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I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.
I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your
tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore
place the remaining years of my life in your hands.
On this day of my release, I extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the millions of my
compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my
release.
I send special greetings to the people of Cape Town, this city which has been my home
for three decades. Your mass marches and other forms of struggle have served as a constant
source of strength to all political prisoners.
I salute the African National Congress. It has fulfilled our every expectation in its
role as leader of the great march to freedom.
I salute our President, Comrade Oliver Tambo, for leading the ANC even under the most difficult
circumstances.
I salute the rank and file members of the ANC. You have sacrificed life and limb in
the pursuit of the noble cause of our struggle.
I salute combatants of Umkhonto we Sizwe, like Solomon Mahlangu and Ashley Kriel who
have paid the ultimate price for the freedom of all South Africans.
I salute the South African Communist Party for its sterling contribution to the struggle
for democracy. You have survived 40 years of unrelenting persecution. The memory of
great communists like Moses Kotane, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer and Moses Mabhida will
be cherished for generations to come.
I salute General Secretary Joe Slovo, one of our finest patriots. We are heartened by
the fact that the alliance between ourselves and the Party remains as strong as it always
was.
I salute the United Democratic Front, the National Education Crisis Committee, the South
African Youth Congress, the Transvaal and Natal Indian Congresses and COSATU and the
many other formations of the Mass Democratic Movement.
I also salute the Black Sash and the National Union of South African Students. We note with
pride that you have acted as the conscience of white South Africa. Even during the darkest
days in the history of our struggle you held the flag of liberty high. The large-scale
mass mobilisation of the past few years is one of the key factors which led to the opening
of the final chapter of our struggle.
I extend my greetings to the working class of our country. Your organised strength is
the pride of our movement. You remain the most dependable force in the struggle to end
exploitation and oppression.
I pay tribute to the many religious communities who carried the campaign for justice forward
when the organisations for our people were silenced.
I greet the traditional leaders of our country - many of you continue to walk in the footsteps
of great heroes like Hintsa and Sekhukune.
I pay tribute to the endless heroism of youth, you, the young lions. You, the young lions,
have energised our entire struggle.
I pay tribute to the mothers and wives and sisters of our nation. You are the rock-hard
foundation of our struggle. Apartheid has inflicted more pain on you than on anyone
else.
On this occasion, we thank the world community for their great contribution to the anti-apartheid
struggle. Without your support our struggle would not have reached this advanced stage.
The sacrifice of the frontline states will be remembered by South Africans forever.
My salutations would be incomplete without expressing my deep appreciation for the strength
given to me during my long and lonely years in prison by my beloved wife and family. I
am convinced that your pain and suffering was far greater than my own.
Before I go any further I wish to make the point that I intend making only a few preliminary
comments at this stage. I will make a more complete statement only after I have had the
opportunity to consult with my comrades.
Today the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognise that apartheid has no
future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security.
The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our organisation and people can only culminate
in the establishment of democracy. The destruction caused by apartheid on our sub-continent is
in- calculable. The fabric of family life of millions of my people has been shattered.
Millions are homeless and unemployed. Our economy lies in ruins and our people are embroiled
in political strife. Our resort to the armed struggle in 1960 with the formation of the
military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, was a purely defensive action against the
violence of apartheid. The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today. We have
no option but to continue. We express the hope that a climate conducive to a negotiated
settlement will be created soon so that there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle.
I am a loyal and disciplined member of the African National Congress. I am therefore
in full agreement with all of its objectives, strategies and tactics.
The need to unite the people of our country is as important a task now as it always has
been. No individual leader is able to take on this enormous task on his own. It is our
task as leaders to place our views before our organisation and to allow the democratic
structures to decide. On the question of democratic practice, I feel duty bound to make the point
that a leader of the movement is a person who has been democratically elected at a national
conference. This is a principle which must be upheld without any exceptions.
Today, I wish to report to you that my talks with the government have been aimed at normalising
the political situation in the country. We have not as yet begun discussing the basic
demands of the struggle. I wish to stress that I myself have at no time entered into
negotiations about the future of our country except to insist on a meeting between the
ANC and the government.
Mr De Klerk has gone further than any other Nationalist president in taking real steps
to normalise the situation. However, there are further steps as outlined in the Harare
Declaration that have to be met before negotiations on the basic demands of our people can begin.
I reiterate our call for, inter alia, the immediate ending of the State of Emergency
and the freeing of all, and not only some, political prisoners. Only such a normalised
situation, which allows for free political activity, can allow us to consult our people
in order to obtain a mandate.
The people need to be consulted on who will negotiate and on the content of such negotiations.
Negotiations cannot take place above the heads or behind the backs of our people. It is our
belief that the future of our country can only be determined by a body which is democratically
elected on a non-racial basis. Negotiations on the dismantling of apartheid will have
to address the over- whelming demand of our people for a democratic,
non-racial and unitary South Africa. There must be an end to white monopoly on political
power and a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to ensure that
the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly democratised.
It must be added that Mr De Klerk himself is a man of integrity who is acutely aware
of the dangers of a public figure not honouring his undertakings. But as an organisation we
base our policy and strategy on the harsh reality we are faced with. And this reality
is that we are still suffering under the policy of the Nationalist government.
Our struggle has reached a decisive moment. We call on our people to seize this moment
so that the process towards democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. We have waited too long
for our freedom. We can no longer wait. Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all
fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which generations to come will not
be able to forgive. The sight of freedom looming on the horizon should encourage us to redouble
our efforts.
It is only through disciplined mass action that our victory can be assured. We call on
our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South Africa. The freedom movement
is a political home for you too. We call on the international community to continue the
campaign to isolate the apartheid regime. To lift sanctions now would be to run the
risk of aborting the process towards the complete eradication of apartheid.
Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal
suffrage on a common voters` role in a united democratic and non-racial South Africa is
the only way to peace and racial harmony.
In conclusion I wish to quote my own words during my trial in 1964. They are true today
as they were then:
`I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I
have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together
in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to
achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.`