A/31/PV.43 General Assembly

It has been precisely 30 years since, through India's initiative, the question of apartheid in the Union of South Africa was raised in this Wednesday, 27 October1976, at 11.25 a.m. NEW YORK Organization.! Two years later, in 1948, apartheid was to be converted to the official political system of that State. 5. It is somewhat ironic that the end of the SecondWorld War, whichdetermined the end of nazism and the end of its theories of the "superior race", almost coincided with the official institution, in a State Member of the United Nations and one of the founders of this Organization, of a doctrine based on the superiority of one race over the other races living in the same territory. And today, in this first year of the last quarter of the twentieth century, more than 20 million people endure-from their birth, in their everydaylife, from the simplest to the more relevant acts of their existence-an inhuman system of separation, con- straint, inferiority and exploitation due to the colour of their skin; in fact, and in spite of the unanimous disap- proval of the international community, well expressed in the succeeding resolutions and attitudes of this Organiza- tion and the increasing of resistance of its victims-as the tragic incidents in Soweto, Cape Town and other regions of South Africa have sadly illustrated-the apartheid system continues to exist. 6. Noting this persistence we could humanly ask ourselves whether the continuation of our efforts was really worth- while. Is this debate actually useful? 7. At first sight, and in a pessimistic perspective, one could think that the answer was negative, that silence and obstinacy would continue to be the only echo to our indignation. However, there are unequivocal signs of an evolution of the structure of the relations of force in the southern part of the African continent, and of a growing consciousness and a consequent, growth of resistance on the part of the population of South Africa, which enable us to share a different opinion and to hope that the time to start drastic transformations in the South African racist society may finally have come. 8. In fact, and coinciding with ever increasing pressures from the international community-not only from Govern- ments but also from different non-governmental organi- zations such as churches, trade unions, the' press and political parties-southern Africa has suffered, in the course of the last two years, dramatic changes. 9. The accession to independence of Angola and Mozam- bique and the consequent disappearance of the corre- sponding "buffer zones" which isolated the country of apartheid from almost all independent African States; the isolation of Southern Rhodesia with the intensification of the struggle within that country which have led the illegal regime to accept negotiations towards the transition to "majority rule"; the exacerbation of the problem of the 1 See document A/149. 10. Taking into account all these circumstances, I do not think that we have to adopt the pessimistic view to which i have referred. And coming back to my questions-are our efforts worth while? is this debate really useful? -I believe we can answer in the affirmative. 11. Another question that is sometimes raised concerning the consideration of apartheid by the United Nations is what justification there is for the emphasis put on, and of the time devoted to, the discussion of this matter by this Organization when it is undeniable that we live in a world where violations of human rights still constitute a daily reality. 12. It would be easy to discard the question by saying that it is a purely rhetorical one and that it necessarily reveals sympathy for apartheid. On the contrary, I think that it is important for the prestige of the United Nations and for the effectiveness of its action in the struggle against apartheid that an answer be given. What I am going to say is our contribution to that answer. 13. First of ail, I would point out that discrimination based on race is certainly one of the most serious violations of human rights. By almost every method we choose to measure the gravity of the violation in question-the suffering it causes, the indignation it produces, the con- tradiction with the principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations-I think that w~ have to arrive at the conclusion that racial discrimination is a very serious violation of human rights. 14. Secondly, the institutionalized character and legal support that apartheid tries to give to racial discrimination makes it a particularly dangerous form of violation of the principles at stake. 15. Thirdly, if in some cases of human behaviour the difference of cultures may create problems in distinguishing right from wrong, or at least in identifying with precision the frontiers that separate lawful from unlawful conduct, this is certainly not the case here, because there is a very significant degree of consensus in the condemnation of the philosophy and practice of apartheid. 16. Finally, if every violation of human rights has direct or indirect implications for international relations, and con- sequently for international security, I would submit that these implications are particularly strong in the case of apartheid. 17. We therefore consider that if apartheid, at this stage of history, 1s given particular emphasis at the United Nations, that emphasis is certainly justified. We fully support the decision taken at the beginning of this session to discuss this important matter at the plenary meetings of the General Assembly, and W~ hope that this approach will contribute to an even wider and stronger world-wide condemnation ofapartheid, and to its faster eradication. 19. Today, after the democratic revolution of 25 April 1974, the decolonization of the African Territories under Portuguese administration is, as I have already pointed out, one of the fundamental factors in the significant alteration in the balance-of power in southern Africa, which allows us to hope for a rapid decolonization of the Territories of the area still under colonial domination, as well as a speedy end to the extreme and inhuman facial discrimination which prevails in that region. 20. In this connexion, I should like to quote what the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Portugal said before this Assembly on 7 October 1976: "It is the interests of the nations of southern Africa that are in question in the situation that is now becoming crittcal in that area, and it is those interests, and no others, that must be held paramount in the solutions to be found. The profoundly negative influence of the policy of apartheid, contrary to internationally recog- nized human rights, shocks our conscience and con- stitutes a factor of tension in that region of the world." [2200 meeting, para. 273.} 21. The new Portuguese democratic constitution provides in its article 13 that: "1. All citizens shall have the same social dignity and shall be equal before the law. "2. No one shall be privileged, favoured, injured, deprived of any right or exempt from any duty because of his ancestry, sex, race, language, territory of origin, religion, political or ideological convictions, education, economic situation or social condition." This provision corresponds to the deep feelings of the Portuguese nation and to its true historical tradition. Racism is profoundly contrary to the character and practices of the Portuguese people. There is nothing in common between apartheid-an extreme form of racial discrimination and of disregard for the most fundamental human rights, with its physical and moral sufferings, its imprisonments and tortures, its political and intellectual repression-and today's democratic Portugal, with its con- sistent anti-racist and anti-colonialist stand. Portugal firmly rejects apartheid. And I should like to state that this rejection also extends to the policy of bantustans, which is a consequence of the philosophy ofapartheid. 22. It is common to speak about the interdependence of peoples when referring to some of the major problems with which humanity is confronted today, such as disarmament and the economic and social development of the less favoured zones of the world. 23. The same interdependence exists, in our opinion, in the field of human rights and fundamental political and civic freedoms, not only because we believe that no one can fully enjoy his own freedom while on this same earth some 24. We are certain that the reaction against apartheid is irresistible and will finally impose itself. The main problem is how and when such a reaction will overcome that system. 25. We believe that non-violence, in so far as it is possible, is an element which could make a decisive contribution to a speedy and stable change and to the creation of a new society for all the inhabitants of southern Africa. 26. We sincerely wish that this change will become a reality 2~ soon as possible and will be brought about by peaceful means.

Ten years ago today, the General Assembly took a historic decision revoking the Mandate of South Africa over Namibia and accepting responsibility for the Namibian people. The 'resolution adopted yesterday by this Assembly on the so-called independent Transkei and other bantustans {resolution 31/6A} was equally historic, for yesterday was a day that will be long unremembered, the day of a non-event, a non-happening. At the stroke of midnight on Monday, a . l Ol-gun salute announced the mythical independence of an invented State, the Transkei. 28. I doubt if anyone really knows what the Transkei is supposed to be: a tribal reservation for the Xhosas, a puppet republic, a colony in disguise, or a gigantic labour barracks. But we can be sure of one thing: as an independent State, it does not exist. 29. Its nearest neighbours ignore it. The Government of Swaziland has been quoted as declaring that it will "continue to recognize the Transkei as a region of South Africa and nothing more". The Government of Lesotho, for its part, is said to have decided that the Transkei does not appear to "meet the requirements" of an independent State. 30. The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity {OAUI, meeting in Port Louis, Mauritius, less than four months ago, committed its member States "not to accord recognition to any Bantustan, in particular, the Transkei't.> 31. This General Assembly, in its resolution 3411 D (XXX), which was adopted at its thirtieth session by 99 votes to none, with 8 abstentions, called upon "all Govern- ments and organizations not to deal with any institutions or authorities of the bantustans or to accord any form of recognition to them". 32. And the Special Committee against Apartheid, in its current report, recommends: "... that the General Assembly [at its present session] condemn the declaration of 'independence' of the 33. I am glad that the foregoing recommendations of the Special Committee in their essentials have been approved; i~ is thus abundantly clear that the Transkei does not exist as an independent State and is not being internationally recognized as such. 34. Nevertheless, particularly because of the political weight of those eight abstentions in the vote on resolution 3411 D (XXX), the question must be faced; Why should not the Transkei be recognized as a viable and legitimate independent State? Why? 35. If it is poor and under-developed, so are many of our own countries. If it must live on subsidies, many of our own countries require loans and foreign aid. And after all the Transkei is larger than six independent African coun- tries and more populous than 13. 36. Indeed one must admire the ingenuity of the inven- tors-we might call them the manufacturers-of the Transkei. They have, so to speak, stolen the clothes of the nationalists, or at least their language. 37. Do the black citizens of South Africa claim they are the victims of oppression and subjugation? Then, according to these inventors, give them their own country. Do they protest against having to carry passes? Then give them passports instead. Do they raise an international scandal about the shame and evil of apartheid? Then the inventors of this mythical State say, Segregate them all in their own homelands. For that is in truth what the Transkei and the other bantustans amount to: massive segregations, segrega- tion by the millions, ~he system of apartheid carried to its monstrous logical conclusion. 38. There was a perverse genius at work there, with sinister reminiscenses of Adolf Hitler . You will remember, as I am sure none of us can ever forget, the Nazi solution to what they considered the Jewish problem: how the Nazis were to control and curb the intellectual independence, the artistic creativity, the financial ingenuity and the resource- fulness of the Jews in Germany and the rest of Europe. Hitler's solution, the so-called "final solution", was really very simple, the most simple and final of all: it was to eliminate the Jews completely from any possible participa- tion in the national life of that Germany which the Jews had loved so much and to which they had made so many unforgettable contributions; to send them to concentration camps and then to extermination ovens; to exterminate them. When there were no longer any Jews, then there would be no Jewish problem. It was as simple as that. 40. And so we are instead presented with an ingenious alternative. Why exterminate the black citizens of South Africa? After all, the white South Africans need their . cheap slave-labour. Much better instead to strip them of . their civil and human rights; to exterminate them politically by depriving them of their citizenship; to reduce them to non-citizens, non-persons; for they must, after all, work to live, and they must work in the white-dominated and. white-controlled industries, agro-business, commerce, and households of South Africa in order to survive. 41. No Government in the history of the world has disenfranchised so many of its citizens at one stroke, stripping them of all their rights in their own country. That is what the Transkei experiment is all about. 42. Those of us who represent peoples and countries that fought hard and long for independence probably find it hard to believe that the people of the Transkei do not want independence. It is not that they identify themselves with their rulers. It is not that they hesitate to undertake the responsibilities of independence. 43. This is not a colonial situation at all. The Xhosas of the Transkei have not won a country of their own. They have lost the one they had. 44. I daresay that the overwhelming majority, if not indeed all, of the countries we represent here came into being and proclaimed their independence by the will of the people. That will may have been expressed in various ways: by historical allegiances to dynasties embodying the nation, by the assertion and recognition of national identity when it reached maturity, or by violent revolution against foreign rule. But almost always our nations were born of the people. 45. What we are faced with now is something unique, something strange; something unprecedented. The inhab- itants of the Transkei and their fellow Xhosas in South Africa did not proclaim their right to be free and independent. They were not even asked if they wanted to be free and independent. And if they had been asked, they would have, in all probability, said "No." 46. But in fact they were never asked. The issue was never submitted to a free referendum. How that would have gone is shown by the refusal of six of the other eight bantustans to accept independence. In the Transkei the elections to the legislative assembly that accepted independence were held under the repressions of Proclamation No. R-400 of the Government of South Africa, with the entire leadership of the Transkei Democratic Party, which opposed indepen- dence, under detention. 47. Surely there is no precedent for people being thus actually compelled to become independent. What can be the reason for this seemingly illogical reluctance to be free? If the black citizens of South Africa suffer so much under 48. The key to this puzzle' can be discerned in the recommendations of the Special Committee against Apart- heid [see A/31/22 and Add.l-B], for not only is the Transkei designed to be a vastly expanded area of physical segregation, a multiplication and concentration of the segregated townships of black labour; it is also designed as a wholesale deprivation of South African citizenship and all its rights and privileges. What rights, it may be asked, and what privileges? The rights and privileges of apartheid? On the contrary: the rights and privileges officially denied under the system of apartheid, but which are the due of every citizen of South Africa and every human being; the right to the South African land, which under the system of the Transkei and the other bantustans would be divided, with only 12.5 per cent for the blacks, who constitute 75 per cent of the population, and 87.5 per cent, including the best, for the whites, who make up only 25 per cent of the population, and presumably nothing at all for the Col- oureds and the Asians; the right, furthermore, to the national wealth of South Africa, the richest in that continent and one of the richest in the world, for the black citizens of South Africa have, as much as their white fellow citizens, a legitimate right to a share in the prosperity which they helped to create with their labour, labour which has for so long been inequitably and miserably underpaid; the right, in sum, to equality and non-discrimination in their own country-not in an artificial segregated area, like the Transkei and the other bantustans, but in their own country, for the blacks are just as much citizens of South Africa as the whites, with the same rights and privileges, which may not now be recognized and honoured, but which are nonetheless legitimate and valid. 49. Indeed, the very institution of the Transkei as a separate and so-called independent state is an admission-an implied but still meaningful admission-that the blacks in South Africa have and should enjoy those rights and privileges, equally and without discrimination, as long as they are citizens of that country. Otherwise, why force them to be foreigners? 50. The Transkei fits perfectly into the classical definition of hypocrisy; it is the trubute that vice pays to virtue, or in this case the tribute that apartheid pays to the ideal of equality. It was necessary to invent the independence of the Transkei because there is no freedom for the blacks in their own country. 51. There is little point now in repeating once again all that has been said here, over and over again for many years, about the evils of apartheid, and I do not propose to do so. Nor do I intend to renew the many appeals made by this General Assembly for a total embargo on trade, including the supply of arms, to South Africa, and the cessation of any form of military co-operation with that country; for the ending of collaboration by banks-I repeat "the ending of collaboration by banks"-and by national andtransna- tional corporations with the South African regime and with companies registered in South Africa; for the cessation of immigration to that country and the release of political prisoners there; as well as for the ending of an contacts with 52. The non-recognition of the Transkei is only one more item in an already over-long list of appeals not all of which have been complied with or complied with effectively. 53. But I should like to close on a more cheerful and positive note. The Transkei affair, for all its air of unreality and deception, for all that it was long anticipated and condemned, can also be viewed as part of a meaningful, and perhaps even hopeful, shift of long frozen positions in southern Africa. 54. Traditional intransigence began to crumble with the Portuguese revolution and the liberation of Mozambique and Angola, Negotiators are now active in Zimbabwe and Namibia, and even, though less successfully, in South Africa, where the very segregation and so-called indepen- dence of the Transkei is a tactical retreat from increasingly indefensible positions. 55. The Transkei, I have been told, has been given a coat of arms of its own, with two leopards, an ox and an ear of corn. But soon it may not be so easy as before to answer the question: which are the leopards,and which is the ox? Whose ox will be gored, and who will reap that alien corn? Let us hope and trust that the answers will be just and, above all, humane. For, to end where I began, what we are working and waiting for are real events, true happenings, true independence and real equality-real equality that will uplift the human condition, and not be denigrated, as is beingdone in South Africa.

The brave struggle of the people of Azania waged at the same time as that of the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe against colonialism and the system of apartheid and of racial discrimination is gaining in range and depth. National upheavals throughout Azania as well as the breadth of both political and armed struggle in Namibia and Zimbabwe are proof that the struggle in each of these three countries is entering the decisive stage of liquidating the tyrannical regimes of racist minorities. 57. These are far-reaching events which arouse feelings of legitimate pride in all the peoples of the non-aligned countries and of the third world and all those that love peaceand justice. 58. Throughout their long struggle beset with pitfalls, the peoples of Azania, Namibia and Zimbabwe have each acquired valuable historical experience so as to grasp final victory. 59. To the barbarous violence of the Fascist, racist and colonialist regimes of Vorster and of Irn Smith the peoples of Azania, Namibia and Zimbabwe oppose revolutionary violence. Esch of these peoples is clearly aware that the liberation of their respective countries can be won only by their own endeavours. It is by persevering in the struggle, relying mainly on their own efforts, accepting still more sacrifices, continuing to endure all kinds of difficulties and firmly adhering to their right to be masters ofthe destinies of their respective countries, that they will win lonuine victory. 61. TIle struggle of the people of Azanla, like that of the peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia, is an integral part of the resolute and victorious battle waged everywhere by the peoples of the non-aligned countries and of the third world against imperialism, colonialism, nee-colonialism, zionism, racism, apartheid and against all forms of interference, aggression, expansion and foreign exploitation so as to attain independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, the right to be masters of their own destinies and of that of their countries, and to establish a new international economic order. 62. It is for this very reason that the struggle of the peoples of Azania, like that of the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe, enjoy the active sympathy, encouragement and support of the peoplesand Governments of the non-aligned countries of the third world and of all peace and justice- loving countries. 63. Set back within their own country because of the range and depth of the struggle of the people of Azania, like that of Namibia and Zimbabwe, and completely isolated internationally, the colonialist and racist regime of apartheid of Pretoria is at bay. That regime feels that its end is imminent. It therefore redoubles loathsome crimes and perfidious manoeuvres to ensure its survival as long as it can. Encouraged by those who support it, that regime madly agitates to intensify repression and massacre throughout the entire country. Within the context of its sad policy of bantustans, a policy intended to consolidate the system of apartheid, to destroy the territorial integrity of the country, to perpetrate domination and oppression by the white minority and to prevent the peoples of Azania from enjoying their inalienable rights, the colonialist and racist regime of apartheid has resorted to the sham independence of the so-called Transkei on 26 October 1976. This sham independence is categorically condemned by the non-aligned countries as well as those of the third world and those that love peace and justice. 64. In Namibia, together with the intensification of its gory repression against the Namibian people, the colonialisr and racist regime of apartheid in Pretoria strives to destroy the national unity and territorial integrity of that country so as to prolong its illegal occupation there. Furthermore, that regime is giving a strong helping hand to the illegal minority regime of Ian Smith and has intensified its 3 Assembly of Heads of State and Oovornl11cnl of tll'" Or"unl~u· non ot African Unity, held at Port Louis, Mauritius, from 2 to 6 July 1976. r 65. What is more, in order to intimidate the front-line countries, the colonialist and racist regime of apartheid in Pretoria does not hesitate to resort to open aggression repeatedly and deliberately. 66. The delegation of Democratic Kampuchea condemns with the utmost rigour the colonialist and racist regime of 'apartheid and racial discrimination in South Africa. The delegation of Democratic Kampuchea regrets that draft resolution S/12211 of 15 October 1976,4 which called for just sanctions against the colonialist and racist regime of apartheid in South Africa could not be adopted by the Security Council. The mandatory arms embargo against that regime and sanctions in every field against it must be imposed and strengthened. 67. The delegation of Democratic Kampuchea reiterates the firm support of the people and Government of Democratic Kampuchea for the just struggle of the people of Azania as well as all the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe until the triumph of their right to be masters of their own respective destinies and their right to indepen- dence with territorial integrity for their respective coun- tries. The delegation of Democratic Kampuchea will sup- port every measure that will contribute to the triumph of the just cause defended by the peoples of Azania as well as by the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe. 68. Whatever the crimes and the manoeuvres of the Pretoria colonialist and racist regime ofapartheid, whatever its obstinacy, opportunism and manoeuvres of the wealthy great Powers designed to ensure the survival of this dying regime, the people of Azania, as well as the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe, by their heroic, resolute and persevering struggle waged in united reliance on their own strength, their vigilance in the face of the divisive manoeu- vres of imperialism and of all forces of foreign domination, and with the powerful and active support of the front-line countries of southern Africa and of African countries, the non-aligned and third-world countries as well as those countries that love peace and justice, the people of Azania will triumph.

Having read with agonizing pain and revulsion the information contained in notes and documents, the statistics, the so-called laws and enact- ments, the special studies and the reports made available under the watchful aegis of the Centre against Apartheid of the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs, I asked myself, in all sincerity, What meaningful contribution could one make by merely further denouncing an appalling compendium of organized crime, State terror and despolia- tion perpetrated unabashedly and openly, as an instrument of policy, by the regime of South Africa against millions and millions of innocent human beings in the name of apartheid? Should I join in the chorus of universal condemnation-as I should-and feel that, at least, my conscience has been set at ease? This is one way to tackle the problem, as we have been doing over the years in the Special Political Committee. 74. Jordan endorses without reservation the resolution adopted by the OAD Council of Ministers in Mauritius which categorically rejected the projects and which was endorsed by the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries in Colombo," and happily, at the General Assembly yesterday {resolution 31/6 Al. 75. It is to me incomprehensible, that the racist regime of South Africa should be indulging in fantasies of escapism 5 Julian R. Friedman, "Basic facts of the Republic of South Africa and the policy of apartheid" in Notes and documents of the Unit on Apartheid, No. 20/74 (August 1974). 6 See document A!31/196 and Corr.t, annex, resolution CM/Res.493 (XXVII). 7 See document A/31/197, annex IV, resolution NAC/CONF.S/ S/RES.4. 71. Professor Julian Friedman's study of August 19745 shows how in South Africa, Namibia and Rhodesia-in the .'t latter country the whites, in a ratio of 1 white to every 22 blacks, own 80 to 90 per cent of all fertile land-the differential in income is in a ratio of 10 to 1, and it is the same sordid story all down the line: in education, health, social welfare, housing, until we reach the only area in which the downtrodden blacks outdo the white settlers: in prisons, where, according to the study, the total admissions amounted in 1969 to 658,000, more than 10 per cent of the black population. A census today would certainly put the figure much higher. 72. The massacre of African schoolchildren in Soweto -put at 300 but according to well-informed independent sources much higher-is a sharp pointer, if one should be needed, to the degree of savage oppression to which the ruthless and unconscionable police regime of South Africa is willing to go in its determination to perpetuate its doctrine and practice of segregation, discrimination, exploi- tation and containment of the overwhelming majority of blacks and persons of mixed colour. 73. Under the guise of "parallel but separate develop- ment", the South African regime has come up with an ingenious scheme, that of the so-called "bantustans", including the Transkei, whose mock independence was announced yesterday, 26 October 1976. Unwilling to concede, even in the long run, the possibility of integration or even coexistence, these bantustans, to which are allotted a mere 10 per cent of the country's land, are intended in the minds of the upholders of the racist regime in South Africa as a dumping place for the vast masses of Africans whenever their labour is no longer needed, and the racist Afrikaners find that their exile to bantustans, where most of them do not belong, is a convenient way of getting rid of them. 76. It is, therefore, all the more incomprehensible that, against a background of such historic achievements, the commitment and dedication of the United States abroad should be less than historic and unequivocal. There are two areas where this ambivalence is evident: the fate of the Palestinians who have fallen victim to the practices of apartheid as a result of declared Israeli exclusiveness and the application of all the other practices for which apartheid stands. But out of deference and abiding concern for the suffering of our African brethren in South Africa,it would be bad taste for me to dwell any further on our own misfortunes, since we shall be taking up this question later on in the session. 77. Moral standards are indivisible and eternal. If the American people have valiantly and out of conviction fought for the abolition of segregation at home, why is the commitment to desegregation of suffering Africans in South Africa ambivalent and equivocal, as shown latterly in the Security Council? Words of sympathy, solidarity and support are certainly not wanting. But effective dedication can only be meaningful if it is translated into concrete. action to ostracize and penalize the transgressors of the United Nations Charter and of fundamental human rights. 78. The United Nations Charter has sufficient strength to ensure that its collective will is duly respected. The Security Council, under Chapter VII, can impose sanctions which can break the backbone of any recalcitrant and defiant racist regime. It is inconceivable that, if the world com- munity represented in this hall should decide to work together in sincerity towards abolishing apartheid, the 4 to Smillion exploiting white settlers in South Africa could perpetuate apartheid. 79. This, then, is the crux of the matter, the yardstick by which we should judge the extent of our commitment. I assume that the decision to elevate the debate on the item to the forum of the General Assembly was motivated primarily by frustration at continued inaction, and it was intended as a signal that the time has come for action. Jordan supports all the programmes of action formulated by OAU and endorsed by the non-aligned nations and the General Assembly. I wish to address an appeal to those Governments in the Security Council whichhave up to this date withheld their support from the only course of action that can bring effective peaceful pressure to bear upon South Africa to reappraise their stands and, by so doing,to make a historic contribution to the cause of emancipation to which all of us are committed.

In the Preamble to the United Nations Charter the peoples of the United Nations stated their determination "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person ...". 82. This special concern isexplained by the determination of the nations of the world"to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind". The last war, the devastations of which led nations to frame the Preamble and .the provisions of the Charter and which caused an upheaval in our planet the consequences of which are still felt in the hearts and minds of mankind, was brought about by those whose policy was founded on a racial creed. This we must never forget. Mankind, nursing its wounds, is earnestly seeking the means for its survival. Today it is generally recognized that it is only by a scrupulous observance of certain cardinal principles that that survival can be ensured, and those principles are the equality of peoples and countries,justice, respect for the dignity of the human person and the right of peoples to self-deter- mination. 83. In the world of today and in this context, apartheid is quite simply a cancer, a loathsome calamity, the extreme gravity of which resides in the threat it represents to the security of all mankind. 84. We must never forget that the indescribable horrors committed by a sinister defunct regime wereperpetrated as part of a policy based on racism. Recent history has taught us how far such a policy can lead us. We know already what evils fanatics practising such a policy can commit. No, I shall not speak of the crematoriums, the concentration camps, the invasions and other punitive expeditions against neighbouring or even distant nations. But why not speak of them? For ultimately this is what a policy of racial doctrine really leads to, characterized as it is by total scorn for other people and by their systematic reduction to the level of slaves and beasts of burden. It is to all this that the hateful policy of apartheid leads insidiously but irrever- sibly. 85. If we sound a warning so strongly, it is because we note with anguish and horror that, despite the solemn commitment assumed by the United Nations to respect the dignity and worth of the human person, despite the many resolutions adopted by our Organization, despite the efforts of many men of goodwill who are devoted to the service of mankind, and despite unanimouscondemnation, the odious system of apartheid makes progress. Vorster and his clique feel stronger than ever, and the hateful steamroller of his regime continues imperturbably along its path, whether at Soweto, Alexandra or elsewhere. 86. Is there any need to list all the sufferings and humiliations which for decadesthe white settlers have been inflicting on the black population of South Africa? We all heard yesterday {41st meeting} the representatives of that , 87. The racist authorities want to perpetuate these condi- , tions and that is why they have treacherously undertaken to impose cheap education in a language which would forever confine that .black population to its ghetto. Clearly' the aim is to prevent any contact with the outside which might promote the development of that population. What a crime! How can we be surprised that, with their dignity scorned and their possibilities for development being annihilated, the black South Africans rebel against their torturers? 88. How can we fail to understand the righteous anger of the schoolchildren of Soweto? We salute respectfully the memory of those among them who were the innocent victims of barbarous repression and fell under the bullets of the Vorster butchers. We are sure that their sacrifice will not have been in vain. 89. We are angered and revolted by bloody repressions being carried on in South Africa, the arbitrary arrests, the summary executions and the systematic genocide now taking place. 90. But what makes us even more indignant and what we find even more repugnant and cannot understand is the barely veiled collusion with the monstrous apartheid regime, which explains its survival and enables it to strengthen its power in every field and to defy the entire international community. We cannot comprehend how the lessons of recent history can have been forgotten .and how one could fail to discern in what is happening in South Africa the signs which indicate that apartheid is irreversibly leading mankind to the point to which it was once brought by nazism. 91. We do not understand why those forces which, reacting in a noble and sound way by making a moving and desperate effort and taking vigorous, heroic and decisive action at heavy sacrifice for themselves and the whole world, stopped the Nazi. whirlwind and rid the good German people and all mankind of Hitler and his henchmen, an historic and immensely significant task, should today be displaying such complacency with regard to nazism's younger brother, the hurricane of apartheid. 0 tempora! 0 mores! 92. We do not see how it is possible not to realize the urgency of ceasing all collaboration with the Vorster regime. Nothing can justify such collaboration-certainly not the spirit of Yalta since the super-Powersassure us that the problems of areas of influence and strategy have faded into insignificance and want to persuade us that the policy of the two super-Powers has brought about a certain measure of detente which protects mankind as a whole from any danger on that score. In this connexion, sustained 94. Today, Vorster and his clique remain insensitive to the unanimous condemnation of the barbaric policies they are practising against the peaceful blacks of Azania; tomorrow, they will not hesitate to turn against all mankind, including their present friends, the imposing military and nuclear potential which they are now being helped to build up. That is the inexorable, implacable dialectic of all regimes which base their actions on racism and the spirit of domination. This is a lesson which history has already taught us. 95. No more than the spirit of Yalta can ideological motives justify collaboration with the horrendous South African regime, because in any case every nation and every people, on the basis of t!~e right which they are acknow- ledged by the international community to possess, will select or work out, in the light of their particular circumstances, the ideology underlying their policy in a peace-hungry world and in a community of peoples whose survival depends on the peaceful coexistence of diverse elements. 96. Nor does the concern to protect the sordid, selfish material interests of a few multinational corporations justify collaboration with the apartheid regime, since the grave contemporary problem of pollution and other adverse consequences of a civilization based on ill-controlled technology as well as efforts to conserve nature and all that goes to constitute and beautify it will gradually wean mankind away from material concerns and lead it to seek, rather, intellectual enrichment and the full development of the whole man and all mankind. 97. Whatever may be the arguments advanced by the powers which are openly or covertly supporting the apartheid regime instead of outlawing it and stifling it-and they have the means to do so-we Togolese will never cease to refrain from any contact or dialogue with a murderous clique in South Africa. 98. We Togolese, who believe in the virtues of dialogue, which we have set up as a principle and of which we make considerable use, under the impetus of the guidance provided by our lucid and peaceful revolution, for the needs of our national policy and our international relations, will never engage in any contact or dialogue with the racist minority in South Africa. 99. Generally speaking, we are in favour of dialogue; a dialogue among men of goodwill who respect one another is useful and beneficial, in our view. But a dialogue between a starving cat and a plump mouse is pointless and dangerous. .. 101. Have certain events of recent history already become taboo and might it spark off incidents to bring them up? Dachau, Auschwitz, Struthof-these are names which evoke terrible memories, reopen old wounds and make millions of men of every race and origin tremble with fear. The bantustans are the same. We shall fight with every ounce of our strength, as must the international community as a whole, against their establishment, because bantustans are camps of forced residence, that is to say concentration camps. 102. My country is pleased to be one of the sponsors of the draft resolution adopted yesterday, whereby the Gen- eral Assembly refused to recognize the Transkei. However, that resolution is not enough, and we must cut the arm which organizes the bantustans. 103. When man's dignity is assailed, no threat; no suffer- ing, will make him retreat. A people brought to bay will stop at no sacrifice to free itself of oppression. That is why oppressed peoples always end by destroying their oppres- sors and by recovering their rights and their dignity, and that is also why it is illusory to think that the martyred people of Azania will resign themselves. They cannot, and never will, resign themselves. The brave Azanian people will triumph sooner or later, by peaceful or by other means, for the honour of the black man-and not only for the honour of the black man, but for the honour of man as such. 104. The Togolese people, under the wise and enlightened guidance of General Gnassigbe Eyadema, united in its great political movement, the Rassemblement du peuple togolais, and faithful to the noble ideals which have always animated the action of its Government, will continue to support the heroic freedom fighters in Azania by every means available, as well as all the peoples who are fighting bitterly for human dignity. 105. Togo, under General Eyadema, will with every sinew of our humanism and our unshakeable faith in the United Nations continue to support every effective measure taken by our international Organization and by all countries and peoples of goodwill committed to peace and justice to eradicate the cancer of apartheid, until final victory is achieved over the forces of evil, for the survival of mankind, and for the harmonious flourishing of mankind in tolerance and peace for all.

The debate in the plenary meetings of the General Assembly on the issue of apartheid could not have come at a more appropriate time, at the very moment when a people of 18 million enslaved and humiliated men, women and children are fighting and dying for the defence of their freedom and dignity. 107. May I begin my statement, then, by paying a heartfelt tribute to the brave fighters and the thousands of martyrs who in Soweto, in Johannesburg, in Cape Town, in 108. The horror in which the black populations of the Republic of South Africa live despite the resolute condem- nations of those for whom the respect for human rights is a sacrosanct and inviolable reality could have come about only thanks to the passivity of some and the hypocrisy of others. 109. This horror which clouds the sky of southern Africa through a conflict that threatens international peace and security is fraught with particularly threatening conse- quences for the future of mankind. 110. For the first time in man's history, a political system is built on racial discrimination, on injustice and on inequality based solely on the colour of men's skins. 111. Apartheid, the true shame of our time, institu- tionalizes racism and legalizes slavery because for those who exercise power in Pretoria, the only aim of the absurd classification of various social strata in terms of race is to maintain the vast majority of the population of the country in a state of servitude and humiliating alienation. 112. All nations with any degree of concern for human rights have denounced this crime and proclaimed their determination to eradicate it. In South Africa itself, men who had been herded like cattle and whose last feelings of freedom and dignity the oppressors thought they had destroyed, surprised their gaolers by rising in recent months in general and total revolt against the inhuman system to which they were subjected. 113. This, of course, has shaken the very foundations of the bastion of white racism. Men and women, for the most part adolescents and even children, threw themselves barehanded into the assault against the most abject of tyrannies, whose very existence is a grave affront to human dignity. And it was in vain that the Pretoria tyrants sought to stifle in a blood-bath a revolt that they had not expected. 114. However, these oppressed peoples who have dared claim the same rights as the whites were also to show heroic resistance to the bloody and mindless repression perpe- trated by their butchers. A single irreversible movement of solidarity among all the oppressed peoples-blacks, Indians and Coloureds-is sweeping the country. Before the ob- stinacy and arrogance of the Pretoria authorities, the martyred communities of South Africa had no choice but insurrection. They have thus resolved to resort to violence because they despaired of ever convincing their ignoble oppressors. The unremitting and resolute struggle of the African countries and their friends against the regimes in Pretoria and Salisbury is in no way motivated by the fact that those regimes are controlled by whites, but rather by the fact that they base their political and social systems on the inequality of men based only on their race. 11S. The crushing defeat of the Pretoria troops in Angola has once and for all done away with the myth of invincibility of white power in South Africa. It has proved 116. The blind terrorist repression which Vorster and his . henchmen carried out against the just claims of the South African population has dispelled all illusions concerning the fundamentally brutal and aggressive nature of apartheid. It has also shown the inability of that system to reform itself. 'Lastly, it has shown that no positive development could be expected from a regime which desperately persists in going against the tide of history. 117. The pretense that they wish to arrive at a peaceful settlement in South Africa, advanced by the leaders of Pretoria, is nothing but gross deceit inten<Wd to perpetuate as long as possible the survival of a regime in its death throes. This is also true of the policy of bantustanization, whose principal aim is to pit black communities against one another in order to subject them more easily. 118. The white minoritv regime in South Africa has tJ .''-' suffered serious reversals with the collapse of Portuguese colonialism and the conquest by the peoples of Mozam- bique and Angola of their national independence. This is why, faced as it is with this increased danger, the principal tactic of the apartheid regime today consists in stalling for time by appearing to be the proponents of so-called "peaceful" solutions whose main aim is to drive a wed.ge among African ranks. 119. Vorster and his team thus wish to convince some African States of their good faith and to transform the question of apartheid into a question of internal policy capable of being resolved over the long term. 120. This manoeuvre was long ago unmasked by OAU when it adopted the Lusaka Manifesto on Southern Africa8 and the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Southern Africa.? 121. In truth, the existence of independent and sovereign African States has always been the weak point of the doctrine propounded by the theoreticians of apartheid. In fact, it does away with the very basis of their racist theories concerning the inability :)f the black man to assume responsibility for his own destiny. 122. My Government, for its part, has always resolutely affirmed, in conformity with the decisions of OAU, its position on the so-called "detente" policy advanced by the Pretoria regime. And this position was reaffirmed from the rostrum of our Assembly on 6 October 1975 by the Foreign Minister of Senegal, when he stated: "As for South Africa, its proclaimed policy of detente with regard to independent Africa will be unacceptable until at home it has conceded equality of rights for ail 9 Adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its ninth extraordinary session held from 7 to 10 April 1975. 123. After the recent events in Soweto and after the violent repression there, the least that could be said is that the Vorster regime is far from committing itself to this task. The so-called detente policy of the Pretoria racists is only a form of neo-colonialism whose aim is to ensure the perpetuation of white domination over all of southern Africa. 124. In South Africa itself, this policy takes the form of the creation of bantustans, that is to say, States which are satellites of the Pretoria regime. 125. Indeed, John Vorster, referring to the bantustans, has declared that with them he wanted to establish "a policy of good neighbourliness based on two principles: political independence and economic interdependence". It is obvious that what the racist leader had in mind was an interdependence comparable to that between the horse and its rider. 126. The so-called policy of "bantustanization," which the Vorster regime advanced as the ideal solution to the problems of apartheid, in fact only aggravates the economic exploitation of the black populations, depriving them of the benefit of the resources of their own country, where they are regarded as alien elements. Everyone is aware today that the famous bantustans have as their only aim to serve as reservoirs of cheap manpower to fuel the colonial economy of the Pretoria regime. Politically, they enable the South African racists to strengthen their repressive domina- tion by keeping the black populations in minute enclaves easier to control, because it should not be forgotten that the eight bantustans whose creation is contemplated occupy only 13,per cent of the territory, for a population representing 80 per cent of the inhabitants of the country. The white population, which represents less than 20 per cent of the inhabitants, would have 87 " "U' cent of the lord, 127. Fortunately, the populations concerned are far from being hoodwinked by this scandalous deceit and have categorically rejected it. Indeed, the so-called spokesmen of seven of the eight bantustans have declared in a commu- nique released on 8 October in Pretoria that they have arrived at no agreement with the Pretoria regime regarding "their assessment of the situation in South Africa". Thus, the policy of bantustans is not even accepted by the notables appointed by Vorster, who should be the main if not the only beneficiaries thereof. 128. The black populations of South Africa uncondi- tionelly reject the policy of bantustanization and demand the building of a multiracial society within which men would live free and equal in a society in which there would be neither tyrants nor victims. The international com- munity is in duty bound to help them to achieve this noble aim before resentments too long accumulated make irre- .i 30. The present policy of the Pretoria Government does not afford any hope that the African countries and their friends will desist from their action. Actually, this policy leads us to think that the South African regime increasingly aspires to the role of regional policeman in southern Africa. 131. Thus in recent years it has devoted itself to an unprecedented increase in its offensive arsenal, which was already considerable. The military budget of South Africa for the fiscal year 1975-1976 is double that of 1973-1974. Over the last two years the Pretoria regime has unleashed criminal aggression against the African States of the region. It has been repeatedly condemned by the Security Council for these rash provocations. 132. The international community recognizes that the existence of that regime is a priori a threat to international peace and security. The racists of Pretoria nevertheless continue to devote themselves to intensive military opera- tions, to increasing terrorist acts against neighbouring States, and to slander and deceitful propaganda against all populations on the African continent. It is none the less undeniable that Vorster and his acolytes cannot accomplish those deeds without economic, military and political support of certain Western Powers, which, while publicly condemning apartheid, assist and encourage these regimes in every way in order to enable them, through this abject policy, to play the role of guardians of the imperialist interests in southern Africa. 133. It should be recognized that such behaviour is not apt to strengthen relations between those countries and independent Africa. Those Powers that more or less play the role of protectors of the Pretoria racists should-if they want truly to avoid a confrontation-lead the South African Government loyally and honestly to commit itself to co-operation with the indigenous communities of the country in order to define the constitutional future of a multiracial South African State based on freedom,equality, justice and brotherhood among its various peoples. Any other attitude would lead to the establishment in the southern region of Africa of a climate of tension and violence with dangerously unforeseeable consequences. 135. The tide of history is irreversible. The Pretoria regime will not be able to resist indefinitely the inexorable advance of the forces of liberation and justice. The problem of its survival is becoming desperate with obvious consequences in terms of suffering, tears and sorrow. 136. The United Nations is in duty bound to put an end to this deluge of violence which has been unleashed in southern Africa. 137. My Government, for its part, while awaiting such a solution to make itself felt will continue to provide its moral and material support to the national liberation movements which are struggling in South Africa. My Government will also unreservedly subscribe to the recom- mendation of the Special Committee against Apartheid prescribing an embargo on weapons destined to South Africa {see A/31/22, para. 251J and reaffirming "the right of the oppressed people of South Africa . . . to resort to armed struggle for securing their freedom" and dignity [ibid., para. 243J. 138. The explosive situation prevailing in southern Africa due to the present political regime requires resolute preventive action by our Organization to prevent events from developing towards a bloody and pointlessconflict. 139. To this end, the United Nations-the General Assem- bly as well as the Security Council-should adopt concrete measures to isolate the leaders of Pretoria, to lead them once and for all to renounce their abominable policy of repression and racial discrimination. The meeting rose at 1.10p.m.