Item 1287 - Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the Rally to Mark the 84th Anniversary of the African National Congress

TRANSCRIPT [Verbatim Speech]

I bring you heartfelt New Year greetings from the leadership of the African National Congress. We wish you, and all South Africans, all of the best as we approach our Third Freedom Year.

And it is with pride and a sense of challenge that we speak to you on this the 84th anniversary of the people's organisation. Pride in the fact that we have together accomplished our freedom. And challenge, in the sense that that journey has just started. Much much more needs to be done for all of us to enjoy a better life.

I should thank in particular the Gauteng leadership for selecting Carletonville as the venue for this year's anniversary. Your town represents in many ways the hopes and the challenges that face our nation.

We salute the citizens of Carletonville - both black and white - for the manner in which you have handled the transition to democracy. From a divided past, often characterised by conflict, you are today united as workers, business-people, professionals and others to make Carletonville a place of true peace and friendship among compatriots.

But Carletonville also reflects the many difficulties that South Africa is facing today. Retrenchment in the mines is creating difficulties for your communities. But it emphasises the challenge that Government is starting to tackle head-on:

Firstly, that we should assist in speeding up the growth of our manufacturing industries. As a country, we cannot for good, rely on a limited resource such as minerals.

Secondly, we must intensify the campaign for the training of workers and all citizens in as many skills as possible, so that we can fit into different kinds of jobs.

Thirdly, we must intensify the efforts to ensure that South Africa, and particularly the towns where minerals are extracted, develop the industries to process these minerals themselves.

Lastly, the Public Works Programme, and the schemes to assist small business-persons and small farmers must be intensified; so that people can get jobs and training, and so that new business-people can emerge and prosper.

These are only some of the challenges that you face in Carletonville; challenges that we face as a nation.

Comrades and Friends;

This anniversary of the ANC comes in a year in which we remember other important milestones in our struggle for freedom: the 50th anniversary of the Great Miners' Strike; the 75th Anniversary of the formation of the Communist Party of South Africa; the 50th Anniversary of the historic Passive Resistance Campaign by the Indian community; the 20th Anniversary of the Soweto Uprising and the 40th Anniversary of the historic Women's March to Union Buildings, to quote just a few.

We remind ourselves of these anniversaries not simply out of sentiment. But because they again remind us of where we come from and where we are going. They also assist those with short memories: the oppressors of the past who today claim that they achieved freedom for us, and that they can teach the ANC and the mass of the people what democracy, justice and social justice mean.

We shall not take lessons from those who change like chameleons; people who want us to forget the heritage of apartheid that they left our society and its people. We shall not take lessons from them because their main aim is to try and set the agenda for the country; to define for us what change is and how it should be realised. Their aim is to defend white privilege and to protect the interests of the rich and the powerful at the expense of the poor.

Much still remains to be done to build a sense of common nationhood in our country. What we said in the Freedom Charter - that South Africa belongs to all who live in it - still has to be realised. This cannot be founded on the preservation of the old order. True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past. It does not rest with black forgiveness, sensitivity to white fears and tolerance of an unjust status quo, and, on the other hand, white gratitude and appreciation underpinned by a tenacious clinging to exclusive privilege, on the other.

A serious challenge therefore faces especially our white friends fully to grasp the importance of their role in the efforts for national reconciliation. Together we must find the answer to the question: how can we make a meaningful contribution to national reconciliation and reconstruction?

We must together address the heritage of joblessness, homelessness, landlessness and no access to proper education, health and opportunities for self-advancement created by the system of apartheid. This situation will not correct itself. Both the public and private sectors will have to make their contribution to speed up progress towards a better life.

Our society, including your community here in Carletonville, is also victim to high levels of crime. This, too, is part of our heritage from the past and is driven by a variety of causes. One of these is lack of jobs. Another is the quality of policing and law-enforcement. We must deal with all these problems, at the same time as we reassert the primacy of social morality among our people as a whole: in government, in industry, in the communities, in the schools and everywhere else.

In as much as all sectors of society are victims to the problem of crime, none of us can stand aloof, hoping that government or the security forces alone can deal with this problem. The new social morality must form part of a new South African patriotism which should inspire us to build a new and winning nation.

[recording ends]

Dear Comrades;

It is vital that we continue the struggle to ensure that the state serves the interests of the people. It is not enough that we have elected organs of government. It is also important that the instruments of government must be structured and operate in such a way that they serve the nation.

As ANC, we shall strive to ensure that elected representatives at national, provincial and local levels discharge their responsibilities to the people in as efficient, effective and honest a manner as possible. We need to empower them with the skills and resources to serve the electorate even better.

Another challenge ahead of us is the completion of the process of writing the new constitution. This task belongs to all of us, not just those in parliament. We must ensure that this new constitution expresses the basic ideas and practice of majority rule. It must protect human rights; recognise the unity of our country in its diversity; and guarantee efficient, open and accountable government.

I also wish in this regard to advise any traditional leaders in our country to abandon the illusion that they can ever be granted powers which compromise the fundamental objectives of democracy. The present constitution has adequate provisions to address the question of the role of traditional leaders. We accept that these provisions should be carried over into the new constitution. And in this, we know we have the support of the majority of traditional leaders.

One of the major tasks our country will face starting this year, is to ensure that the truth about our past is exposed so that we can achieve lasting reconciliation. The ANC shall co-operate fully with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

And we wish to emphasise again, that vengeance is not our goal. The building of a nation at peace with itself is our objective. Let us all therefore tell the truth that has to be told; and become builders of the new order of respect for life, the dignity and the rights of every citizen.

Comrades and Friends;

Another important task we face this year is to ensure a decisive victory for the forces of democracy, peace and progress, in the local government elections in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Western Cape. We must continue to reach out to the people, explain our policies and ensure that they fully realise the divisive racial and ethnic programmes of the parties of apartheid.
As a movement, the ANC commits itself to conduct the election campaigns in these areas without resort to violence and intimidation. We call on other parties to commit themselves to do the same in word and deed. At the same time, let those who wish to climb on corpses of the people to ill-gotten power be warned: the government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they are brought to book.

We have it in our power as a nation to build an even better atmosphere for the thriving of our country and its economy. Government will this year take additional steps to ensure faster economic growth so that jobs can be created and our quality of life improved.

In this regard, I want again to address the question of the restructuring of state assets. Our approach to this question is based on the objectives of the RDP. We have to change what we have inherited from the apartheid system so that public assets, in particular, can truly serve the interests of the people. The aim can never be to undermine the interests of workers or of society in general.

The democratic movement, including the Tripartite Alliance, must further discuss these matters as urgently as possible. We must ensure that we act as a united force so that we give leadership to the process of modernising our economy and improving delivery of affordable services to the people. Along with this, is the government's commitment to investment in housing, communication, education, health, water and sanitation.

For all these programmes to succeed requires that we work together in the spirit of Masakhane. We are masters of our own destiny: and we should create a better life together. No one else will do it for us.

Comrade Chairperson;

The ANC therefore enters 1996 confident that we shall, as a nation, move even faster to a better quality of life, in broadening and deepening democracy; in combating crime and in defeating the forces of counter-revolution which hope to regain the positions they have lost.

In these efforts, we know we have the support of the majority of South Africans. But we cannot take this support for granted.
It is therefore critical that we strengthen ANC structures and involve the people in campaigns to improve their conditions, to combat crime, to draft the new constitution and to unite the nation. We must strengthen our alliance and the broad front of patriots interested in building a better life. We must strengthen the Youth League and revive the Women's League so that these organisations can become true champions of the interests of women and the youth.

Almost two years ago, the heroic struggle of the people, under the leadership of the ANC brought us to the point where we could at last establish democratic government. Twice within a period of 18 months, the people expressed their confidence in the ANC as the genuine representative of their aspirations.

During this 84th year of the ANC, let us further enhance the strength of the movement and mobilise the people to achieve new victories in the continuing struggle for democracy, peace and development.
Comrade Chairperson and Dear Comrades;

I have selected only some highlights from our comprehensive statement which is being widely distributed. I have also emphasised here today those issues that I am certain are close to your hearts here in Carletonville. Once again, let me thank you for your warm welcome.

The struggle continues! Victory is certain!
Amandla!

TRANSCRIPT [Prepared Speech]

I bring you heartfelt New Year greetings from the leadership of the African National Congress. We wish you, and all South Africans, all of the best as we approach our Third Freedom Year.

And it is with pride and a sense of challenge that we speak to you on this the 84th anniversary of the people's organisation. Pride in the fact that we have together accomplished our freedom. And challenge, in the sense that that journey has just started. Much much more needs to be done for all of us to enjoy a better life.

I should thank particularly the Gauteng leadership for selecting Carletonville as the venue for this year's anniversary. Your

town represents in many ways the hopes and the challenges that face our nation.

We salute the citizens of Carletonville - both black and white - for the manner in which you have handled the transition to democracy. From a divided past, often characterised by conflict, you are today united as workers, business-people, professionals and others to make Carletonville a place of true peace and friendship among compatriots.

But Carletonville also reflects the many difficulties that South Africa is facing today. Retrenchment in the mines is creating difficulties for your communities. But it emphasises the challenge that Government is starting to tackle head-on:

Firstly, that we should assist in speeding up the growth of our manufacturing industries. As a country, we cannot, for good, rely on a limited resource such as minerals.

Secondly, we must intensify the campaign for the training of workers and all citizens in as many skills as possible, so that we can fit into different kinds of jobs.

Thirdly, we must intensify the efforts to ensure that South Africa, and particularly the towns where minerals are extracted, develop the industries to process these minerals themselves.

Lastly, the Public Works Programme, and the schemes to assist small business-persons and small farmers must be intensified; so that people can get jobs and training, and so that new business-people can emerge and prosper.

These are only some of the challenges that you face in Carletonville; challenges that we face as a nation.

Comrades and Friends;

This anniversary of the ANC comes in a year in which we remember other important milestones in our struggle for freedom: the 50th anniversary of the Great Miners' Strike; the 75th Anniversary of the formation of the Communist Party of South Africa; the 50th Anniversary of the historic Passive Resistance Campaign by the Indian community; the 20th Anniversary of the Soweto Uprising and the 40th Anniversary of the historic Women's March to Union Buildings, to quote just a few.

We remind ourselves of these anniversaries not simply out of sentiment. But because they again remind us of where we come from and where we are going. They also assist those with short memories: the oppressors of the past who today claim that they achieved freedom for us, and that they can teach the ANC and the mass of the people what democracy, justice and social justice mean.

We shall not take lessons from those who change like chameleons; people who want us to forget the heritage of apartheid that they left our society and its people. We shall not take lessons from them because their main aim is to try and set the agenda for the country; to define for us what change is and how it should be realised. Their aim is to defend white privilege and to protect the interests of the rich and the powerful at the expense of the poor.

Much still remains to be done to build a sense of common nationhood in our country. What we said in the Freedom Charter - that South Africa belongs to all who live in it - still has to be realised. This cannot be founded on the preservation of the old order. True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past. It does not rest with black forgiveness, sensitivity to white fears and tolerance of an unjust status quo, and, on the

other hand, white gratitude and appreciation underpinned by a tenacious clinging to exclusive privilege, on the other.

A serious challenge therefore faces especially our white compatriots fully to grasp the importance of their role in the efforts for national reconciliation. Together we must find the answer to the question: how can we make a meaningful contribution to national reconciliation and reconstruction.

We must together address the heritage of joblessness, homelessness, landlessness and no access to proper education, health and opportunities for self-advancement created by the system of apartheid. This situation will not correct itself. Both the public and the private sectors will have to make their contribution to speed up progress towards a better life.

Our society, including your community here in Carletonville, is also victim to high levels of crime. This, too, is part of our heritage from the past and is driven by a variety of causes. One of these is lack of jobs. Another is the quality of policing and law-enforcement. We must deal with all these problems, at the same time as we reassert the primacy of social morality among our people as a whole: in government, in industry, in the communities, in the schools and everywhere else.

In as much as all sectors of society are victims to the problem of crime, none of us can stand aloof, hoping that government or the security forces alone can deal with this problem. The new social morality must form part of a new South African patriotism which should inspire us to build a new and winning nation.

Dear Comrades;

It is vital that we continue the struggle to ensure that the state serves the interests of the people. It is not enough that we have elected organs of government. It is also important that the instruments of government must be structured and operate in such a way that they serve the nation.

As ANC, we shall strive to ensure that elected representatives at national, provincial and local levels discharge their responsibilities to the people in as efficient, effective and honest a manner as possible. We need to empower them with the skills and resources to serve the electorate even better.

Another challenge ahead of us is the completion of the process of writing the new constitution. This task belongs to all of us, not just those in parliament. We must ensure that this new

constitution expresses the basic ideas and practice of majority rule. It must protect human rights; recognise the unity of our country in its diversity; and guarantee efficient, open and accountable government.

I also wish in this regard to advise any traditional leaders in our country to abandon the illusion that they can ever be granted powers which compromise the fundamental objectives of democracy. The present constitution has adequate provisions to address the question of the role of traditional leaders. We accept that these provisions should be carried over into the new constitution. And in this, we know we have the support of the majority of traditional leaders.

One of the major tasks our country will face starting this year, is to ensure that the truth about our past is exposed so that we can achieve lasting reconciliation. The ANC shall co-operate fully with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

And we wish to emphasise again, that vengeance is not our goal. The building of a nation at peace with itself is our objective. Let us all therefore tell the truth that has to be told; and become builders of the new order of respect for life, the dignity and the rights of every citizen.

Comrades and Friends;

Another important task we face this year is to ensure a decisive victory for the forces of democracy, peace and progress, in the local government elections in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Western Cape. We must continue to reach out to the people, explain our policies and ensure that they fully realise the divisive racial and ethnic programmes of the parties of apartheid.

As a movement, the ANC commits itself to conduct the election campaigns in these areas without resort to violence and intimidation. We call on other parties to commit themselves to do the same in word and deed. At the same time, let those who wish to climb on corpses of the people to ill-gotten power be warned: the government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they are brought to book.

We have it in our power as a nation to build an even better atmosphere for the thriving of our country and its economy. Government will this year take additional steps to ensure faster economic growth so that jobs can be created and our quality of life improved.

In this regard, I want again to address the question of the restructuring of state assets. Our approach to this question is based on the objectives of the RDP. We have to change what we have inherited from the apartheid system so that public assets,

in particular, can truly serve the interests of the people. The aim can never be to undermine the interests of workers or of society in general.

The democratic movement, including the Tripartite Alliance, must further discuss these matters as urgently as possible. We must ensure that we act as a united force so that we give leadership to the process of modernising our economy and improving delivery of affordable services to the people. Along with this, is the government's commitment to investment in housing, communication, education, health, water and sanitation.

For all these programmes to succeed requires that we work together in the spirit of Masakhane. We are masters of our own destiny: and we should create a better life together. No one else will do it for us.

Comrade Chairperson;

The ANC therefore enters 1996 confident that we shall, as a nation, move even faster to a better quality of life, in broadening and deepening democracy; in combating crime and in defeating the forces of counter-revolution which hope to regain the positions they have lost.

In these efforts, we know we have the support of the majority of South Africans. But we cannot take this support for granted.

It is therefore critical that we strengthen ANC structures and involve the people in campaigns to improve their conditions, to combat crime, to draft the new constitution and to unite the nation. We must strengthen our alliance and the broad front of patriots interested in building a better life. We must strengthen the Youth League and revive the Women's League so that these organisations can become true champions of the interests of women and the youth.

Almost two years ago, the heroic struggle of the people, under the leadership of the ANC brought us to the point where we could at last establish democratic government. Twice within a period of 18 months, the people expressed their confidence in the ANC as the genuine representative of their aspirations.

During this 84th year of the ANC, let us further enhance the strength of the movement and mobilise the people to achieve new victories in the continuing struggle for democracy, peace and development.

Comrade Chairperson and Dear Comrades;

I have selected only some highlights from our comprehensive statement which is being widely distributed. I have also emphasised here today those issues that I am certain are close to your hearts here in Carletonville. Once again, let me thank you for your warm welcome.

The struggle continues! Victory is certain!

Amandla!

RELATED INFORMATION

Nelson Mandela departed from his prepared speech. Both the verbatim and prepared speeches are reproduced.