As the Liyban 'people' celebrate what they today call a 'new Libya', I wish that all of Africa refllects on the speech delivered by Noble peace prize winner and former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela in 1994 at the Organization for Africa's Unity(OAU) Meeting of African Heads of State-now the African Union- held in Tunisia. It was his first
Address to an OAU Meeting of African Heads of State.
In the distant days of antiquity, a Roman sentenced this African city
to death: "Carthage must be destroyed (Carthago delenda est)".
And Carthage was destroyed. Today we wander among its ruins, only our
imagination and historical records enable us to experience its
magnificence. Only our African being makes it possible for us to hear
the piteous cries of the victims of the vengeance of the Roman Empire.
And yet we can say this, that all human civilisation rests on
foundations such as the ruins of the African city of Carthage. These
architectural remains, like the pyramids of Egypt, the sculptures of the
ancients kingdoms of Ghana and Mali and Benin, like the temples of
Ethiopia, the Zimbabwe ruins and the rock paintings of the Kgalagadi and
Namib deserts, all speak of Africa`s contribution to the formation of
the condition of civilisation.
But in the end, Carthage was destroyed. During the long interregnum,
the children of Africa were carted away as slaves. Our lands became the
property of other nations, our resources a source of enrichment for
other peoples and our kings and queens mere servants of foreign powers.
In the end, we were held out as the outstanding example of the
beneficiaries of charity, because we became the permanent victims of
famine, of destructive conflicts and of the pestilence of the natural
world. On our knees because history, society and nature had defeated us,
we could be nothing but beggars. What the Romans had sought with the
destruction of Carthage, had been achieved.
But the ancient pride of the peoples of our continent asserted itself
and gave us hope in the form of giants such as Queen Regent Labotsibeni
of Swaziland, Mohammed V of Morocco, Abdul Gamal Nasser of Egypt, Kwame
Nkrumah of Ghana, Murtala Mohammed of Nigeria, Patrice Lumumba of
Zaire, Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissau, Aghostino Neto of Angola,
Eduardo Mondlane and Samora Machel of Mozambique, Seretse Khama of
Botswana, WEB Du Bois and Martin Luther king of America, Marcus Garvey
of Jamaica, Albert Luthuli and Oliver Thambo of South Africa.
By their deeds, by the struggles they led, these and many other
patriots said to us that neither Carthage nor Africa had been destroyed.
They conveyed the message that the long interregnum of humiliation was
over. It is in their honour that we stand here today. It is a tribute to
their heroism that, today, we are able to address this august
gathering.
The titanic effort that has brought liberation to South Africa, and
ensured the total liberation of Africa, constitutes an act of redemption
for the black people of the world. It is a gift of emancipation also to
those who, because they were white, imposed on themselves the heavy
burden of assuming the mantle of rulers of all humanity. It says to all
who will listen and understand that, by ending the apartheid barbarity
that was the offspring of European colonisation, Africa has, once more,
contributed to the advance of human civilisation and further expanded
the frontiers of liberty everywhere.
We are here today not to thank you, dear brothers and sisters,
because such thanks would be misplaced among fellow-combatants - we are
here to salute and congratulate you for a most magnificent and
historical victory over an inhuman system whose very name was tyranny,
injustice and bigotry.
When the history of our struggle is written, it will tell a glorious
tale of African solidarity, of African`s adherence to principles. It
will tell a moving story of the sacrifices that the peoples of our
continent made, to ensure that that intolerable insult to human dignity,
the apartheid crime against humanity, became a thing of the past. It
will speak of the contributions of freedom - whose value is as
measureless as the gold beneath the soil of our country - the
contribution which all of Africa made, from the shores of the
Mediterranean Sea in the north, to the confluence of the Indian and
Atlantic Oceans in the north.
Africa shed her blood and surrendered the lives of her children so
that all her children could be free. She gave of her limited wealth and
resources so that all of Africa should be liberated. She opened heart of
hospitality and her head so full of wise counsel, so that we should
emerge victorious. A million times, she put her hand to the plough that
has now dug up the encrusted burden of oppression accumulated for
centuries.
The total liberation of Africa from foreign and white minority rule
has now been achieved. Our colleagues who have served with distinction
on the OAU liberation committee have already carried out the historical
task of winding up this institution, which we shall always remember as a
frontline fighter for the emancipation of the people of our continent.
Finally, at this summit meeting in Tunis, we shall remove from our
agenda the consideration of the question of Apartheid South Africa.
Where South Africa appears on the agenda again, let it be because we
want to discuss what its contribution shall be to the making of the new
African renaissance. Let it be because we want to discuss what materials
it will supply for the rebuilding of the African city of Carthage.
One epoch with its historic tasks has come to an end. Surely, another
must commence with its own challenges. Africa cries out for a new
birth, Carthage awaits the restoration of its glory.
If freedom was the crown which the fighters of liberation sought to
place on the head of mother Africa, let the upliftment, the happiness,
prosperity and comfort of her children be the jewel of the crown.
There can be no dispute among us that we must bend every effort to
rebuild the African economies. You, your excellencies, have discussed
this matter many times and elaborated the ideas whose implementation
would lead us to success.
The fundamentals of what needs to be done are known to all of us. Not
least among these are the need to address the reality that Africa
continues to be a net exporter of capital and suffers from deteriorating
terms of trade. Our capacity to be self-reliant, to find the internal
resources to generate sustained development, remains very limited.
Quite correctly, we have also spent time discussing the equally
complex questions that bear on the nature and quality of governance.
These, too, are central to our capacity to produce the better life which
our people demand and deserve. In this regard, we surely must face the
matter squarely that where there is something wrong in the manner in
which we govern ourselves, it must be said that the fault is not in our
starts, but in ourselves that we are ill-governed.
Tribute is due to the great thinkers of our continent who have been
and are trying to move all of us to understand the intimate
inter-connection between the great issues of our day of peace,
stability, democracy, human rights, co-operation and development.
Even as we speak, Rwanda stands out as a stern and severe rebuke to
all of us for having failed to address these interrelated matters. As a
result of that, a terrible slaughter of the innocent is taking place in
front of our very eyes.
Thus do we give reason to the peoples of the world to say of Africa
that she will never know stability and peace, that she will never
experience development and growth, that her children will forever be
condemned to poverty and dehumanisation and that we shall for ever be
knocking on somebody`s door pleading for a slice of bread.
We know it is a matter of fact that we have it in ourselves as
Africans to change all this. We must, in action, assert our will to do
so. We must, in action, say that there is no obstacle big enough to stop
us from bringing about a new African renaissance.
We are happy, Mr Chairman, to commit South Africa to the achievement
of these goals. We have entered this eminent African organisation and
rejoined the African community of nations inspired by the desire to join
hands with all the countries of our continent as equal partners.
It will never happen again that our country should seek to dominate
another through force of arms, economic might or subversion. We are
determined to remain true to the vision which you held out for South
Africa as you joined the offensive to destroy the system of apartheid.
The vision you shared with us was one of a non-racial society, whose
very being would assert the ancient African values of respect for every
person and commitment to the elevation of human dignity, regardless of
colour or race.
What we all aimed for was a South Africa which would succeed in
banishing the ethnic and national conflicts which continue to plague our
continent. What we, together, hoped to see, was a new South Africa
freed of conflict among its people and the violence that has taken such a
heavy toll, freed of the threat of the civil strife that has turned
millions of people into refugees both inside and outside our countries.
We all prayed and sacrificed to bring about a South Africa that we
could hold out as a true example of the democracy, equality and justice
for all, which the apartheid system was constructed and intended to
deny.
The vision you shared with us was one in which we would use the
resources of our country to create a society in which all our people
would be emancipated from the scourges of poverty, disease, ignorance
and backwardness.
The objectives we will pursued was the creation of a South Africa
that would be a good neighbour and an equal partner with all the
countries of our continent, one which would use its abilities and
potentialities to help advance the common struggle to secure Africa`s
rightful place within the world economic and political system.
Thus must we build on the common victory of the total emancipation of
Africa to obtain new successes for our continent as a whole.
Mr Chairman:
We are ready to contribute what we can to help end the genocide that
is taking place in Rwanda and bring peace to that troubled sister
country.
We also join the distinguished Heads of State and Government and
Leaders of Delegations in urging a speedy implementation of the OAU and
UN decisions aimed at resolving the question of Western Sahara.
We extend our best wishes to the leaders and people of Angola in the
fervent hope that the process of negotiations in which they are engaged
will, as a matter of urgency, bring about the permanent and just peace
which the people of that country so richly deserve.
Equally, we would like to express our deep-felt wish that the
necessary measures will be taken by all concerned to guarantee the
success of the peace processes in Mozambique and Liberia, to end the war
in the Sudan and protect democracy and stability in Lesotho.
We also appeal to the world community to respond in a sensitive and
generous manner to the famine that threatens the peoples of East Africa.
Mr Chairman, our delegation is also happy to announce that we have
had the honour to pay the subscription that the OAU has levied for South
Africa. In addition, and as a token of the commitment of the people of
our country to support Africa`s peace efforts, we are glad to inform the
Assembly that we have also made an additional contribution of R1
million to the OAU fund for peace.
We congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on you election as the current
chairman of the OAU and thank you, your government and people for the
extraordinary welcome you have extended to us. We are indeed glad to be
here because Tunisia was among the first countries on our continent to
respond to our appeal for help, when we were obliged to take up arms to
fight for our liberation.
We thank our brother, President Hosni Mubarak, for the outstanding
work he did during his chairpersonship, including the direction of the
efforts of the OAU as it helped us to deal with political violence in
our country and ensure the holding of free and fair elections.
We salute too, our Secretary-General, HE Salim Ahmed Salim, the OAU
Secretariat, the OAU Head of Mission to South Africa, Ambassador Joe
Legwaila, the Heads of State and Government and the people of our
continent who helped us successfully to walk our last mile of the
difficult road to freedom.
To you all, we would like to say that your sacrifices and your
efforts have not been in vain. Freedom for Africa is your reward. Your
actions entitled you to be saluted as the heroes and heroines of our
time. On your shoulders rests the responsibility to restore to our
continent its dignity.
We are certain that you will prevail over the currents that originate
from the past, and ensure that the interregnum of humiliation
symbolised by, among others, the destruction of Charthage, is indeed
consigned to the past, never to return.
God bless Africa.
Thank you.
