A/31/PV.29 General Assembly

9.  General debate 1. Mr. C. D. MOLAPO (l.esotho): Permit me, Mr. Presi- dent,on behalfof mydelegation to extend to you our most sincere congratulations on your unanimous and well- deserved election to the presidency of the thirty-first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Your outstanding qualities of leadership and your immense experience in diplomacy are well knownto allof us.We are confident that your undying and dedicated efforts as President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of tb' $en will prove beneficial to our deliberations. The thirty-i-:". session of the General Assembly is an auspicious occasion for the non-aligned movement: it is particularly gratifying to the Kingdom of l.esotho that the President of this session should be not only a distinguished and long-standing servant of the United Nations but also an outstanding representative of a non-aligned and Common- wealth country. 2. I wouldalso liketo express my delegation's gratitude to your distinguished predecessor, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr. Gaston Thorn, for the brilliantmanner in which he discharged his functions as President of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly. 3. I also take pleasure in welcoming the Republic of Seychelles, whose membership in this Organization wewere most happy to sponsor. The Seychelles is a country with which we have the most fraternal relations. We look forward to its contribution towards solving.critical prob- lems facing small StatesMembers ofthisOrganization. 4. We deeply regret that, as a result of the objections of certain Member States, the two Republics of Angola and Viet Nam have not been accorded membership in the . United Nations. In the interests of universality of member- ship of this Organization, we sincerely hope that thesetwo Republics will be allowed to take their place among us in -the very nearfuture. Wednesday, 13 October 1976, at 10.50 a.m. NEW YOlK S. It is not a matter of surprise that the agenda of this Assembly contains so many pressing and urgent issues, for it is a feature of modern life that, at the same time asman scales the contours of outer space, on this planet he is creating problems of such profound dimensions that the very concept of progress has become of dubiousvalue. The very elements that sustain life-the waters of the rivers and of the seas, the agricultural landscape of the worldand the air webreathe-have all beendesecrated by man'sfolly. 6. The march of humanity towards the twenty-first century is matched by a singular failure to solve the problem of man'speace withhimself. 7. In the Middle East, the people of Palestine continueto remain hostages to a situation that threatens international peace. In 1974, this Assembly took a most profound decision on the question of Palestine Iresolution 3236 (XXIX)}. The twenty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly fmally recognized the injustice of treatingthe people of Palestine as refugees. Byresolution 3236(XXIX), the United Nations fmally recognized the basic human rights of a people that has not known any homeland or any peace for well over 30 years. The United Nations Reliefand Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is no substitute for the responsibility of the United Nations for resolving the question of the people of Palestine. 8. My Government accepts as· a matter of fundamental principle the right of Israel to an existence. At the same time, my Government does not recognize the right of any nation in the Middle East to an existence at the expense of other nations. We cannot accept the acquisition of territory of other States on the grounds of security. Neithercanmy Government accept changes in the economic, social or political topography of conquered territories under any pretext. 9. In Asia, the peace of South-East Asia is marred by the foot-note of the questionof Korea. In 1973,this Assembly accepted a consensus: that North and South Korea should continue a dialogue to resolve the outstanding problems between the two Koreas. Clearly, the consensus of 1973is the most substantive basis for resolving the question of Korea, and I should like to express my delegation's appreciation to the two parties for the understanding which has been reached to remove this is:lue from the agenda of this session and for their readiness to continue their dialogue. 1 See Of/icilzl Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-e#ghth SelSio", Suppleme"t No. 30, p. 24. "Some 900 million of these individuals subsist on incomes of less than $75 a year: in an environment of squalor, hunger and hopelessness. Theyare the absolute poor, living in. situations so deprived as tobe below any rationaldefmitionofhuman decency. Absolute povertyis a condition of life so limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high-infant-mortality and low life-expectancy as to deny its victims the very potential of the genes with whichthey wereborn."2 11. The ink is not yet dry on the new international economic order. The poor of the world are not asking for welfare. They are not asking for hand-outs but for an opportunity to help themselves. Millions of peoples of member countries of this Assembly are locked in the tight grip of the povertyofthe ruralhinterlandof the world. Yet other millions ,are subjected to the grim poverty of the urbanghet(to, the shanty town, the tin hovels; and the locationsofSouth Africa and Rhodesia and Namibia. There is no country which is immune from the problemsof the rural and the urban poor. And it does not take much imagiIJation to recognize that unless weallconcentrate our joint energies, our intellects, on solving this problem', the ghettos of the world will deal most destructively with the rich of the cities-just as the rural poor of the world will dealmostsavagely with the urban rich of the world. 12. At stakeis the whole fabrlc of an orderlyinternational society. The seams of this fabric are already too frayed- frayed by the selflshness of the rich in transferring capital and technology to the developing world on terms that outrage the dignityofthe peoples ofthe third world. 13. In l~ connexlon, my Government'supports the plea made by the President of the World Bank that the developed countries speedily conclude negotiations-by March 1977-to make transitional fmancing available to avoid any break in the flow of resources from the International Development Agency, to the less developed countrieslike Lesotho. 14. A peaceful international order is beingthreatened by the tendencies of certain coastal Statesto hold land-locked States hostage with regard to access to the sea and to the riches of the oceans. 15. My Government has actively participated in the deliberations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea because we believe that this historic' Conference should work out a just and equitable law for more.than two thirds of our planet and its resources. We are 16. On this occasion, you will have to bear with me if I focus my remarks on southern Africa. Southern Africa has featured on the agenda of this Assembly for well over 2S years. It is an area that poses the most tragic consequences for the internationalcommunity. 17. My country is not on the fringes of southern Africa; it is in the vortex. And thus the interestsof my Government, of my people, are directly threatened by the situation in southern Africa. I speak of southern Africa not as an observer, not asa witness, but as one directly involved. 18. Southern Africa is an area rich in natural resources. It is an area that boasts of every mineral of use to man. It is an area that is so richly endowed in agricultural resources that:it is criminal that children still die in southern Africa because of malnutrition. In its human resources, southern Africa is so rich in potential that it contains a promise for the world and for the development of the African con- tinent. 19. Of all the regions of the world, none 'has the wonderful opportunity that southern Africa hasof demon- stratingthe commonhumanity of manirrespective of race, of religion and of sex.Yet the promise of southernAfrica is today darkened by the cloud of racism. Southern Africa today does not offer the world an example of racial harmony. It offers,instead, racial bigotry and the promise of a racial holocaust. Southern Africa does not present to the worldthe commonhumanity of man,but its denial. 20. In South Africa, in Namibia, in Zimbabwe, the refusal of white minorities to recognize the basic right of the Mrican majorities has been accorded the halo of a dogma, that ofinstitutionalized racism, orapartheid. 21. Of all the evils that man is capable of inflicting upon himself, there is none more evil than racism. The genius.of science has put man on the threshold of an era that contains profound promises for humanity. And yet man still cannot change the colour of his skin. Nor is it necessarily desirable that man should acquire that capa- bility. 23. Fifteen years ago, men and women of SharpeviIle feU underthe bullets of a racist system. 24. A few months ago, the children of Soweto faced the same guns. 2S. The carnage in Soweto, in Langa and in other black townships of South Africa is the clearest testimony of the brutality ofapartheid. 26. The graves of the black children of South Africa who died at the hands of the South African police will forever remain symbols of the mindlessness of racism. 27. Last year the whiteleaders of South Africa asked the world for a grace period within which the world would see changes in South Africa. The gunfue of Soweto clearly indicates how far the white leaders of South Africa have gone in effecting changes. They have gone beyond the pale of common sense. 28. If today the African youth of SouthAfrica is ready to takeup arms, it isonlybecause for too long itslifehas been blighted by the brutality of ractsm and the dignity and self-respect of its parentage denied by white minority rule. 29. Asan African, I do not advocate violence asa solutic)n to human problems, and yet violent struggle is often the only optionleft to oppressed peoples. It is anironyof our times that PAIGC:3 MPLA,4 FREUMO,5 in their bitter struggle for the freedom of Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique, created tIte very conditions that today allow the people of Portugal the right to free speech, the rightof assembly andthe right to participate in government. 30. Even the white minorities of southern Africa will acquire basic freedoms from the sweat andsacrificea of the liberation movements of southern Africa. In thissense, the struggle of the youth of Zimbabwe, of Namibia and of South Africa hasa mostprofound meaning. Thatstrugle is fundamentally in the interests of the rule of law and basic morality. 31. My Government and the people of Lesotho do not claimany monopoly of wisdom abouthowthe situation of southem Africa can be solved. On the contrary, we recognize that the people of Zimbabwe, the Government of the United Kingdom·and the United Nations will have to tiOlve the problem of Rhodeaia. . 32. My Government has noted the recent initiatives of Britain and the United States on Rhodesia. We have also taken note of the decision of the British Government, as the legal administering Power in Rhodesia, to convene a conference later this month. In the view of my Govern- . ment, the agenda of that conference mustconcentrate on -3 Partido Africano cia Independencia cia Guine e CaboVerde. 4 MoYimento Popular de U~rta~o de Anaola. 5 Frente de Uberta~o de Mo~blque. 34. The liberation movement of Zimbabwe, the youth of . Zimbabwe whose life was snuffed out by the Smithrebels, thOle who had to assume responsibility for the armed struggle against the Smith regime and its supporters-these •are the realheroes of the recent Rhodesian drama. 35. After the bitter struggles that the people of Zimbabwe have waged, after suffering 11 years of Smith's rebellion, the people of Zimbabwe have a clear and undeniable right to basic freedoms andmajority rule now,andnot after two more yearsof compromises withthose whofor solong have been responsible for the denial of these. freedoms to them. No Gov,:rnment, except that of Zimbabwe, any longer possesses any moral authority to dictate the timing of the exercise of basic rights by the people of Zimbabwe. Nor should the Smith rebels feature in any considerations of finan~.m ;mistance to Zimbabwe. 36. Basic morality demands that the people of Zimbabwe, a people that has suffered so much and for solong, should be the recipients of any outside assistance to Zimbabwe. Now that victory is at hand, the people of Zimbabwe must be vigilant against foreign elements, whleh will inevitabl)' attempt to sow confusion and undermine the stability, peace andindependence of Zimbabwe. 37. With regard to Namibia, we recognize that the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO}, the United Nations and the people of Namibia have a direct responsi- bility for tenninating South Africa's illegal occupation of that Territory. SWAPO has already demonstrated its deter- mination to resort to armed struggle to free Namibia from South African control. On the otherhand,asanexpression of the statesmanship of its leaders, SWAPO hasindicated its wDlingness to participate in tripartite talkswiththe United Nations and the Government of SouthAfrica aboutending South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia. 38. The Government of South Africa has a clear duty to accept the offerof SWAPO. Thesolution to the problem of Namibia will not emanate from the discassions at the Tumhalle conference: it will only emerge from contacts with the authentic and legitimate leaders of the people of Namibia. . 39. Mr. Vorster must recognize that political wisdom dictates that he speak to the leadership of SWAPO ~d not to pretenden to the leadership of the people of Namibia. 40. In recognition of the complexity of the problem my Government accepts, asa matterof fundamental reality and common sense, that the people of South Africa will themselves have to solve the problem ofapartheid. Andyet 42. In Sharpeville, 37 of the dead were citizens of l.esotho. Whenever the guns of apartheid open their lethal file,among the targets are my countrymen. 43. In blatant disregard of international law and basic principles governing relations among States, even the very sovereignty of my country has been violated by agents of the South African Government. Thepolice of SouthAfrica have repeatedly and illegally entered my country and kidnapped South African refugees resident in l.esotho. In the darkness of the night they have carried out their nefarious activities. They have converted the common frontier between Lesotho and South Africa into a target areafor shooting at citizens of Lesotho. Theyhave created a climate in South Africa which has led even ordinary whites in that country to believe that'citizens of Lesotho are a legitimate targetof abuse andassault, a targetwithno rights, not even the rightto lifeitself. 44. I do not wish to go into the details of every incident that has been created by agents of the South African Government in its relations with Lesotho. At the same time, I have a clearduty to inform this Assembly that my Government has suffered repeated provocations createdby the Government of South Africa. 45. For too long, my Government has opted for quiet diplomacy. For too long, we have hoped that those in charge in South Africa would realize that the activities of their agents could create a most dangerous situation in southern Africa. My Government now has come to recog- nize that these activities, unchecked, are calculated to frighten the people of Lesothointo submission andcowmy Government into docility. In response to thes; provoca- tions, my Government has made the strongest protests to the Government of South Africa. 46. We shall not be cowed.We shall not be frightened. W~ shall never accept any situation that attempts to diminish the independence and compromise the sovereignty of Lesotho. 47. My Government cannot in these circumstances remain indifferent to a situation that so directly affects its own citizens and their welfare. My Government adheres faith- fully to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States. But my Government cannot accept the right of any Government in southern Africa to mate conditions that threaten the peace of southern Africa, not· to precipitate a racial war for the sake of discredited notionsof racial superiority. 48. In 1974, the peopleof Lesotho were accorded the rare honour of presenting a posthumous award by the Organiza- 49. My Government has never denied the rights of the white minorities. But neither sha11 my country ever acquiesce in the denial of the basic rights of the African majorities ofsouthernAfrica. 50. Six years ago, my Prime Minister, the Honourable Mr. Leabua Jonathan, proposed discussions between the white minorities andindependent Africa on the basis of the Lusaka Manifesto on Southern Africa.6 That process of discussion is now continuing on the basis of the Dar es Salaam declaration on Southern Africa.'I Africa, in its profound humanity,continues to offer the whiteminorities a chance-a last chance-to avert racial war. Time is no longer on the side of the unjust, but on the side of those striving for liberty. Today,a dialogue between independent Africa and the white minorities is almost peripheral to the issue of a racial confrontation.I recognize that it was an'act of political prudence for Mr. H. Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, to meet my Prime Minister.in 1965. I fully appreciate the wisdom of Mr. Vorster, his successor, in continuing those meetings. No one can. minimize the courage of Mr. Vorster ifl meeting President Kaunda and the leaders of Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls last February. . And yet the bridges of dialogue for peace, for justice and for basic rights are not going to be forged at Victoria Falls. Nor are they going to' be forged 'between Pretoria and the capitals of independent Africa. The bridges for. justice, for any meaningful dialogue, must.span Robben Island 'and Cape Town. . .....:' . '.. '. .:.... 51. To the leaders of the white minorities I have a simple message: as politicians you have displayed a most adroit ability in arranging meetings. with leaders of independent Africa. Your challenge has always been one of 'states- manship. Unc:1asp southern Africa from the cold grip of racism. Muster the political will to free southern Africa . from a racist constituency. Too much is at stake for all of us, for our descendants, for humanity, for domestic political considerations to dictate the outcome of our fate andthe peace of southernAfrica. 52. Last week the people of Lesotho celebrated their tenth anniversary of independence from colonial rule. Independence for any country is a condition of great moment. But independence for a country that isan enclave in South 'Africa is much more. For the last 10 years, Lesotho has been an islandof freedom in a seaof racism. We have u;en an island of refuge for victims of repression and apartheid. Even today, the chiltlren of Soweto are seeking political asylum in Lesotho. 53. No observer of southern Africa can miss the stark contrast between Lesotho and South Africa. Non-raeielism 6 See Of/icilzl Record, of the GtneTal Auembly, Twenty-fourth Sellion,AMue" agenda item 106. document A/7754. 7 Adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its ninth extraordinary session held from 7 to 10 April 1975. 54. Despiteour geographical position and the problems we have had, the first 10 years of our independence have witnessed significant economic progress for Lesotho. My Government has created over 20 new industries where there were none in 1966. The Kingdom of l.esotho is today no longer a hostage market to South Africaninfant industries. Nor are we now any longer resignedto the role of source of cheaplabour for South African industry. 55. I must, however, candidly admit that the presence of over 4G per cent of our manpower in South Africa continues to be the most critical problem facing my country. The system of migratory labour is essentially unsatisfactory, in that it unsettles family life without conferringany cushioning benefits on migrant workers. My country is not alone in being confronted with this problem. Migratory labour into South Africa does, however, present problemsinvolving the denial to migrant labourers of their verybasichuman rights. 56. Lesotho miners in South Africa are housed in com- pounds that insult their very manhood. Their families are not allowed to join them. Inour times, when the rights of women have become almost universally acknowledged, the wives of our miners in South Africa are denied the very basic right of living witIi their husbands for periods ranging from nine months to two years. The miners are employed . on contracts of such short duration that they do not provide for advancement because, on the expiry of every contract, the miners are treated as new recruits. Nor do the contracts allow for any pension schemes' or other terminal benefits. Under South African laws, the miners are denied the·very basic right of any worker to join labour unions for the purpose of bargaining for better terms of.employment. 57. In the current circumstances, the options open to my Government are limited. With the assistance of the World Bank, we have been engaged L.11 a serious examlnatlon of ways of reabsorbing this labour into the Lesotho economy. Clearly, for such an effort to be successful, my country wouldneed a massive Infusion of capital to raisethe levelof empl~yment opportu~ties in Lesotho. In the short term, we are continuing to impress upon the main employers of our.labour, including foreign investors in South Africa,the need to provide decent wages to our workers in conditions that respect their basichuman rights. 58. I should like to take this opportunity to reiterate to . the United Nations the urgent need to convene a con- ference under the auspicesof the Division of Human Rights of the United Nations to examine the whole question of migratory labour and to formulate generalprincipleswhich 60. In the second decade of independence we shall continue to count on the support of the United Nations, for, if anything, the next 10 years promise to be the most difficult for us. The Government of South Africa has . already made known its intention to encircle my country with bantustans. My Government has repeatedly con- demned the s)-stem of bantustans and rejected the Balkani- zation of South Africa as a solution to the problem of apartheid. ':":1e policy of bantustans is so lacking in sincerity, so devoid of any rational justification and so patently racist in conception that it does not provide any basisfor resolving the question ofapartheid. 61. The policy of bantustans is bound ·to be short-lived,as it does not enjoy the support of the people of South Africa. Even some ofthe bantustan leadershave already made clear their opposition to it. It is a policy that has been formulated without any pretence of consultation with the people it most affects-the majority of the African people of South Africa. And yet the Government of South Africa arrogantly persistsin its anplementation. That government has already made known its plansto grant independence to the Transkei. My Government will not acquiesce in any scheme that violatesthe territorial integrity of South Africa without the consent of the majority of the people of South Africa. To encircle my country with bantustans has no other objective than to complicate the already difficult position of my country. 62. Those who are responsible for the creation of the bantustans will have to bear full responsibility for the difficulties that are bound to arise as a result of setting these bantustans on our borders and on territory that rightfully belongsto the Basotho nation. 63. The twentieth session of the General Assembly in considering the future of Lesotho in 1965 had before it a draft resolution which inter alia asked the Assembly to request the United Kingdom as the then administering Power over Basutoland to take "immediate steps to return to the indigenous inhabitants all the land taken from them, whatever the form ofor pretext for such alienation".8 64. The debate on ~ question at the twentieth session reflected the anxieties expressed by the people of Lesotho regarding parts of the territory of Lesotho that the former British colonial administration had wrongfully ceded to South Africa. 65. It had been the consistent view of the people of Lesotho that large tracts of land in the South African provinces of the Free State, Natal and Cape Province rightfully belonged to the Basotho nation. The people of Lesotho still demand the return of these lands. 67. It is to the credit of the British Government in power in 1965 that it categorically refused to become implicated in these efforts to deny the people of Lesotho any voice in the finalization of the matter. 68. In their communication of 1965,the authorities of the Government of South Africa had pressed upon the British Government the need to settle alloutstanding borderissues between the Republic and Basutoland, andhad gone further to propose the establishment of a joint boundary commis- sion. 69. In 1968,the South African authorities again raised the question of the establishment of a joint boundary commis- sion but reflecting the grand South African design to establish bantustans, the terms of reference proposed for the commission were now so restrictive as to empower the commission only to consider the demarcation and fencing of certain sectors of the boundary between the two countries where uncertainties exist regarding the actual ground lo~ation of the boundary. 70. My Government has exchanged official communica- tions with the Government of South Africa and held talks at official level aimed at resolving the question of the lands of the Basotho. 71. The people of Lesotho are not interested in the location of fences and arbitrary boundaries but in substan- tive discussions on the return of their lands. 72. My Government does not harbour any irredentist designs on South Africa. 73. My Government accepted the view first put forth by South Africa in 1965 that all outstanding borderquestions should be settled by a judicial commission. Thisview is in conformity with our respect for law and the need not to add border questions to the aiready serious agenda on southern'Africa. 74. At the same time', it behoves my Government to put. thismatteron the publicrecord of the United Nations. 75. It is a measure of the difficulties that are bound to arise that the Government of South Africa has unilaterally terminated discussions with my Government on territories that the former colonial administration in Lesotho illegally ceded to South Africa. 76. The termination of these discussions has been accom- panied by determined encroachments on the remaining Lesotho territory. Only last year, the authorities of South ' Africa started erecting a weather station on Lesotho territory. 77. The approaches by my Government to the South Afri:lan authorities have elicited counter-claims by South Africa on the landsof Lesotho. 79. To those of my African brothers who have opted for support of the bantustan policy, I want to make this observation. Those who are actively destroying the terri- torial integrity of South Africa will one dayhave to answer to the majority of the people of South Africa for their actions. Neither shall the people of Lesotho forget those who are acquiescing in the occupation of Lesotho territory. Bantustan leaders must recognize a fundamental truth: dissent from bad policy is the test of leadership, the ffrst obligation of patriotism and surest defence of freedom of tbepeopleofsouthern Africa. 80. The situation in southern Africa demands the urgent attention of the United Nations; as the situation in southern Africa poses a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council has a direct obligation to exercise its powers in terms of the Charter; the interna- tional community equally has the responsiblity to freethat region of Africa from the blight of racism and human deprivation; to free the people of southernAfrica fromthe tragedy of war;and to assure the majorityof the people of southern Africa the opportunity to seek the liberation of the humanspirit.