16 June 1992
It is a singular honour and privilege for me, on behalf of the African National Congress, and indeed in the name of the struggling people of South Africa, to address this solemn meeting in observance of 16 June, the International bay of Solidarity with the Struggling People of South Africa, known as South African Youth Day in our country.
It was on this day, 16 years ago, that the South African security forces brutally suppressed a peaceful students' demonstration in Soweto. Hundreds of school children were massacred. The Soweto massacre ignited other parts of the country, like Gugulethu, Mamelodi and Langa townships, into militant centres of student uprisings. Since 1976, the youth of our country have played a critical role in the resistance against apartheid. We in the African National Congress join hands with the international community in paying special tribute to victims of this day.
Allow me to convey the appreciation of the African National Congress for the messages of support and solidarity with our people delivered by the speakers who have intervened before us just now. We would also like to register our profound gratitude to the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, from whom our people have received unwavering support over the past years. We are also indebted to the personnel of the United Nations Centre against Apartheid for their tireless efforts in sensitizing the international community to the plight of our people under apartheid.
Internationally and inside South Africa itself there has been much effort carried out, over the past two years, in the search for a negotiated settlement to the South African conflict. This process culminated in the historic Convention for a Democratic South Africa, best known as CODESA, which was held on 20 and 21 December 1991. CODESA established five working groups, each of which has representatives from the 19 organizations participating in the process.
The working groups have been in regular session from February 1992 until their reports were presented to CODESA II on 15 and 16 May 1992. Broad agreements were reached by all parties on many issues. Central among these was that it would be necessary for an interim government of national unity to oversee the transition from apartheid to democracy. The transition would be carried out in two phases.
The first phase would see the appointment of a transitional executive council to oversee the process leading to free and fair elections of a national assembly, which would be entrusted with the task of drawing up a new constitution.
The second phase would come into being after the democratic elections. The elected national assembly would have two functions: firstly, to sit as a constitution-making body where decisions would be taken by a two-thirds majority; and secondly, to serve as a legislature, for the purpose of government, where issues would be decided by a simple majority.
This is where difficulties arose, as there were serious differences between the ANC and [the Government on] the constitution-making body. The Government had its own views on the issue of the constitution-making body. It proposed: an unacceptably high percentage, 75 per cent, to decide on all constitutional matters; entrenched regional and local boundaries; powers to be determined in the interim which would be binding on the future democratic constitution; and an undemocratic and unelected senate with veto powers over the democratically elected national assembly. The gist of the Government's argument is that the new constitution should guarantee the rights of minorities, in this case, those of the whites.
The situation in South Africa is increasingly comparable with that of Nazi Germany, where people were killed only because they were Jews. In South Africa today, our people are massacred simply because they are black. The question of violence has become a serious obstacle to finding a genuine peaceful solution to our conflict. An unprecedented campaign of murder and destruction against our people continues unabated in the townships and villages of our country. All investigations point to the centrality of the South African security apparatus as the perpetrators of violence. It is for this reason that all attempts thus far to stop the violence, including the national peace accord, have failed.
In an effort to bring a final end to this senseless carnage, a number of commissions and organizations have come forward with recommendations. The International Commission of Jurists, the Community Agency for Social Equity and the Human Rights Commission have suggested the following steps: rapid progress towards instituting an accountable interim government centralizing a unitary South Africa; control of the security forces to be removed from the present Government and passed to CODESA and then to the interim government; the speedy integration of the security forces with those of the liberation movements; acceptance of the principle of the accountability of the security forces; the development of community policing; and enforced ban on the carrying of all weapons in public places; the rigorous pursuit and prosecution of all those involved in the violence, including members of the security forces; the establishment of a public judicial enquiry with sufficient scope and power to investigate the causes of violence and prosecute those found responsible; and a dramatic increase in development and infrastructural finance for those South Africans against whom apartheid was aimed.
We entirely support the argument stated above; it will, in our view, contribute significantly to the reduction of the violence. We would also like to appeal to the international community to send monitoring teams to South Africa to investigate the violence. This will help place the perpetrators under the spotlight for all the world to see.
We wish to thank the Organization of African Unity, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists and other international organisations monitoring violence in South Africa. We also thank the Danish Government for raising, with the European Community Council, the importance of sending a fact-finding team to South Africa. We hope that they will treat this issue with the urgency it deserves.
Let me seize this opportunity to inform you of a bill submitted last week in Parliament in our country. This bill gives the police unlimited powers to break into people's homes and organizations' offices, with the purpose of bugging them and tapping telephone lines. It goes on further to allow the police to intercept mail. This bill is an indication of the return to the old apartheid order, in which the police have enormous powers against the citizens. This proposed bill is once again unilaterally presented, disregarding the very negotiations at CODESA to which the Government and the National Party claim to be committed. It seeks to place on the statute books the type of legislation the African National Congress and the international community have fought so hard to remove. We are once again reminded by these actions that the changes are not yet irreversible. Clearly, there is a need to exercise vigilance. For this reason, it is vital that pressure against the apartheid regime be maintained.
Let me briefly outline the African National Congress's perspective on the way forward. We are the architect of CODESA, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the negotiation process under the auspices of CODESA is successful. We will therefore continue to make our humble contribution to the process.
We have started to mobilize our people for mass action. In view of the failure of CODESA II, this is the only option left to our people. We have set out an action programme of peaceful marches, demonstrations, consumer boycotts, stay-aways and other forms of peaceful struggle. We regard these as our democratic rights. We will carry out our programme of action unless the Government heeds the popular demand for the installation of an interim government before the end of this month.
In conclusion, let me convey our warm and fraternal greetings to the people of Palestine under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Let me also use this forum to wish the Chairman of the PLO a speedy recovery from the tragic injury he sustained in the plane crash in Libya. We also reiterate our solidarity with the people of Western Sahara led by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO) and hope that the resolution of their respective problems will contribute to world peace and security.