Ms. Thutukile Eileen Bhengu1
9 August 19902
I greet all those present in the name of the struggling women of South Africa, both the unsung heroines and those who are internationally renowned. I speak here on behalf of those women who are at present languishing in South African prisons, those who have been forced by apartheid laws to endure the rigours of life in South Africa's bantustans, those who are in the ranks of the workers' movement in South Africa's urban areas and those who are called upon to make sacrifices in the bitter struggle for the elimination of apartheid in their motherland.
Allow me to express our deeply felt gratitude to the Special Committee against Apartheid for convening this solemn meeting and for the kind invitation extended to me to address this gathering. Let me also take this opportunity to place on record the appreciation of the oppressed people of South Africa for the steadfast support the Special Committee has given to our people over the years as they fought to rid themselves of the scourge of apartheid. During the very dark moments in our struggle, we have constantly drawn strength and inspiration from the fact that people of conscience the world over are with us. We are happy to note that the Special Committee has played a pioneering role in the struggle to isolate apartheid. For this we thank the Committee most sincerely.
The ninth of August is a very important date in the political calendar of our struggle. It is the day on which we celebrate the struggles of women. It was on this day in 1956 that the Federation of South African Women organized a march of 20,000 women to the citadel of apartheid at Pretoria to protest against the carrying of passes. That march was a statement made by women that they would fight for their right to live and move freely in the country of their birth.
This commemoration of 9 August occurs in the wake of cataclysmic political changes that have touched literally every part of the world. Our region, southern Africa, has been no exception. It is a matter of great pride that this year we meet when the people of Namibia have triumphed over apartheid and colonialism and have joined the ranks of the international community of sovereign States. We seize this opportunity to salute the women of Namibia for their resounding victory, which serves as a great contribution to our own struggle.
With regard to South Africa., 1990 has been aptly dubbed the year of changes. It has ushered in a new era in our struggle for national liberation. The unbanning of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and other political organizations and the release of our leaders from prison, including ANC Deputy President Nelson Mandela, have had a momentous impact on political developments in South Africa.
Moreover, this 9 August commemoration coincides with the formal re-launching of the ANC Women's League in Natal. It should be recalled that the ANC Women's League has played a pivotal role in the mobilization of women in South Africa. Indeed it was this same Women's League that served as the major component of the Federation of South African Women, which in turn is associated with the famous Pretoria march.
Today it is envisaged that the ANC Women's League will facilitate the participation of women at all levels of the liberation struggle, the adoption of a charter of women's rights as a constitutional instrument in post-apartheid South Africa and the formulation of policies that will encompass the full, emancipation of women.
Today's commemoration takes place in the wake of a historic agreement between the ANC and the South African regime. That agreement, which is now known as the Pretoria Minute, is bound to have a far-reaching impact in the search for the peaceful resolution of the South African conflict as envisaged by the United Nations Declaration adopted by consensus at the sixteenth special session of the General Assembly.
The major significance of this Pretoria agreement lies in the fact that it represents an important stride in the clearing of the obstacles that stand in the way of meaningful negotiations towards a non-racial, democratic South Africa. In this context it is our considered view that that agreement will make a tremendous contribution towards ending the agony of not only the millions of South African people but also the peoples of the neighbouring sovereign States that have been brutalized by Pretoria's destabilization policies.
If we seem to be overly optimistic in our evaluation of the current political trends in South Africa, it is only because we remain firmly committed to a determined search for peace and democracy in our country and the region. And yet it would be a serious error for anyone to conclude that what currently obtains in South Africa is in any real sense irreversible. Similarly it would be totally misleading to regard the prevailing political situation as reflecting the end of apartheid. On the contrary, all evidence points to the fact that apartheid is firmly in place in our country. Even as the world euphorically applauded De Klerk for his so-called bold initiatives, irrefutable evidence indicates not only that the regime has failed to meet the demands in the United Nations Declaration but also that there has been a sharp escalation of repression, manifested in the gross violation of human rights in South Africa.
As an activist in the field of human rights, I have been exposed to the painful experience of monitoring numerous cases of politically related violent acts against thousands of people throughout the country. While the South African regime has publicly committed itself to the release of political prisoners and detainees, and has actually released a few, there is ample evidence that since 2 February thousands of people throughout the country have been and continue to be detained under the Internal Security Act. Torture and death in detention occur at an alarming rate. The unbanning of political organizations was highly welcomed both inside and outside South Africa since it was assumed it would herald an era of free political expression. That assumption, however, soon proved to be a mirage. In fact, the period following the unbanning of political organizations was marked by intensified harassment of the masses through increased activities of the army, the police, the right-wing, the vigilantes and other agents of repression.
There is growing concern that the regime has lost control of its police and army, which are increasingly acting with impunity. Under the guise of the maintenance of law and order, political activists are being targeted for special harassment on an unprecedented scale, rendering the whole question of the unbanning of political organizations a mere farce. In response to the demand that the South African troops be pulled out of the townships, the regime claims to have abided. But our experience points to the contrary. The escalation in the casualties of so-called political violence is quite frightening. It is reported that in the first six months of this year there were 1,591 reported political deaths in South Africa. While it is true that the bulk of these deaths occurred in Natal, this fact unfortunately tends to shift the focus away from the violence that has gripped the entire country. In this violence the culpability of the army and police is incontestable.
The practice of violent forced population removals is still a fact of life in South Africa, with devastating consequences for millions of the South African black population. In this callous practice, the army and the police seem to surpass themselves in abject brutality.
Permit me to touch, albeit briefly, on the tragedy that engulfs Natal. Coming from that region, may I say how painful it is for us to hear the situation in Natal being glibly characterized as black-on-black violence, or even Zulus killing Zulus. While there can be no denying the regrettable loss of life in Natal, such a characterization serves only to cloud the issues and absolve the regime of its responsibility for the thousands of lives lost in that area. It is important, in our view, for the world to know the facts.
What is happening in Natal can best be characterized as apartheid at war against the people. The origin of that war dates back to the 1980s, with the emergence of the democratic organizations, especially the formation of the United Democratic Front, which attracted a lot of support countrywide, including Natal. The reaction from Buthelezi and his Inkatha was swift and brutal, since he regarded Natal as his own political preserve. The phenomenal growth of the UDF was perceived as a threat to Buthelezi's so-called leadership of 7 million Zulus. The regime, which also felt threatened by the rise of the UDF, ganged up with the Inkatha in unleashing a reign of terror on those who were perceived as UDF activists or sympathizers.
Even those who professed neutrality were defined as the enemy. Affidavits collected over the years clearly point to the collusion and collaboration of the police and Inkatha members in vile acts of terrorism against the people.
The volatile situation in Natal was further exacerbated by the deployment of the notorious Battalion 32, whose horrendous activities, including the rape of women and the looting of homes, had already been much in evidence in Namibia. It should therefore be obvious that the regime will have to take full responsibility to end the carnage in Natal and that to pretend that the crisis can be contained by means that exclude the recognition of that fact is not only counterproductive but also extremely dangerous.
It is our humble submission that, while it may be true that encouraging political developments have taken place in South Africa, none of that should be construed as being profound and irreversible. We believe that if the international community wishes to encourage the processes occurring in our country, it would be instructive to recall that it is the combination of the struggles waged by our people in South Africa and the pressures imposed by peoples the world over that are responsible for bringing the regime to the position where it is today.
Therefore it would require precisely such a combination to move that process further. For us, the conclusion is inescapable. The consensus decision of the international community embodied in the United Nations Declaration adopted at the sixteenth special session of the General Assembly remains valid. We ask the peoples of the world to assist in reaching a speedy realization of our objective of ending apartheid by maintaining and even intensifying sanctions against the regime.
As we mark South African Women's Day, we cannot but express our firm solidarity with all peoples fighting for justice and independence. In that regard, we salute the people of Palestine under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), especially the heroines of their struggle. We greet the women of Western Sahara engaged in the struggle for self-determination, as well as those women struggling in Central America and elsewhere. We pay tribute to our sisters, the women of our region of southern Africa, with whom we share a common plight and common aspirations.
For our part, we pledge that we shall not rest until the monster of apartheid is annihilated and South Africa is a truly non-racial and democratic society.
1. Member of the ANC Women’s League and National Human Rights Coordinator of YWAC
2. Source: United Nations document A/AC.115/PV.642