NA llON/WORLD
J
UA
.tution.
our c untry tan nit" final lap t )
ward th realizaii n of th gllJ cnshnncd
in the charter. the de laration on human
rights a well � the larau in n iuth
envision a frica
.
which hall, in all resp crs,
belong to all who live in it,
black and white ... '
"
Afri a ad pted by this a:. ernbly tw
ago thi m nth. the lea t.: r-hip f the
thought that it wa important that we hould
. c me ba k to e\\, 1I1" tll hare \A uh you
our views on th subject f y ur agenda.
Mr. Presid nt:
" Thank" to rho joint effort" of our pe pie
and g vernm nts and people repre: enred
h reo South Afric., ha embarked on it wn
race to normality.
, We can e ri ing on the horizon the n w
. glorious entity which hall no longer be po-
ken of the pariah among the nation', the
.detestable example of what i impermi ible
in the ord ring thuman r lution-; T1'..: '1 m
.Iand of a crime again. t humanity.
We are beginning to ee emerge a new
country which, becau: e it arrive 0 late at
.the festival of liberty. must urely value free
· dom like the apple f it eye and strive harde t
:to live up to the dream of all humanity
· throughout the age. for ernancipati n, pro. -
: perity, happiness .• 1I)d pea e.
: We envision a South Africa which hall in
I all re pect bel ng to all wh live in it, black
'and white. It political lift' will be governed
I by a thoroughgoing democratic c n tituti n.
based on the pri n i pie f one per on one voter
without any di tinction on ground of race,
:color. gender or creed, and with ut any ele
: ment what oever of racial domination and
;di. crimination. Thi. will bring to it . dcmi�c
:the pre.ent mnqituti n f South Africa
which this organization categori d null
:and void.
• We �l 0 want to e entrenched all the
'nece. sary provi ion. en. uring the fullK! t po -
:sible protection and advancement of the fu�
:damental human rights of every South Afri
:c3n citizen. A. part of thi and to en ure the
:ml of law, tht:rc ,,;11 have to he crcated an
iJ1(h:r�Jl{.knt and Ihlll-raClal Judi iaf"y. a� vi
: 'ualiled in earlicr d uments adopted by the
,General A. scml I.'
At the s�lIn time. the new uth Africa
:will ha\'e to atJtJre:-.� the burning 411�"ti n of
I
·mass poverty, which ami t· million� of OUI
,people, e pecial1y 'the black population. Al 0
:to be dealt with as a matter of urgency are,
:01' course, que. tions of the gro racial im
:balance in the distribution of income,
• wealth, land, and opportunity.
: It is common cause among the majority of
:our people that the political settlement we
, ek to reach cannot survive fOT very long if
. these question , relating to the tandard of
:living ofth people as a whole and the quality
:of life, ali not addre ed.
, That is why the issue of the growth of th
· :economy and its restructuring to serve the
:need of thc entire population, ha to be an
'integral part ofthe proce of the recOIl truc
;tion of South Africa as a democratic, pea eful
,and stable country. .
e new South Africa will, of course, eek
alize its relations with the It'st of the
:wo In this context� we must make th
'point that we fully respect the positipn pelt
out in the General As embly consensus dec
'lm:ation on South Africa, concerning the con
ditions that our country must meet, to provid
the basis for an internationally acceptable
:solution of the South African question and
for its full integration among the community
of nations.
: Such integration would undoubtedly
'have to take full account of the fact that
. In ur iev th
on titution-makin body
h uld b n Ie ted
n. titu nt a embly ...
A Y u re und ubtedly awar ,th con
vention will di cuss such matters as the prin
ciples that will underlie the new constitution, .
the m chani m to draw up this constitution,
an interim government that will take charge
f the country until a new democratically
ele ted government is formed, th reincor
por .uion f th bantu tan into South Africa,
th time fram for the tran itional period a
a whole and th role of the international
omrnunity. A y u can see, the e are all
very im rtant matters on which we will
seck . pccdy deci. ion .
Of deci ive importance to the work of th
conventi n i . the r quirement that the. ruling
National Party m ke a clear commitment that
the de i ion of the convention will be given
legal f rce, Unle thi i done, the convention
will be no m re than a mere talking hop.
Obviou ly, thi cannot be allowed.
In the ftennath of the conclus i n of th .
work fthec nvcntiou, \ v c \ v ill need to move
as quick I a, p . .ible to e tablish the con n-
tuti a-making dy.
111 our vic \\ thi .... -hould he an lc ted
consuiucnt a" .... ellluh. )II'� c .... t:lrll :1'-'; .. ,..:
see Ill' 11.:" .... on \\ hy t-hi . a:' mbly sh uld not
ndlilk it-, w or], IIf .l: .1\\ ing lip the 1l�V.
'''',111 .. 11011 w ulun the year.
Pre I�d. I,· .!1I'l' \ C have not as yet
rca hcd the g al of I ibcration towards
which all of u hav striven. we believe
that there i: nced f r continued intcrna
ti nal pre ure to encourage peedy move
ment f rward toward ending the y tern
f apartheid. Sanction therefore continue
to be important.
At the arne time we believe that uch
anction hould be lifted in pha e corre
ponding to actual progre being achieved .
within South Africa. The two major pha e
ahead of us would be dclineated by the
e tabli hment of the interim government. and
. econdly. the election of the new government
/' �
---------------------------
Sanctions continue to be
important. We appeal to
you to heed the voice of
the oppressed on this ...
"
in tenn of a democratic constitution.
We would therefore urge thi assembly
and its member states to handle the issue of
sanctions in this manner. We are convinced
that this i the best way to use this forin of
pressure to realize our common objective of
securing a speedy end to the sy tern of apart-
eid. We appeal to you all to heed the voice
of the oppre sed on thi matter. Th y who,
after all. asked you to come to their assi tance
by imposing th e sanction .
It is also critically important that the in
ternational community h uld upport the
peaceful proce s leading to the democratic
transformation of South Africa. We are
pleased that the United Nations as well as
other international organisations will be in
vited to send ob erver to the convention for
a democratic South Africa.
This will put the peoples of the world in
a better po ition to help det.ennine the preci e
way by which they can support the peace
process in our country. Th point, however,
also needs to be made that this organization,
representing the nations of the world, has
alway� taken a finn position as an oppon�nt
df apartheid in favor of the perspective
pelled out in its own charter and the d cla
ration on hwnan rights.
We would therefore expect that as it par
ticipate in the political proce se in South
Africa, in whatever way it does so, it will be
,
r�al1l/'IIII'" III • 01111• \ 'ri , that by f m nt
ing violence, a .ts in a mann r c ntrary t the
purpo c f the. ccord.
1'1" ... \\ III greatly h Ip in th pr ·c" .... of
creatine a climate free f violence. as wn
vi. ualized in th 19 9 nsen. 1I decluruuon
We require int rnational upport
It will clearly impossible for us to c rry
throuch thi program of socioecon mic
changes by relying exclu ively on our own
re ource . We will therefore require the. up
port of the international community. This
. up rt. hould be . een as part of the om
pletion of th tao k of ending the apartheid
rime again t humanity by helping u t
di 'mantle the apartheid 'y�t m and liquidat-
ing it de tructive n. qucnce .
We would therefore urge thi organization
to take the neces ary de i ion and make the
relevant preparation which will enable it to
enter thi area of acti 'ity a n a the
ituation permits. We would argue that your
direct intervention will be nece ary as on
as we e tabli h the interim government to
whi 'h we have referred.
A wa agreed earlier the United Nation
High Commi ioner fot Refugee' l UN HCR)
had to intervene before this to a si t in the
process of the repatriation of exile . We are
very plea d that the United Nation High
Commi ioner for Refugee. has now set
it If up in the country.
We are al 0 keenly interested that thi
organization hould help us to re ettle these
returnees. This i going to require consider
able resource . especially in the light of the
fact that Jhe overwhelming maj rity of these
have to be reintegrated with urban commu
nities.
We therefore renew our appeal both to th i,
organization and its mem�r tate to extend
generous a istan e to the United Nations
High Commi ioner on Refugee to enable iJ
to carry out thi very en itive humanitarian
program. In this regard, we hope that the
UNHCR will receive such as i tance from
other agencies of the United Nations as it rna y
need to enable it to carry out its tasks properly.
Mr. President:
Democratic'South Africa will rejoin the
international community in a situation in
which a new world order is being born. A
this new order will of necessity impact on
our own destiny, we cannot avoid comment
ing, however briefly. on what we believe it
should be.
b is our view that this new world order
c;hould be charncl ri7. d. among other things,
by:
• A democratic system of international
relations;
• Re pect for the right of nations to self
detennination and independence;
• Respect for hwnan rights;
• The elimination of poverty, deprivation,
and economic backwardness;
• Ending the practice of the resort to force
to settle international disputes; as well as,
• Protection of the environment;
.• Strengthening and democratizing the
institution of thi organization to ensure that
it play its role as one of the principal archi
tects of that n w world order. Th world is
becoming ever more interdependent What
each one of us doe as an independent nation
impacts on others. We have therefore no
choice but to build a system of relations
hich. while it guarantees uch indepen
dence and seeks to exclude the pos ibility of
one country imposing its will on another,
creates the pos ibility for each to have a
meaningful say in how we should live t�
gether in one peaceful, stable, prosperou ,
and free world.
Thi outcome cannot allow of a ituation
in which the fonn and the content of the new
el n Mand la at th United
nctions, to be lifted in tag
world order is decided by some and has to
be accepted by the rest If we proceed in this
manner, we will continue to build conflict
"--------------
There can be no new
world order while some
are uper-rich and other
remain aby mally poor ...
�I �.'
and instability into th world order, however
much we might d cribe it new.
Equally. there can be no new world order
while some are uper-rich while- others re
main abysmally poor. Indeed the very trug
gle for democracy and human rights through- '
out the world is made more difficult preci ely
by these levels of poverty.
Clearly •• what might appear an almost su
perhuman effort has to be made to address
the issue of gross imbalances in the world
economy, which have resulted in such ills as
negative growth rates for many countries, an
onerous debt burden, and declining standards
of living. -
The issue of disannament and the elimina
tion of weapons of mass de truction remains
one of the important i ues of the day. We
would therefore like to commend those coun
tries concerned for progre that ha een
made in the: area and encourage them t
register e en more forward movement to
ward the final re olution of the e questi n .
In thi rc iard, we would urge the interna
tional AI -nic En rgy authority to move with
all peed t in pect the nuclear in tallation
in our country to en ure full ob ervance f
the provi i n of the nuclear non-prolifera
ti n treaty.
For the re lution of these and oth r qu s
tions, there can be no do.ubt that this orgar'ai
zation must play a central role. To do so
successfully it mu t become truly an instru
ment in the hands of all member states,
without any feeling that �ey are mere pawns.
The reality of the matter i that there i no
institution other than this organization, and
its variou organs, which can provide the
means by which to build an equitable and
stable world order. To play this role, it must
itself enjoy the support and re peet of all
state throughout the world and function ef
fectively and efficiently. �
We would like to take thi pportunity to
congratulate hi excellency Dr. Boutr s
Ghali on his election to the high po"t of
sccretary- eneral of the United Nation. and
wish him ucce in all hi� endcavou . On
him will fall the � k of leading thc pr e'.
which have begun of pia in!! thi' organi7..a
tion on the ort of � ting which will enable
it to play the role we have becn sll'aking f.
Pernlit me, Mr. Presid nt, in th name of
the African National Congrc.. nd n my
own behalf, to 'pay tribute to the outgoing
cr tary-general, his excellency Dr. P�rez
de Cuellar, for hi terling perfonnance at the
h 1m of this international body. Hi outstand
ing efforts in the search for world pe ce h ve
contributed immensely to the realization of
this world body's primary principle and
purpo . We are al 0 highly gratified by the
role he ha played in assisting u in our search
- for pea c in South Africa.
We wi h him well in hi future endeavors.
We would also like to urge that everything
be done as quicldy as possible, in the context
of the decisions of this organization and the
OAU [Organization of African Unity], to
am I lit the m asn s that are n('('\ sary to
rc l,:, ... �I .�. nfli":lll1 ''',-�h..111 Sahara.
Equally, we would like to salute all those
who have en and are involved in the pro
ce of .. arching for a negotiated, just and
tabl peace in the Middle Ea t, an important
element of which i recognition of and re-
pect for the legitimate rights of the Pales
tinian people. We wish them speedy move
ment forward In the eff rt to reach a com
prehcnxivc sculcmcnt.
We al 0 wi h the people of Cambodia
uc es III their own effort .supported by the
UN, to bring to a close a dark chapter in their
hist I) dLlI iug which million of innocent
people have been butchered like wild beasts.
We I forward to the re olution of other
conflict in the world uch as those in Af
ghani tan. Cyprus, East Timor, and else
where. We hope that this organization will
play it hi uoric role of a peacemaker to help
resolve these and other conflicts.
Final teps to ending apartheid
Mr. Pre ident;
Your excellencie :
We are taking the final steps toward end
ing the apartheid y tern of white minority
domination. Acting together, we have the
possibility to bring into being a new country
which you will be proud and happy to read
mit into the ranks of this assembly.
A we have done in the past,let us continue
to a t in concert 0 that we achieve our
c mOl n purpo e a quickly a po ible:
Through our comm n victory over the apart-·
heid y tern in South Africa, we will also
. trike an imp rtant blow a!!nin. t racism in
general, which seelll� 'to be raising it ugly
head in other parts as well.
By it. involvement in thc strugglc to lib
era'te our people, not only has this 'Organiza
tion been true to the purpo es for which it
wa. founded. It will thcreby al 0 help to build
a new country which will make its own
contribution to the creation of a new world
order of equality among the nations, the
defence of human rights, development' and
prosperity for all, peace and tability.
We thank you all for the contribution you
have made to bring our country and people
to where we are today. We count on your
continued upport and involvement until our
common victory ha been achieved.
Thank you.
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