
"If it is difficult for me to foresee the decisions that will be taken then, I can nonetheless make it clear that such a policy will be based on a revision of our relationship with South Africa, particularly as regards the sale of arms, and on a positive attitude of France in international organisations when they debate and initiate action in favour of justice and peace."
I trust that under his leadership, the Government and the people of France, faithful to their friendship with Africa and their traditions of liberty and equality, will insist on playing an active role in the discharge of their great responsibilities in international action for freedom and peace in southern Africa.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - APPEALING FOR OBSERVANCE OF DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH STRUGGLE OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN WOMEN (9 AUGUST), MAY 22, 1981(12)
The Special Committee against Apartheid has endorsed the proposal by a number of non-governmental organisations to observe August 9, 1981, as the international day of solidarity with the struggle of the women of southern Africa.
That day is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the historic demonstration of South African women of all races in their struggle for freedom and human rights. Twenty thousand women from all over South Africa gathered at the seat of government in Pretoria on August 9, 1956, to protest the extension of humiliating pass laws to African women. It is an appropriate occasion to express the solidarity of the international community with the righteous struggle of the South African women against racism, apartheid and oppression, and to pay tribute to their heroic contribution to the struggle for national liberation.
The women of South Africa and Namibia have not only been the worst sufferers under apartheid, but have always played an important role in the liberation struggle, as well as in the trade union and other movements for their inalienable rights. They continue to play a significant role at the present stage when the struggle for liberation is stepped up in the face of increasing savagery of the apartheid regime. Many women have been imprisoned, restricted and forced into exile for their participation in the struggle. The women of South Africa have also courageously supported their children in their momentous struggle for equality in education and against the humiliation of apartheid, especially since the gruesome massacre of African school children in Soweto on June 16, 1976. They deserve the solidarity and support of the international community.
On behalf of the Special Committee, therefore, I appeal to the Governments and intergovernmental, regional and non-governmental organisations, including trade unions, religious bodies, solidarity committees and women's organisations, as well as individuals, to observe the international day so as to promote the widest mobilisation of world public opinion in support of the oppressed women of South Africa in accordance with the recommendations of the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women held in Copenhagen last year.
I would urge all governments, organisations and individuals to observe the international day: (a) by protesting by every appropriate means, including petitions, demonstrations and boycotts, against the violence and repression being employed against women of South Africa; (b) by publicising the plight of women and children under apartheid, and their struggle for liberation; (c) by sending messages of solidarity to women in prison, under restriction and in exile; (d) by providing material and other assistance to refugee women and to women's sections of liberation movements; and (e) above all, by lending full support to the national liberation movements in South Africa and Namibia.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - B. AKPORODE CLARK (NIGERIA) - ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLING PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA, JUNE 16, 1981(13)
Each year, the United Nations observes the Soweto Day on 16 June in remembrance of the students who were brutalised and massacred by the South African police as they demonstrated against their inequitious Bantu system of education. The Soweto revolt of June 16, 1976, has become a symbol of the will and determination of the African population of South Africa to struggle and, if necessary, to die for their freedom.
Today, therefore, marks another day for international solidarity with the oppressed people of South Africa and for international mobilisation against the inhuman policies of apartheid.
The Soweto revolt represents an important turning point in the struggle against the apartheid regime. On that date, students took their opposition to the imposition of the Afrikaans language in black schools, and to the Bantu education in general, on to the streets and publicly challenged the Government to revoke its language regulations. Fifteen thousand youth, ranging in age from 10 to 20 years, marched off peacefully, bearing slogans written on cardboard torn from packing cases or on the stiff covers of old exercise backs. Their slogans were simple and to the point:
"Abolish Afrikaans."
"Afrikaans is oppressors' language".
The violent response from the security forces of the apartheid regime was a reminder, once again, of the brutality and intransigence of that regime. However, the Soweto revolt demonstrated to racist Pretoria that black students were determined to oppose an unequal system of education; they were determined to fight for their ideal and, if need be, to die for it.
During the Soweto riots, there was not just a student crowd but masses of people throughout South Africa who became militant participants in the protracted revolt against the Government. As Mrs. Winnie Mandela described the occasion, it was not just a question of the Afrikaans language or vandalism but of black anger against white domination.
The Soweto revolt showed that the old "order" in education would not easily be restored. Demonstrations and protests against the inferior educational system for blacks in South Africa have frequently erupted in the years following the Soweto revolt. Hundreds of thousands of students staged protests and boycotts against the educational system during the past year. The demonstrations have shown an increasing level of unity among African, Indian and Coloured students. The students' demonstrations have also received wide support from the community. Students have, in turn, supported struggles beyond their immediate one, such as strikes by workers and campaigns against bus fare increases and higher rents. Recently, students have demonstrated against the imposition of compulsory racially-segregated education for African children. They have also participated actively in the boycott of the "festivities" organised by the apartheid regime to celebrate the Republic Day.
All the demonstrations, boycotts and protests against the apartheid regime are indicative that the days of that racist regime are numbered. History is on the side of the people struggling against racist Pretoria. The coordinated action of the international community provides valuable support to the internal struggle against the brutal racist regime. Steps must be taken to bring about the complete isolation of Pretoria until it complies with the relevant United Nations resolutions. As the Declaration adopted at the 1981 Paris International Conference on Sanctions against South Africa affirmed, "sanctions provided under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, universally applied, are the most appropriate and effective means to ensure South Africa's compliance with the decisions of the United Nations".
The heroes of Soweto must not be forgotten. Yesterday's black school children in South Africa will be tomorrow's liberators of their country. Let us, therefore, express our solidarity with the struggle in South Africa by implementing substantial and effective measures against the apartheid regime. I wish, on behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, to appeal to all Member States, specialised agencies and other organisations in the United Nations system, as well as to intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, students, churches, trade unions and women's organisations, to increase their assistance to the freedom fighters of South Africa. The Special Committee will continue its resolute efforts to help the people of South Africa to achieve their liberation.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - APPEALING FOR DENUNCIATION OF THREATS AGAINST SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, SEPTEMBER 17, 1981(14)
My attention has been drawn to a statement made by the Minister of Police of the apartheid regime in the "House of Assembly" on September 10, 1981, alleging that the South African Council of Churches and its General Secretary, Bishop Desmond Tutu, were engaged in activities similar to those of the African National Congress and threatening that "the Government is finding it increasingly difficult to accept this situation any longer".
The entire statement, which is replete with falsehoods, distortions and innuendo, is outrageous.
The South African Council of Churches and Bishop Tutu are attacked because they help provide humanitarian assistance to families of political prisoners; because they declined the invitation of the regime to visit the racist armed forces engaged in illegal and criminal acts on the northern border of Namibia; because they assisted black workers subjected to mass dismissals, arrests and violence during peaceful strikes; and because they opposed forced removals of African "squatters". Bishop Tutu is also accused because of the statement he made this year before the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid.
For the apartheid regime, any defence of the rights of the oppressed people is a "furthering of the activities" of the national liberation movement and is an offence under its obnoxious laws.
It is clear that the apartheid regime has become frantic since all its manoeuvres and its brutal repression have not succeeded in suppressing the movement of the oppressed people for their inalienable rights.
Bishop Tutu has become its special target as he has courageously voiced the aspirations of his people, while striving relentlessly for reconciliation and peaceful solutions. The racist regime believes, in its madness, that it can suppress resistance by silencing him and other respected spokesmen of the people. But repression against the advocates of justice and peace, and confrontation with the churches, will only lead to greater violence and conflict.
I appeal to all Governments and organisations, and especially to all the churches in the world, to denounce the threats against the South African Council of Churches and Bishop Tutu.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - COMMENDING WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES FOR BREAKING TIES WITH BANKS LENDING TO SOUTH AFRICA, SEPTEMBER 17, 1981(15)
I have learnt with great satisfaction the announcement by the World Council of Churches that it is breaking off links with the Union Bank of Switzerland, the Swiss Bank Corporation and the Dresdner Bank of the Federal Republic of Germany because of their extensive involvement in financial support to the apartheid regime in South Africa.
This action is in conformity with numerous resolutions of the United Nations and follows the recommendations of the International Seminar on Loans to South Africa, organised in Zurich in April 1981, by the Special Committee against Apartheid in cooperation with the World Council of Churches and Swiss organisations. It is an effective expression of solidarity with the national liberation movement of South Africa which has appealed for over two decades for sanctions against South Africa.
The pretensions by the banks that their loans help the oppressed blacks of that country are not only contrary to the views of the leaders of the oppressed people but are belied by bitter experience, especially since the Sharpeville massacre of 1960. For, in this period, the foreign loans have, in effect, enabled the apartheid regime to expend its military repressive apparatus to escalate brutal repression against the people, to launch constant acts of aggression against the neighbouring countries and intensify exploitation of the black people.
I hope the decision of the World Council of Churches will set an example for other organisations committed to morality and justice. I also hope that all banks and financial institutions concerned, including the banks identified by the World Council, will be persuaded to disengage from apartheid South Africa.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - CALLING FOR EFFECTIVE OBSERVANCE OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF ANC, NOVEMBER 11, 1981(16)
On 8 January 1982, the African people of South African people of South Africa and their friends all over the world will observe the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of the South African Native National Congress (later renamed African National Congress of South Africa). The birth of this national movement was an event of great importance in the struggle for liberation in South Africa and in Africa as a whole.
Africans from all over southern Africa - transcending tribal and other divisions - gathered in Bloemfontein in 1912 to establish this national movement in the face of manoeuvres by the leaders of the white minority to deny them any participation in the Parliament of the newly formed Union of South Africa and to deprive them even of their right to land and freedom of movement in their own country.
During the course of the past seven decades, this movement has struggled with perseverance, determination and courage for the inalienable rights of the African people, made great sacrifices, and has produced eminent leaders deserving of respect all over the world. It became the spearhead of the struggle of all the oppressed people of South Africa, and of men and women of conscience, for a democratic society, in which all the people of the country irrespective of race, colour or creed, would enjoy freedom, equal rights and human dignity. In the face of the unrelenting brutality of the successive racist minority regimes, it has always upheld the principles of non-racialism and genuine self-determination.
It has made a notable contribution to the struggle of the continent of Africa and all other oppressed regions for emancipation from colonial and racist domination, and was an active constituent of the Pan African Movement and the Non-aligned movement. It has inspired millions of people all over the world and earned the respect, support and solidarity of the overwhelming majority of Governments and peoples.
Regrettably, the valiant and just struggle for liberation in South Africa continues, because of the barbarity of the racist oppressors and the collusion of powerful foreign interests with the apartheid regime.
I would recall that for three decades from 1912, the African National Congress of South Africa and other black organisations sent numerous deputations to the authorities in South Africa and to the erstwhile colonial power to protest against unjust laws, but in vain. They led many campaigns against pass laws, dispossession from land and other iniquities, only to be faced with brutal violence.
Enthused by the establishment of the United Nations and the promises made during the Second World War, and inspired by the ANC Youth League, the movement then embarked on a programme of positive and non-violent action, but at the same time the white minority elected a fascist regime sworn to the forcible imposition of apartheid in flagrant contravention of the United Nations Charter. The great non-violent struggle of 1950-1960, which evoked admiration all over the world, was met by the most brutal measures such as the Public Safety Act providing for the whipping of passive resisters, the trial of 156 leaders of the people on charge of treason, and finally the Sharpeville massacre, the mass detentions under a state of emergency and the outlawing of African liberatory organisations.
The African people were, therefore, obliged to give up their strict adherence to non-violence and prepare for armed resistance to rid themselves of the tyrannical and criminal racist regime. Many martyrs have already fallen in this struggle.
The racist regime has so far survived the ever-growing national resistance by an escalation of crimes against the black people. Immune to all appeals, it has utilised its control of the wealth of the country to build an enormous military and repressive apparatus to suppress all resistance. It has not hesitated to resort to mass deportations of people, massacres of peaceful demonstrators and even indiscriminate shootings of school children. Foreign economic and other interests, driven by greed for profits, continue to support that regime and powerful Western countries have protected it from international action. Emboldened and encouraged by such support, the racist regime is proceeding with a diabolical plan to deprive the African majority of its citizenship and attempting to blackmail Africa and the world with nuclear weapons.
This poses a challenge not only to the oppressed people of South Africa who are determined to make supreme sacrifices for their deliverance but to the United Nations and the world. We have a vital interest in the triumph of their national liberation movement which has made great sacrifices for the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
While extending our greetings to the South African people on this anniversary, we must acquaint world public opinion of the heroic struggle for liberation in South Africa and the forces which have frustrated its triumph. We must mobilise all governments and all decent men and women in a determined effort to isolate the apartheid regime and assist the South African people in their just struggle.
We witness today a powerful national mobilisation of all the oppressed people of South Africa - workers and peasants, women and school children, churchmen and journalists - for national liberation, and a courageous struggle by freedom fighters against the tyrannical regime. International action must correspond to this crucial and final stage of the struggle for the elimination of apartheid.
The anniversary of the ANC will appropriately coincide with the International Year of Mobilisation for Sanctions against South Africa. Let us pay tribute to the heroic struggle of the South African people by effective international action in solidarity with their struggle.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - EXPRESSING SHOCK AT DEATH IN DETENTION OF A POLITICAL PRISONER IN SOUTH AFRICA, NOVEMBER 27, 1981(17)
I was shocked to hear of the death last week of Tshifhiwa Muofhe, a leader of the Black People's Convention which was banned in 1977. Mr. Muofhe was in good health when he was arrested by the authorities of the so-called "independent state of Venda": he died after two days in police custody.
It may be recalled that over 40 patriots died in detention in South Africa between 1963 and 1977. Following world-wide protests on the brutal treatment of Steve Biko, leading to his martyrdom in 1977, the apartheid regime has apparently taken steps to avoid deaths in detention in South Africa, though ill-treatment and torture of patriots has continued.
In the bantustans which have been granted sham "independence", however, the killing of patriots in detention has continued. Two political detainees - Saul Mdzumo and Sifundile Matalasi - died in jail in the Transkei only a few weeks ago.
I must also express alarm at the treatment of women political prisoners in South Africa. In October, an application was urgently brought before the Pretoria Supreme Court against the detention of five women political prisoners for long periods in solitary confinement. One of them was in solitary confinement for about 18 months. Another, who is over 60, was also periodically kept in solitary confinement.
I call upon all governments and organisations to denounce these inhuman acts of the apartheid regime and take all appropriate steps to secure the release of all political prisoners.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - ON ASSASSINATION OF GRIFFITH MXENGE, NOVEMBER 27, 1981(18)
On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, I wish to express my shock and indignation at the brutal assassination in Durban on November 19, 1981, of Griffith Mxenge, a respected attorney who has defended a number of political prisoners in South Africa. Mr. Mxenge had himself served a term of imprisonment for his opposition to apartheid.
We cannot but hold the apartheid regime responsible for this heinous murder of an African patriot. I urge all Governments, organisations and individuals to denounce this crime.
I extend my condolences to the family of Mr. Mxenge.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - ON DETENTION OF TRADE UNION AND OTHER LEADERS IN SOUTH AFRICA, DECEMBER 1, 1981(19)
Press reports from South Africa have indicated that the apartheid regime has detained a large number of trade union, student and other leaders. They have also searched the houses of several clergymen. Their repressive actions have taken place while the General Assembly is considering the policies of apartheid of that regime.
Over 30 trade unionists have been detained, including Mrs. Emma Mashinini, General Secretary of the Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union; Sam Kikine, General Secretary of the South African Allied Workers' Union; and Samson Ndou, President of the General and Allied Workers' Union.
The regime has also detained Pravin Gordhan and Mrs. Yunus Mahomed, leaders of the Natal Indian Congress, as well as several student leaders including Firoz Cachalia. Police have raided the houses of Geoff Davies and Cedric Mayson, heads of religious organisations.
These detentions and raids demonstrate that the regime's propaganda about reforms in the labour field are a sham, intended only to deceive world opinion and to use new means to suppress the resurgent black trade union movement. They also reflect its determination to take revenge against the leaders of the Indian community who have campaigned for the boycott of the elections to the Indian Council, an apartheid institution; only one-tenth of the registered voters went to the polls.
The apartheid regime has been shaken by the growing resistance to its policies by the great majority of the population, as well as the increasing activities of freedom fighters. Turning a deaf ear again to reason, it is resorting to further repression in a vain attempt to suppress the indomitable will of the people for justice and freedom.
I would again appeal to all Governments and organisations to redouble their efforts to secure an end to repression in South Africa and thereby prevent the apartheid regime from precipitating a wider conflict.
TELEGRAM BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - TO OLIVER TAMBO, PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, ON THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LAUNCHING OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE IN SOUTH AFRICA, DECEMBER 16, 1981(20)
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of armed struggle for liberation launched by ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe, I have the honour to send you greetings of solidarity on behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid.
We have followed with satisfaction the advance and successes of the struggle. We pay tribute to the many martyrs who have fallen in the struggle.
We assure you of full solidarity and support in the struggle which will be hard but will inevitably triumph.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - EXPRESSING SHOCK AT DEATH IN PRISON OF DR. NEIL AGGETT, FEBRUARY 8, 1982(21)
I was shocked at the report of one more death in detention of a political prisoner in South Africa - that of Dr. Neil Aggett, Secretary of the African Food and Canning Workers Union in the Transvaal.
The claim of the racist regime that he committed suicide will convince no one familiar with the developments in South Africa. The killing of this physician and trade union leader represents further evidence that the regime, faced with mounting opposition by workers and other segments of the population, is resorting to an escalation of terror.
The move to stifle the press, by the registration of journalists and prohibition of unregistered persons from practising the profession, is designed to prevent the public from being informed of the growing repression and terror, as well as the advance of the struggle for liberation.
The Special Committee shares the widespread concern for the safety of the many persons, including trade union leaders, who are now held in detention.
On behalf of the Special Committee, I urge all Governments, trade unions and other organisations to take urgent action, in cooperation with the United Nations:
MESSAGE BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - TO ALFRED NZO, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, CONDEMNING THE BOMBING OF THE ANC OFFICE IN LONDON, MARCH 14, 1982(22)
The bombing of the ANC office in London is a despicable act which deserves condemnation by all decent men and women. I am convinced that this act of terrorism is the response of the enemy driven to desperation by the great advance of the liberation struggle under the leadership of ANC, and to the growing support it has obtained in the international community.
I would like to assure you and your colleagues that terrorism will not deter us, and that the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid will only redouble its efforts to promote maximum support to the national liberation movement.
STATEMENT BY THE ACTING CHAIRMAN - VLADIMIR ALEKSEYEVICH KRAVETS (UKRAINE) - CONDEMNING SENTENCE IMPOSED ON BARBARA ANN HOGAN, OCTOBER 21, 1982(23)
The savage sentence of 10 years' imprisonment imposed against Miss Barbara Ann Hogan by a racist court in South Africa deserves strong condemnation by the international community.
Miss Hogan, 31, has been detained since October 22, 1981. Her only "offence" was no more than the furthering of the aims of the banned African National Congress of South Africa, the liberation movement recognised by the Organisation of African Unity, as well as the United Nations. She was, however, charged with "high treason".
During detention, she was assaulted by the interrogators from the Security Police. A Senior District Surgeon testified in the Court that she had a bruise under her right eye, a bruised ear and a very large bruise on her back.
We call on all Governments and organisations to condemn the sentence on Miss Hogan, and to denounce the torture and trials of many other persons who are being persecuted for support to the struggle for liberation in South Africa.
STATEMENT BY THE ACTING CHAIRMAN - VLADIMIR KRAVETS (UKRAINE) - CONDEMNING SOUTH AFRICAN RAID INTO LESOTHO, DECEMBER 9, 1982(24)
According to reports received today, the racist regime of South Africa launched a raid into Lesotho, ostensibly against members of the African National Congress of South Africa, killing 30 persons, including five women and two children, and wounding many others.
This cowardly and criminal act of aggression against Lesotho and the massacre of civilians are reminiscent of the crimes of Nazism. It follows a series of similar acts against the People's Republic of Angola and the raid against Matola in Mozambique in January 1981.
These acts confirm the conclusion of the Special Committee that the apartheid regime is an incorrigible, aggressive and terrorist regime, and that there can be no peace or stability in southern Africa unless that regime is destroyed and the South African people are enabled to establish a democratic society. It has been encouraged in its crimes by the protection and collaboration of certain major powers in defiance of United Nations resolutions.
It is significant that this new crime by the apartheid regime has been committed on the day when the General Assembly was to make decisions on further action for the elimination of apartheid and on the eve of Human Rights Day.
On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, we urge that the Security Council take urgent action not only to condemn the Pretoria regime but to prevent any recurrence of its acts of aggression, terrorism and destabilisation.
We call on all Governments and organisations to take urgent action:
The Special Committee extends condolences to the African National Congress of South Africa and to the families of all those who have fallen. We reiterate our commendation of the heroic struggle led by the African National Congress, and our tribute to all those who have laid down their lives in that struggle. We are confident that this latest crime by the apartheid regime will only persuade governments, organisations and individuals committed to freedom to demonstrate greater solidarity with, and provide greater support to the African National Congress in its just struggle. The Special Committee will not fail to redouble its efforts to promote such solidarity and support.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - ON INQUEST ON THE DEATH OF DR. NEIL AGGETT, DECEMBER 23, 1982(25)
The decision by the inquest magistrate in South Africa exonerating the security police officers involved in the death in detention of Dr. Neil Aggett is an outrage.
Dr. Aggett, a young physician who had been engaged in assistance to the emergent black trade unions, was detained without any charges and died in police cells on February 5, 1982. Tens of thousands of trade unionists stopped work to protest the killing and many thousands of people of all racial origins attended his funeral.
The lengthy inquest produced overwhelming evidence of the brutal torture of Dr. Aggett, as well as of several trade unionists, students and others, by the security police.
The decision of the inquest magistrate can only be seen as a licence to the security police to continue to torture and even kill the patriots. Over 50 patriots have been killed in prison since 1963, and the magistrates have invariably exonerated the torturers.
The inquest on the death of Dr. Aggett - coming soon after the cowardly murder of South African refugees and Lesotho nationals in Maseru - underlines that the apartheid regime is a regime of terror at home and abroad. The decision of the magistrate is no mere "miscarriage of justice" but characteristic of the inhuman system of apartheid.
The South African people and the international community are not only entitled, but have a solemn duty to destroy this system. Any collusion with it, under whatever pretext, cannot be accepted.
Dr. Aggett will be revered as one of the martyrs in the struggle of the South African people and their national liberation movement for a truly non-racial society in the interests of all the people of South Africa. The actions of the Pretoria regime in its efforts to perpetuate white domination, and the actions of those who collaborate with it, undermine even the security of the people whom the regime professes to represent. I do hope that the privileged minority in South Africa will recognise, before it is too late, that apartheid is doomed and that the Pretoria regime is leading them to disaster.
I urge all Governments and organisations to cooperate with the United Nations in all efforts to end the torture of patriots and destroy apartheid.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - PAYING TRIBUTE TO LATE CANON L. JOHN COLLINS, JANUARY 4, 1983(26)
I was distressed to hear of the passing away on 31 December of the Reverend L. John Collins, President of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa. He had recently retired after serving for many years as Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Canon Collins was a dedicated man of religion and of peace, and a firm believer in human equality. His untiring work for three decades in arousing the conscience of the world to the inhumanity of apartheid, and in assisting the victims of repression in southern Africa, will long be remembered as a historic contribution to international cooperation.
The Special Committee has benefited, ever since its inception in 1963, from close cooperation with Canon Collins and the Defence and Aid Fund. On its recommendation, the United Nations presented him an award in 1978 for his outstanding contribution to the international campaign against apartheid.
By his pronouncements and actions, and by his sacrifice, Canon Collins tried to persuade public opinion that apartheid is inhuman; that the struggle of the oppressed people of South Africa is just and righteous; and that the national liberation movement, led by dedicated humanists, deserves and demands the unqualified support of all peoples, especially those who claim to belong to the "Western Christian civilisation" and of all who profess peace and pacifism. His message is of utmost relevance today, especially after the cowardly massacre perpetrated by the apartheid regime in Maseru.
STATEMENT BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL, AUGUST 25, 1983(27)
The Special Committee against Apartheid wishes to draw the attention of the international community to the grave implications of the Constitution Amendment Bill - now under consideration by the white Parliament in Cape Town.
The Bill provides for the establishment of a Parliament with three racially segregated chambers for the white, coloured and Indian people, an executive president and a cabinet appointed by him. The African majority is totally excluded.
The intention of the apartheid regime is to entice the coloured and Indian minorities and thereby divide the oppressed people of South Africa. The white minority will continue to control the Parliament. The coloured and Indian people will be expected to participate in the implementation of racist laws. They will become subject to conscription into the military-repressive apparatus, thereby easing the crisis faced by the regime because of its militarisation.
This constitutional amendment is part of the diabolic plan of the apartheid regime to deprive the African majority of all its rights, including even citizenship in South Africa. It is a complement to the forced removals of Africans and to the creation of so-called "independent" States in African reserves which has been denounced by the entire international community.
The Special Committee notes that the constitutional amendment has been condemned not only by the African people as a whole, but also by the overwhelming majority of the coloured and Indian people.
A conference convened by the National Forum Committee at Hammanskraal on 11-12 June, attended by representatives of nearly 200 organisations, pledged to struggle for the eradication of apartheid and for national liberation.
The United Democratic Front, which was launched by a large number of organisations in Cape Town on 21 August, has pledged to intensify the struggle for a united non-racial South Africa based on the will of all its people. Mr. Nelson Mandela is a patron.
Leaders of churches and other religious groups, independent black trade unions, youth and other segments of the population have courageously and categorically denounced the constitutional plan.
The regime's plan to entrench racism has led to greater unity of the oppressed people in their struggle against apartheid and for a democratic State.
The Special Committee rejects and denounces the propaganda of the apartheid regime and its friends that the constitutional amendment can be a step in the right direction. It is, indeed, a further move by the regime to perpetuate apartheid in defiance of the international community.
The Special Committee urges all Governments and organisations to condemn the proposed constitutional amendment and demonstrate their solidarity with the oppressed people of South Africa in their struggle against it.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - ON THE DEATH OF DR. YUSUF DADOO, SEPTEMBER 23, 1983(28)
Dr. Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo, one of the outstanding leaders of the South African national liberation movement, passed away on September 19, 1983, at the age of 74. On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, I wish to extend my condolences to his family, to the South African Indian Congress and to the African National Congress of South Africa.
Dr. Dadoo, born in Krugersdorp in 1909, joined the freedom movement in his student days.
He advocated the identification of the people of Indian origin with the struggle of the African majority for an end to racism and was one of the founders of the Non-European United Front in South Africa in 1938.
Together with some of the veterans of the passive resistance movement of Mahatma Gandhi, he led the nationalist group in the Transvaal Indian Congress and became its President. He was imprisoned in the Passive Resistance Campaign against anti-Indian legislation in 1946. He was again arrested the same year in connection with the historic African Mineworkers' strike and charged with sedition.
He played an important role in the formulation of the Xuma-Naicker-Dadoo Pact - the "three Doctors pact" of the African National Congress (ANC), the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress - pledging close cooperation in the campaign for universal franchise and removal of all oppressive legislation.
Dr. Dadoo was elected President of the South African Indian Congress in 1950 and was one of the leaders of the Campaign for Defiance of Unjust Laws in 1952 which led to the consideration of apartheid by the United Nations General Assembly. He was arrested and restricted on numerous occasions for his leadership of the struggle against apartheid.
After the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, Dr. Dadoo left South Africa, together with Mr. Oliver Tambo, leader of the ANC, to promote international solidarity with the freedom struggle in South Africa and to assist the underground struggle in the country.
Dr. Dadoo earned the respect of all the oppressed people of South Africa as well as their friends around the world, by his courage, sacrifice and vision. In 1955, the African National Congress bestowed on him its highest award, Isitwalandwe. In 1968, it elected him Vice-Chairman of its Revolutionary Council.
Dr. Dadoo has attended many conferences and seminars of the Special Committee, and was consulted by a number of its missions since 1964. The Special Committee paid tribute to him on his seventieth birthday in 1979.
While the South African people and the international community will miss Dr. Dadoo, his life and work will continue to inspire them in the struggle for the eradication of apartheid. It is of particular relevance today as the oppressed people in South Africa are forging ever-stronger unity, frustrating the manoeuvres of the apartheid regime to divide the black people, to launch the final assault for freedom from racist tyranny.
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - ALHAJI YUSUFF MAITAMA-SULE (NIGERIA) - PAYING TRIBUTE TO MEMORY OF REV. MICHAEL SCOTT, SEPTEMBER 23, 1983(29)
On behalf of the Special Committee against Apartheid, I pay tribute to the memory of the late Reverend Michael Scott who passed away on 14 September.
Since he went to South Africa in 1943, he identified himself with the oppressed people in their struggle for freedom from racist domination, exploitation and humiliation. He went to prison in the passive resistance campaign in South Africa in 1946. In 1947, at the request of the late Chief Hosea Kotaka and others, he helped bring the plight and the struggle of the Namibian people to the attention of the international community.
Prohibited from South Africa since that time, he devoted his life with indefatigable energy to rouse the conscience of the world to the inhuman oppression in South Africa and Namibia. He inspired millions of people, especially in the West, to support the struggle for freedom in South Africa and Namibia.
He was untiring in exposing the nefarious role of transnational corporations and other vested interests in buttressing apartheid and in pressing for sanctions as the only effective non-violent means to eliminate apartheid.
The Special Committee has greatly benefited from his advice and encouragement.
The Reverend Michael Scott will be remembered with respect by Africa, by the United Nations and by humanity.
1. UN Press Release GA/AP/1063, February 29, 1980
2. UN Press Release GA/AP/1070, March 12, 1980
3. UN Press Release GA/AP/1080, March 20, 1980
4. UN Press Release GA/AP/1084, March 21, 1980
5. UN Press Release GA/AP/1085, March 24, 1980
6. UN Press Release GA/AP/1123, June 17, 1980
7. UN Press Release GA/AP/1143, October 3, 1980
8. UN Press Release GA/AP/1162, January 9, 1981
9. UN Press Release GA/AP/1189, March 20, 1981
10. UN Press Release GA/AP/1203, April 10, 1981
11. UN Press Release GA/AP/1213, May 13, 1981
12. UN Press Release GA/AP/1218, May 22, 1981
The statement was issued in Paris where the Chairman was attending the International Conference on Sanctions against South Africa.
13. UN Press Release GA/AP/1233, June 16, 1981
14. UN Press Release GA/AP/1256, September 17, 1981
15. UN Press Release GA/AP/1257, September 17, 1981
16. UN Press Release GA/AP/1268, November 11, 1981
17. UN Press Release GA/AP/1270, November 27, 1981
18. UN Press Release GA/AP/1271, November 27, 1981
19. UN Press Release GA/AP/1272, December 1, 1981
20. UN Press Release GA/AP/1278, December 16, 1981
21. UN Press Release GA/AP/1287, February 8, 1982
22. UN Press Release GA/AP/1310, March 15, 1982
The message was read by E.S. Reddy, Director of UN Centre against Apartheid, at a demonstration organised by the Anti-Apartheid Movement at Trafalgar Square.
23. UN Press Release GA/AP/1379, October 21, 1982
24. UN Press Release GA/AP/1393, December 9, 1982
25. UN Press Release GA/AP/1395, December 23, 1982
26. UN Press Release GA/AP/1398, January 4, 1983
27. UN Press Release GA/AP/1476, August 26, 1983
28. UN Press Release GA/AP/1484, September 23, 1983
28. UN Press Release GA/AP/1485, September 23, 1983