South African History Online

Denmark, 17 February 1992

Mr. chairperson,
Chairperson of the foreign policy society,
The
director of the society,
Members of the executive committee of the
society,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.

It is more than a year that I received an invitation to address this August
gathering. Commitments at home and abroad made it impossible for me to visit
Denmark and honour the invitation.

Please accept my apologies for the delay.

The letter of invitation asked me to address the society on the policies of
the ANC and "the difficulties and the possibilities that the future may hold for
South Africa and its people." I intend to be faithful to this formulation of the
invitation with a slight adjustment.

As an optimist I would rather deal with the possibilities first before
dealing with the difficulties. Before I discuss the possibilities and the
difficulties of the negotiation process in South Africa let me take a few
minutes to tell you what the African National Congress is and what we stand
for.

In the 1880s John Tengo Jabavu, a prominent newspaper and editor wrote to the
Aborigines Protection Society in London and declared that the Cape colonial
government was "playing political baal to the entreaties of the natives". Black
people were beginning to become vocal about the discrimination, the alienation
and the exclusion they felt from the various colonial government. Raising their
concerns to the government was like praying to baal, to a false god. Black
people formed organisations of resistance and resisted militarily. By the
beginning of this century it was clear to them that they would never win
political rights in the South African colonies until and unless they engaged in
a united struggle. Their view was reinforced by the formation, in 1910, of the
Union of South Africa which excluded them. In response they formed the African
National Congress in January 1912.

The imperative of national unity through struggle was pinned to the mast of
the ANC from its very inception. In the long years of wars of resistance , the
African people in particular were defeated by the colonizers as different ethnic
units.

Their heroic spirit was weakened by their disunity. The formation of the ANC
constituted an important break with the past: the adoption of new forms of
struggle as a united people.

From the early years - in the campaigns against passes for women in 1913, he
land act in 1913, the Hertzog bills in 1936, the passive resistance campaign of
the Indian congresses in 1946, the great miners strike in 1946 and other actions
- the ANC and its allies asserted the rights of the people in actual struggle.
Although there were militant demonstrations on several occasions before, it was
with the adoption of the Programme of Action in 1949 that the ANC set itself
firmly on a course of active mass resistance to the system of white domination.
This found expression in the Defiance Campaign, uprisings of the landless rural
masses, women's actions against passes, stay-at-home strikes, bus boycotts and
other forms of struggle.

All of these struggles were peaceful and disciplined. The government
responded with extreme brutality to our efforts at ending apartheid. In 1960 it
banned the ANC and other political organisations. No avenue was open to us, for
us to express our opposition to apartheid. We either had to submit to perpetual
subjugation or resist. We chose to resist by the only means open to us, the
armed struggle.

Throughout the years of the ANC's struggle our people were keenly aware of
the fact that it was not enough to oppose racial domination without clearly
spelling out what it is that they wanted to substitute it with. They decided to
hold a congress of all the people of South Africa in which all sectors of the
society would present their claims and expectations of a post apartheid society.
Discussion took place in the factories, on the farms, in universities, in
churches, in sporting clubs, wherever people gathered. The resolutions of these
discussions were brought to the Congress of the People in 1955 and they were
consolidated into the Freedom Charter.

The Freedom Charter was the first comprehensive document on an alternative
socio-economic and political vision for South Africa. The Congress of the People
declared that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. The
Freedom Charter also declared the rights of the people to housing, education
,equality before the law, welfare, employment, health care, participation in the
economy etc. the Freedom Charter has guided the policies of the ANC since
1955.

But, I am sure that you want to know what the policies of the ANC at the
moment are. Up to this day all our major policies are derived from the
principles laid in the Freedom Charter. We proceed from the viewpoint that South
Africa, multi-ethnic as it is, is a single nation which, given a chance, could
develop into a dynamic society that will allow people to be different without
being racist. For this reason we acknowledge and guarantee the right of all
ethnic and cultural groups to their languages, their cultural and religious
practices.

We are convinced that non-racialism is not mutually exclusive to ethnic and
cultural diversity. Our practical experience with the ethic and practice of non
racialism as an organisation over the past forty years has demonstrated to us
not only the moral superiority of that policy but also its irresistible
force.

We declared in the Freedom Charter that the only legitimate way a government
can exercise power is through the consent of the governed. That consent is only
possible in a democratic multi-party system that guarantees regular and fair
elections.

We put that principle at the centre of our constitutional proposals that we
published for discussion in 1987. Given the diversity of South Africa it is our
view that the electoral system of proportional representation is the best suited
for our conditions.

As the ANC we do not want to concentrate on the labels of federal or unitary
states because these terms mean different things to different people. What we
want in South Africa is a central government that has the capacity to take
decisions and to embark on programmes that can address the legacy of apartheid
such as the education crisis, the housing shortage, the failing health and
welfare system etc. such an effective central government is not mutually
exclusive with regional government with a cloud and vibrant local
government.

One of the central features of the apartheid system is economic exploitation,
underdevelopment and exclusion of black people. Our policy proposals on the
economy are meant to address the legacy of apartheid on the one hand and growth
with equity on the other hand. We would like to create conditions in which the
South African economy can serve the entire population as opposed to serving a
minority. At this stage in our history we are advocating a mixed economy that
will have private, public and cooperative sectors.

It is our considered view that extreme concentration of wealth in the hands
of a minority of the population and the domination if not control of the economy
by six conglomerates is an unhealthy situation that will affect the stability,
growth and competitiveness of our economy. We have proposed a range of policy
remedies for this situation that range from nationalisation of sectors of the
economy, to affirmative action in favour of those previously excluded, to
consideration of anti-trust legislation and other forms of state intervention.
We have asked the South African business community to put their proposals on the
table on how the problems we identify in the economy can be addressed. As yet we
have not seen any proposal that seeks to deal with the problem honestly,
practically and within a reasonable time span.

The ANC will be taking firmer decisions on economic and other policies in a
policy conference scheduled for April this year. Our economic policy decisions
will also seek to integrate the issue of environmental sensitivity into our
economic and industrial strategy. For a country whose primary wealth is in
minerals a sensible environmental policy as an integral part of economic policy
is essential.

Our economic policy will also take into account the need for foreign
investment in South Africa especially for purposes of reconstruction. In that
regard we are on record that an ANC government would honour all the country's
obligations even though many loans were used to further the objectives of
apartheid. It is our view, though, that any loans to the regime at this late
hour would be an hostile act against the forces of democratic change in South
Africa. In order to attract foreign investment we will abide by all
internationally recognised standards that are consistent with our objectives of
growth with equity.

The ANC is committed to the existence of active institutions of civil society
such as trade unions, residents associations, sport associations etc. these
institutions would be independent of the state and be able to keep the state in
check whenever it seeks to curtail the rights of citizens.

We will, therefore, seek constitutional guarantees for the free and
independent existence of institutions of civil society and non governmental
organisations.

All our policies are based on the primary belief that the basis of a stable,
just, caring and productive society is the unqualified respect for human rights.
This belief is the premise and the point of departure of the freedom
charter.

The ANC was the first, and up to now the only, political organisation that
has published a proposed bill of rights for South Africa. Our bill of rights is
justiciable in the sense that an individual who feels that his or her rights are
violated or threatened can seek relief from the courts.

It is our view that a bill of rights such as we propose for South Africa will
go a long way in allaying the fears of minorities such as whites and in ensuring
that no government beyond the apartheid regime ever abuses power again. For this
reason we are opposed to constitutional guarantees for minorities because all
the legitimate protections such minorities need are guaranteed as individual
rights. The guarantees that are now sought by the regime are intended for
nothing more than political abuse in the future.

For a bill of rights to be a worthwhile constitutional guarantee there is a
need for an independent and non-racial judiciary that will help resolve disputes
that arise in this regard. The ANC is committed to the creation of such an
independent, non-racial and non-sexist judiciary in South Africa.

I have presented these policies to you without fear and trepidation because I
know that they are progressive, humane, pragmatic and have been in South Africa
way ahead of all political parties. They represent a vision of a new South
Africa that is free from discrimination, domination and abuse of human
rights.

It is these qualities in our vision that have moved millions of people in
South Africa into action and mad millions more abroad to embrace our struggle as
if it is their own. It is these policies that made me bold in 1964 to declare
that was prepared to live for the ideals of the ANC but, if need be, I was
prepared to die for them.

Mr. chairman, ladies and gentlemen, it should be clear to you from this
exposition of ANC policies that it is the ANC and not the regime that has been
responsible for the initiation, the direction and the keeping within rails of
the peace process in Africa. It is quite common to dress Mr. F.W. de Klerk in
borrowed robes by crediting him with all the progress that has taken place in
the negotiation process.

The fact of the matter is that I was instructed by the ANC to initiate
discussions with the regime in September 1986 with a view to braking South
Africa's political logjam. It was after three years of swallowing insults that I
finally met then President P.W. Botha in 1989. As a result of those initial
contacts the regime saw its way clear to releasing Mr. Govan Mbeki in 1987 and
Mr. Walter Sisulu and seven others in October 1989.

The unbanning of political organisations, my release and the release of other
political prisoners and the commitment of the regime to negotiated settlement in
February 1990 should be seen as a culmination of our multi-pronged assault on
the system of apartheid particularly since 1984. That attack included fierce
internal resistance, targeted and effective armed assault, mobilisation of
militant international opposition, sanctions and other boycotts that reduced the
capacity of the apartheid to wage war on its people and the region. The options
of the regime were reduced to such an extent that it began to reluctantly
consider abandoning the apartheid system which had become ungovernable and an
albatross around its neck.

We entered discussions with the regime as soon as the opportunity availed
itself. At summits at Groote Schuur, Cape Town in May 1990 and in Pretoria in
August 1990 we sought to achieve two objectives, namely the removal of all
obstacles to negotiations and the creation of a climate of free political
activity in South Africa. We entered into agreements with the regime as to what
it had to do to remove obstacles and to create a climate of free political
activity.

The regime failed us dismally when it came to the implementation of these
agreements. It soon became clear to us that it was pursuing a double agenda. it
was talking peace to us whilst waging war against us. In a physical sense the
state sponsored violence against innocent civilians in the PWV and Natal areas,
especially after the decision of the ANC to suspend all armed action against the
regime, proved the duplicity of the regime.

It was later to be confirmed with a government admission that the regime was
funding Inkatha of Chief Buthelezi with a view to increasing its capacity for
violence against the supporters of the ANC. By mid 1991 neither the obstacles to
negotiation nor the climate of free political activity had been achieved in
full. Instead it seemed as if new obstacles were beginning to arise. We became
convinced that the only way to save the peace process was to accelerate it
because as long as the regime acted as both player and referee no progress was
possible. The only way to stop the regime from being player and referee at the
same time was to create an interim government of national unity which would
oversee the transition period. As the ANC we believed that an interim government
could be best negotiated in a congress that would bring together all of South
Africa's significant political parties and organisations.

Before moving towards that goal we sought to unite all anti-apartheid forces
to a common platform through a Patriotic Front that was constituted in a meeting
of 91 organisations in October 1991. The ANC then applied heavy pressure on the
regime in bilateral talks in order to make the CODESA preparatory talks
possible. After the preparatory talks the ANC worked extremely hard to ensure
that a declaration of intent was drafted and accepted by the majority of
participants at the CODESA meeting of 20 and 21 December, 1991.

Through the CODESA process we hope to have an interim government installed
within the year. The interim government will be constituted by all the parties
that are involved at CODESA. It will have the duty of overseeing the transition
which, in our view, should last about 18 months to two years on the outside.
Once the interim government is in place it will make arrangements for the
holding of non-racial universal adult suffrage elections for a Constituent
Assembly at the advice of the CODESA working group on constitution-making
mechanisms. The Constituent Assembly will then draw a new constitution for South
Africa using constitutional principles agreed to at CODESA as a basis.

The negotiation process in South Africa has a real potential of ending the
system of apartheid by peaceful means. This historical opportunity is still
threatened by actions and omissions of the regime as well as its reluctance to
adopt positions that will make change a less painful exercise. The greatest
threat to the process is the state sponsored violence which has engulfed the
black townships of the Transvaal and almost all the province of natal. The
regime has two major objectives with the violence.

Firstly it seeks to lend credence to the lie that it has created and
perpetuated that black people are not capable of governing themselves without
violence erupting. The second is that the regime wants to create an impression
that it is the only force capable of holding South Africa together. If both lies
are accepted then it hopes that people in South Africa and abroad will see the
continuance of white minority rule as justifiable.

The insistence of the De Klerk government that the outcome of negotiations
will have to be accepted by whites in a referendum before implementation is a
threat to the process. How can we spend years, resources and goodwill in a
process that South African whites can exclusively vote out of existence?

The opportunity of a negotiated settlement in South Africa cannot survive a
whites-only referendum. We reject that notion absolutely.

The regime seems intent on denying those whom negotiations seek to
enfranchise the right to govern. The concept of a collegiate presidency with a
rotating president and that of a constitutionally prescribed coalition
government seek to deny majority rule in a new South Africa. The regime is
constructing this devious constitutional mechanism in spite of the fact that the
ANC is not calling for racial or ethnic majority but majority rule based on
political and other interests.

The end result of the proposals of the regime would be a weak ineffectual,
and unstable government. Such a government would not be able to take the tough
decisions that are necessary and to embark on programmes that can boldly tackle
the social problems apartheid has created. The status quo would thus remain
untouched. We cannot accept such a situation because no justice or stability
could arise in those conditions.

The negotiation process is also under threat from the growing right-wing in
South Africa especially its neo-nazi manifestations. The De Klerk regime has
acted with great ambivalence to the right wing and the threat it poses. It would
seem that Mr. De Klerk approaches the right wing as an Afrikaner rather than as
a South African. This limits his options considerably. Mr. De Klerk seems to
play into the hands of the right wing with the insistence on a whites only
referendum even though he is under no obligation to do so.

The threat of the right-wing cannot be underestimated. It will take a
combined South African effort to deal with it. Mr. De Klerk's ambivalence in
dealing with the right wing undermines the developments of a consensus on how to
deal with this threat.

While the threats to the current negotiation process are many and varied we
are confident that the democratic forces in South Africa are strong enough to
prevail at the end.

The historical opportunity of a negotiated settlement in South Africa can be
enhanced by nations and the international community in general maintaining
pressure and sanctions against the regime in accordance with the phased process
proposed by the ANC and embraced by the OAU and the commonwealth.

We enter the ninth decade of the ANC full of confidence that the ideals which
inspired its formation are about to be realised. The words of one of the
founders of the ANC, an illustrious leader of the South African people, Pixley
Ka Izaka Seme, ring truer than ever before. Enjoining people to struggle in
1906, Seme said "the brighter day is rising upon Africa.." our people are
determined. No one and no obstacle will stand between them and their sunshine.
Indeed South Africa is going to be free in our life time.

Thank you.