South African History Online

Statement of the President of the ANC, Nelson Mandela,
at the United Nations

New York, 24 September 1993

Chairperson;
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors to the United Nations;
Ladies and gentlemen:

We are most grateful to the Special Committee against Apartheid and its
distinguished Chairman, His Excellency Professor Ibrahim Gambari, as well as the
United Nations as a whole, for enabling us to address this gathering today.

We have, together, walked a very long road. We have travelled together to
reach a common destination.

The common destination towards which we have been advancing defines the very
reason for the existence of this world Organisation.

The goal we have sought to reach is the consummation of the yearning of all
humankind for human dignity and human fulfilment.

For that reason, we have been outraged and enraged that there could be
imposed on any people the criminal system of apartheid.

Each and every one of us have felt our humanity denied by the mere existence
of this system. Each and every one of us have felt brandished as sub-human by
the fact that some could treat of others as though they were no more than
disposable garbage.

In the end, there was nobody of conscience who could stand by and do nothing
in the search for an end to the apartheid crime against humanity.

We are here today to convey to you, who are the representatives of the
peoples of the world, the profound gratitude of the people of South Africa for
your engagement, over the decades, in the common struggle to end the system of
apartheid.

We are deeply moved by the fact that almost from its birth, this Organisation
has kept on its agenda the vital question of the liquidation of the system of
apartheid and white minority rule in our country.

Throughout the many years of struggle, we, as South Africans, have been
greatly inspired and strengthened as you took action both severally and
collectively, to escalate your offensive against apartheid rule, as the white
minority regime itself took new steps in its own offensive further to entrench
its illegitimate rule and draw tribute from those it had enslaved.

In particular, we are most grateful for the measures that the United Nations,
the OAU, the Commonwealth, the Non-Aligned Movement, the European Community and
other intergovernmental organisations took to isolate apartheid South Africa.

We are deeply appreciative of similar initiatives that individual countries,
non-governmental organisations, local communities and even single individuals
took, as part of their contribution to the common effort to deny the apartheid
system all international sustenance.

This global struggle, perhaps without precedent in the inestimable number of
people it united around one common issue, has helped decisively to bring us to
where we are today.

Finally, the apartheid regime was forced to concede that the system of white
minority rule could no longer be sustained.

It was forced to accept that it had to enter into negotiations with the
genuine representatives of our people to arrive at a solution which, as agreed
at the first sitting of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa, CODESA,
would transform South Africa into a united, democratic, non-racial and
non-sexist country.

This and other agreements have now been translated into a specific programme
that will enable our country to take a leap forward from its dark, painful and
turbulent past to a glorious future, which our people will strive with all their
strength to make a future of democracy, peace, stability and prosperity.

The countdown to democracy in South Africa has begun. The date for the demise
of the white minority regime has been determined, agreed and set.

Seven months from now, on April 27, 1994, all the people of South Africa,
without discrimination on grounds of gender, race, colour or belief, will join
in the historic act of electing a government of their choice.

The legislation has also been passed to create the institutions of state, the
statutory organs that will ensure that these elections are held and that they
are free and fair.

As a consequence of the creation of these statutory instruments, we have
arrived at the point where our country will no longer be governed exclusively by
a white minority regime.

The Transitional Executive Council, provided for in this legislation, will
mark the first ever participation by the majority of our people at governmental
level in the process of determining the destiny of our country.

It will be the historic precursor to the Interim Government of National Unity
which will be formed after the democratic elections of April 27th.

The other structures now provided for in law, the Independent Election
Commission, the Independent Media Commission and the Independent Broadcasting
Authority will themselves play their specified roles in ensuring a process of
transition and a result which our people as a whole will accept as having been
legitimate and therefore acceptable.

We must however warn that we are not yet out of the woods.

Negotiations are continuing to agree on the interim constitution, according
to which the country will be governed as the elected national assembly works on
the final constitution.

There will therefore be continuing need that this Organisation and the world
movement for a democratic South Africa as a whole, sustain their focus on the
transitional processes, so that everybody concerned in our country is left in no
doubt about the continuing determination of the international community to help
see us through to democracy.

The reality is that there are various forces within South Africa which do not
accept the inevitability of the common outcome which all humanity seeks.

Within our country, these forces, which seek to deny us liberty by resort to
brute force, and which have already murdered and maimed people in their tens of
thousands, represent a minority of the people.

They derive their strength not from the people but from the fear, insecurity
and destabilisation which they seek to impose through a campaign of terrorism
conducted by unknown killers whose hallmark is brutality and total disregard for
the value of human life.

There are other forces, which because of narrow, sectarian interests, are
also opposed to genuine change. These are engaged in other actions which seek to
create obstacles on the way to a smooth transition to democracy.

We believe that it is critically important that these forces too should
understand that the international community has the will and determination to
act in concert with the majority of the people of our country, to ensure that
the democratic change which is long overdue is not delayed.

The apartheid system has left a swathe of disaster in its trail. We have an
economy that is tottering on the brink of an even deeper depression than the one
we are experiencing now.

What this means practically is millions of people who have no food, no jobs
and no houses.

The very fabric of society is threatened by a process of disintegration,
characterised by high and increasing rates of violent crime, the growth in the
numbers of people so brutalised that they will kill for a pittance and the
collapse of all social norms.

In addition, the absence of a legitimate state authority, enjoying the
support of the majority of the people, immensely exacerbates this general
crisis, emphasising the critical importance of speedy movement forward to
democratic change.

In sum, acting together, we must, at all costs, resist and rebuff any
tendency of a slide towards another Somalia or a Bosnia, a development which
would have disastrous repercussions extending far beyond the borders of South
Africa.

What we have just said is not intended to alarm this august gathering.
Rather, it is meant to say - now is the time to take new steps to move us
forward to the common victory we have all fought for!

We believe the moment has come when the United Nations Organisation and the
international community as a whole should take stock of the decisive advances
that have been made to create the setting for the victory of the cause of
democracy in our country.

We further believe that the moment has come when this same community should
lay the basis for halting the slide to a socio-economic disaster in South
Africa, as one of the imperatives in ensuring the very success of the democratic
transformation itself.

In response to the historic advances towards democracy that have been
achieved; further to give added impetus to this process; to strengthen the
forces of democratic change and to help create the necessary conditions for
stability and social progress, we believe the time has come when the
international community should lift all economic sanctions against South Africa.

We therefore extend an earnest appeal to you, the governments and peoples you
represent, to take all necessary measures to end the economic sanctions you
imposed and which have brought us to the point where the transition to democracy
has now been enshrined in the law of our country.

We further urge that this historic step, marking a turning point in the
history of the relations between South Africa and the rest of the world, should
not be viewed as an act of abstention but one of engagement.

Let us all treat this new reality as an opportunity and a challenge to engage
with the South African situation in a way that will advance the democratic cause
and create the best possible social and economic conditions for the victory of
that cause.

The Special Committee against Apartheid has itself led the process of
preparing the United Nations and its specialised agencies for the new reality
that is the fruit of our common struggle. We trust that the UN family will
therefore not delay in engaging the people of South Africa in a new way.

We trust also that the governments across the globe, that have been so
central in the effort to defeat the system of apartheid, will do what they can
to help us ensure the upliftment of our people.

A similar appeal extends the millions of people organised in the broad
non-governmental anti-apartheid movement themselves to remain involved in the
continuing struggle for a democratic South Africa and to add to their programmes
the extension of all-round development assistance from people to people.

We hope that both the South African and the international investor
communities will also take this opportunity themselves to help regenerate the
South African economy, to the mutual benefit.

As you know, our people have not yet elected a democratic government. It is
therefore important that the white minority government which remains in place in
our country should not be granted recognition and treated as though it were
representative of all the people of South Africa.

The Transitional Executive Council provides the appropriate mechanism for
such interaction as should take place between ourselves and the international
community in the period between now and the formation of the new government.

We should here mention that within the ambit of the diplomatic sanctions
which many countries imposed, we also believe that such countries may now
establish a diplomatic presence in South Africa to enhance their capacity to
assist the people of our country to realise the common objectives.

This Organisation also imposed special sanctions relating to arms, nuclear
matters and oil.

In this regard, we would like to urge that the mandatory sanctions be
maintained until the new government has been formed. We would leave the issue of
the oil embargo to the discretion of the Committee of the General Assembly
responsible for the enforcement of this particular sanction.

We would further like to request that the Security Council should begin
consideration of the very important issue of what this Organisation should do to
assist in the process of organising for and ensuring that the forthcoming
elections are indeed free and fair.

This, naturally, should be accompanied by a review of the important
contribution that has been made by the UN Observer Mission to South Africa,
which is helping us to address the issue of political violence, to ensure that
this contribution addresses adequately this continuing problem.

We cannot close without extending our congratulations to the PLO and the
government of Israel for the important step forward they have taken which,
hopefully, will lead to a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East
question.

To them and to the peoples and governments of the region as a whole, we
extend the good wishes of all the people of our country and the assurance of our
support for their noble effort to establish justice and peace.

We continue to hope that progress will be made towards the just resolution of
the outstanding issue of Western Sahara.

Angola continues to bleed. We urge this Organisation and especially the
Security Council to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the killing ends and
the democratic process is respected.

We are encouraged by the steps that have been taken to bring peace to
Mozambique and trust that no new obstacles will emerge to deny the people of
this sister country the peace, stability and prosperity which they have been
denied for so long.

Our common victory against the only system to be declared a crime against
humanity since the defeat of nazism is in sight.

The historic need to end this crime as speedily and peacefully as possible
requires that we, the peoples of the world, should remain as united as we have
been and as committed as we have been to the cause of democracy, peace, human
dignity and prosperity for all the people of South Africa.

Standing among you today, we continue to be moved by the selfless solidarity
you have extended to our people. We are aware that by our common actions we have
sought not only the liberation of the people of South Africa but also the
extension of the frontiers of democracy, non-racialism, non-sexism and human
solidarity throughout the world.

Understanding that, we undertake before you all that we will not rest until
the noble cause which unites us all emerges triumphant and a new South Africa
fully rejoins the rest of the international community as a country which we can
all be proud of.

Thank you.