The Militant - November 2, 2009 -- How apartheid rule was overthrown in South Africa

Vol. 73/No. 42 November 2, 2009

How apartheid rule was
overthrown in South Africa
(Books of the Month column)

Below is an excerpt from Nelson Mandela Speaks, one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for October. In response to a massive struggle against apartheid rule, Nelson Mandela in February 1990 was freed after 27 years in South African prisons and the 30-year ban on the African National Congress (ANC) was lifted. In speeches and interviews in the book Mandela explains how the racist government was forced to bow to demands for the first one-person, one-vote nonracial elections in South African history. The piece below is from a speech Mandela gave to a crowd of 100,000 in Harlem, New York, on June 21, 1990, during an eight-city tour of the United States. Copyright © 1993 by Nelson Mandela and Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.

BY NELSON MANDELA
[M]y dear brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, I am here to report to you that due to the enormous sacrifices of our people and the solidarity and support of people like you and the international community, apartheid is nearing its end.

We are on the threshold of momentous changes. Last month, at the initiative of the ANC, we met with President de Klerk and his colleagues. It was not a meeting of master and servant. It was a meeting of equals. At that meeting we reached an agreement on removing those obstacles, harboring the creation of a climate conducive to negotiations. We are confident that the agreement can be implemented in full as a matter of urgency. Equally, we are confident that you will continue to support us in this fight.

Let me say, with all sincerity, that we do not doubt the integrity of President de Klerk and his colleagues. Equally, we welcome the moves to repeal certain racist legislation and the state of emergency in the greater part of our country. Yet until the agreement has been implemented in full and there is profound and irreversible change, international pressure must be intensified and sanctions maintained. Keep the pressure on apartheid!

It is regrettable that in South Africa there is still a minority of a minority violently and vehemently opposed to a negotiated resolution of the conflict. Too many of them are heavily armed. Too many of them are to be found in the police force. Too many of them are mobilized and organized into paramilitary formations. They have the capacity, and it seems the will, to commit unspeakable atrocities.

But they will not deflect us from our chosen path. For our part, we understand and are sensitive to the fears about the future of many of our white compatriots. The ANC is profoundly committed and determined to do all we can to demonstrate that they have nothing to fear from a nonracial, nonsexist democracy. That indeed, only in a nonracial, nonsexist, united, and democratic South Africa will they be freed from the prison that is the apartheid system.

The ANC and the Mass Democratic Movement represent an unequaled diversity of cultures, languages, religion, tradition, and class. I am happy to report to you that there are increasing numbers of whites who not only realize that apartheid is unjust and a crime, but who are ready to be in the same trenches as their fellow black sisters and brothers.

As the struggle intensifies, the social base of the present government will be reduced, and more and more whites will join the ANC as equals, with equal duties, obligations, and responsibilities.

We are on the verge of victory. But the last mile of the freedom road could prove to be the most difficult and the most intractable. Thus our struggle cries out for organization, discipline, and unity. Struggle that does not strengthen organization can lead to a blind alley. Struggle without discipline can lead to anarchy. Struggle without unity enables the other side to pick us off one by one.

We are, therefore, deeply involved in trying to bring about the unity in action of all those opposed to apartheid. Any individual, any group, any organization that seeks genuine unity in action will find a ready partner in the ANC.

We are fighting for a democratic South Africa. This means first and foremost, one person, one vote on a nonracial voters’ roll. On this there can be no compromise.

For us, political power should be the basis for the economic empowerment of people. It is outrageous that in the richest country on our continent, with its vast economic resources, that millions should be deprived of the basic necessities of life. The gap between the haves and the have-nots, black and white, is totally unacceptable. Any new democratic state must address this historic injustice as a matter of urgency. It also means that we are irrevocably committed to realizing a society in which the fruits of our people’s labor shall be distributed equitably. That the striking imbalance between the wealth of the minority and the poverty of the majority has to be addressed.

To bring an end to this old, unjust, inequitable social order, and bring into being a new one characterized by the notions of justice and equity, requires that we address the questions of the enormous economic power wielded by and concentrated in the hands of a minority of a minority.

Brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, victory is in sight. The light at the end of the tunnel is now beckoning. But we are not yet there. To reach the end of the tunnel requires that we intensify the struggle on all fronts. It requires that we make the necessary sacrifices. It requires that we remain unrelenting in pursuit of our goals.

The masses of the people of our country are ready for the final battle. Let me assure you they will not flinch from that last battle. It is their heroism, courage, and unquenchable fighting spirit which has earned them the respect and admiration of the international community. Our people symbolize the spirit of resistance and no surrender.

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