S/PV.2039 Security Council

In accordance with the decisions guidance will achieve the best possible results. taken by the Council at its earlier meetings, I invite the 6. This series of meetings of the Security Council to representatives of Algeria, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, examine the situation in South Africa can be regarded as a Togo and Tunisia to take the places reserved for them at continuation of the meetings held at the end of March the side of the Council chamber. 1977, pursuant to the recommendation of the General Assembly last year. That recommendation was reiterated at At the invitation of the President, Mr. Bedjaoui (Algeria), the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Organization Mr. Garba (Nigeria), Mr. Baroody (Saudi Arabia), of African Unity held at Libreville in June and July of 1977 Mr. Kamara (Senegal), Mr. Kodjovi (Togo) and Mr. Mestiri in its resolution CM/Res.554 (XXIX). It gave a mandate to (Tunisia) took the places reserved for them at the side of the African Group in New York to work for a reopening of the Council chamber. the debate in the Council and to help ensure that the debate would achieve the aims set by the General Assem- 2. The PRESIDENT: I should like to inform the members bly. The painful events that have recently occurred in of the Council that letters have been received from the South Africa, reminding the world brutally of the grave representatives of Botswana, Guinea and Viet Nam in which potential dangers that are daily created and nourished by they have requested that they should be invited to the rCgime of apartheid, led to the holding of these participate in the discussion of the question on the agenda. meetings sooner than we expected. In accordance with the usual practice, 1 propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to 7. However, it must be said immediately that the developparticipate in the discussion without the right to vote, in ment of the situation in southern Africa in general, and in 9. On I8 October last, the South African police arrested, in the towns of Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, many notable figures or members of the anti-aparcheicl and Black Consciousness movements. On that same day, the Government Cnzette published announcements prohibiting the publication of the two major black newspapers, Tllc World and We&end World, and prohibiting the activities of 18 organisations known for their stand against Pretoria’s policies. These organizations include practically all those comprising the black students and the parents of black students, as well as the Federation of Black Wotncn, the black journalists union, a writers’ association, and so on. 10. Most of those arrested belong to the Black Consciousness movement, whose leader was Stcvc Uiko, killed in prison on 12 September, and also to the Committee of Ten, a body set up about four months ago, which demanded and worked for real autonomy for the municipality of Soweto. 11. Arrests and searches are continuing and in&de even the whites who express sympathy for the cause of the blacks. This wave of repression, of a scope never before known in South Africa, gave rise to numerous protests as soon as it became known, first of all within the country itself. Thus Beyers Naude, the President of the Christian Institute-who did not know that he hitnself had been banned-declared: “This is a terrible and sad clay for South Africa . _ . It is a shocking act that proves that the Government is acting in desperation to stop the favourable trend of real change.” Reverend Sam Bu ti, President of the South African Council of Churches, stated that hc was “shocked to see that the Government had no rcspcct for the feelings of blacks”. These two men of the cloth have posed the problem in its true tcrtns for South Africa: on the one hand, the refusal of Pretoria to “respect the feelings of the blacks” and, on the other, its efforts to “stop the favourable trend of real change”. 12. Last June, there took place one of the most significant events in the development of the struggle of the black South Africans against apartheid. The present situation is certainly the direct result of that event. At a time when the action agajnst “Bantu education” was continuing, with a boycott of the schools in all the large black suburbs of the country, the rents in Sowcto were increased, which led the blacks to harden their position even more ancl also further strengthened Lhc unity among their various organizations. The latter, on the initiative of the students, not only opposed the increase in rents but also demanded the resignation of the members of the Soweto Municipal Council, who had not been able to oppose this increase, “Rejecting the structures imposed by the Government, the blacks are trying to rebuild responsible groupings. “At the end of June, some 50 delegates representing Black Consciousness . . met under the auspices of the African daily The World, ‘to solve Sowcto’s problems’. “Ten members of the Assembly were elected to establish a new municipal council. . . That was the first initiative of this kind taken by the black South Africans.” 13. The results of the work of the Committee of Ten, which were made public, set forth detailed methods to bc used in electing a Soweto municipal council of 50 members; it was to be basically a decision-making body. The council was to appoint an administrative comtnittee to deal with such questions as pass laws and the budget. Bach year, it was to appoint a mayor and his assistant. Another team of 10 members was to be established to study Soweto’s needs and possible ways of financing measures to meet them; the Cotnmittce of Ten had already established the cost of changing Soweto into a modern city. According to the same article in Lc Mu/z&, the Committee of Ten went even further, suggesting that assistance should be requested from the Organization of African Unity, the International Monetary Fund and various countries. 14. Pretoria’s categorical opposition did not prevent the black organizations from working out the process For the putting into effect of this machinery, which, in the end, was to take practical form in the establishment of parallel black power, as a reaction against the bankruptcy and disqualification of white power and to oppose that power. 1.5. At the same time, further initiatives were taken to fill the other gaps and deficiencies in the Soutl~ African rigime, gaps and deficiencies which sotne regard as the result of the particular circumstances but which, in any case, cannot be overcome because of the stubbornness and blind obstinacy of that rCgime, ready to do anything to survive. 16. The most recent initiative-that of 16 October-was perhaps the last straw and led to the series of repressive measures with which we are now dealing. On that day, 2,000 teachers and parents of students decided, according to an Agence France-Presse dispatch of 20 October “to establish a fund, with contributions from the black community, to ensure the survival of the teachers who had resignedabout 500 in number-and to organize a system of parallel education for the young Africans who were refusing to return to their classes so long as there was separate education”. 17. We do not think that sufficient attention has been paid to those events, which made clear the healthy direction of the black national movement inside the country and, at the same time, render the Vorster r6gimc “the awareness by the blacks”-which means all those suffering from a[lartheid -“of the need to regroup in order to free themselves from the forces that have been keeping them in a state of perpetual servitude. . . The blacks must find their own identity and regain their own values, rejecting the system of values that has made the black man a stranger in his own country and dehuinanized him”. 18. The highly significant actions of the followers of the Black Consciousness movement, the courageous struggle of the Soweto students, challenging the very foundations of the npnrtlzeid r@gime, the attitude of the white liberals, the not inconsiderable activity of the liberation movements outside the country, the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress, all that explains the rcckiess and bloody reactions of the South African rCgime and its attempt to halt the favourable trend towards genuine change. 19. At a time when the Security Council must decide on the measures to be taken, it should bear in mind that if those measures are to be significant they must, among other things, constitute real assistance to the non-white communities of South Africa and their organizations, their righl to live. to organize and to struggle. In doing that, the Council will be acting in a manner consistent, on the one hand, with General Assembly resolution 3411 C (XXX) of 28 November 1975, which proclaims that the United Nations and the international community have a special responsibility towards the oppressed people of South Africa and their liberation movements, and, OIJ the other hand, with the Programme of Action against Aparthid, adopted by the General Assembly on 9 November 1976, which reaffirms “that their struggle for the total eradication of apartheid. . . is fully legitimate” [resolutiorz 31/6 J, almex/. This barbarous, anti-scientific ideology has been thoroughly denounced within the world Organization. It has been condemned in unequivocal and the harshest terms. The Programme of Action against Apartheid states: “Apartheid, like slavery, must be eradicated because it is a crime against humanity. “Apurthitl must be eradicated because it is an affront IO human dignity and a grave threat to international peace and security.” There is IJO need to cite other condemnations or eve11 to describe here how that ideology is translated into deeds. The mcmbcrs of the Council are fully aware of all this. 20. The South African rCgimc, which institutionalized apartheid, has made its case even worst by rebelling :igainst the international community through its assumption of false positions of strengtll--positiol]s which arc indeed ridiculous when one considers that, with regard to Namibia, an international Territory that is illegally occupied, the challenge is to the United Nations itself. With regard to the Rhodesian question, South Africa, despite the gestures of 21. But the Pretoria regime has been able to act in this unique way and to refuse to comply with resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly and the Security Council only because of the indulgence shown toward it by some large countries. Because of its enormous wealth and potential, South Africa has been the recipient of assistance and support which continue to be given and which has enabled it to pursue with impunity these actions which have been condemned in words elsewhere. 22. The bloody Sharpeville massacres of 1960 were, in fact, merely an episode intended to stem the rising tide of the claims of the black people of South Africa who are supported by all the other peoples of Africa, including those still under foreign domination. That is an objective reality that South Africa knows very well, because it helped to delay as long as possible the achievement of independence by the recently liberated States of southern Africa- Mozambique and Angola-which up to then had served as its spring board. 23. Today, reduced to envisaging the forthcoming independence of Zimbabwe and Namibia whose people are pressing on with their increasingly successful armed struggle, South Africa has armed itself to the teeth. There is no longer any doubt about its nuclear capability. It is redoubling its repressive acts within its frontiers against Coloured peoples’ organizations and its acts of aggression and threats outside its frontiers against independent African States. 24. This activity on the part of South Africa continues al though the international community has already taken various steps to persuade it to renounce its policy of qmrtlreicl and accept majority tule, the only viable solutions to the problems which South Africa is facing. To cite only the most outstanding of those initiatives: on 21 December 1965, the General Assembly adopted the Jnternational Convention OIJ the Elimination of AH Forms of Racial Discrimination, which entered into force on 4 January 1969; on 30 November 1973, it adopted the Internatlonal Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apmtheid, which entered into force on J8 July 1976; and on 9 November 1976, at its thirty-first session, it adopted the Programme of Action against Apartlzcid, which it recommended to alI Govcrninents, organizations and individuals. That detailed text covers a number of important matters with regard to which a series of measures is proposed in support of the struggle of the black nationalists of South Africa and to increase the isolation of that country. A new programme of action has been submitted to the General Assembly at its thirtysecond session by the World Conference for Action against Apartheid that was held last August at Lagos. 25. I think it is significant to point out that even the United Nations Conference on Desertification, held at Nairobi in August and September 1977 which was essentially a scientific conference, in its resolution 5, condemned 26. This chorus of condemnation, that has been going on for the last 30 years, since the Malan Party was created, has increased in volume with the events of last week. In London, the Commonwealth Committee on Southern Africa has threatened to impose an embargo on oil destined for South Africa if the latter does not cease to supply tiodesia with oil. The United States and the Netherlands have decided to recall their ambassadors at Pretoria for consultations. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has declared that the measures adopted by the Government of Sauth Africa can only aggravate the situation. The countries of the European Economic Community and the United States intend to assume a common stand on South Africa by the end of November 1977. In South Africa itself, the editors of 14 newspapers have expressed their “profound condemnation of the arbitrary action of the Government”. 27. Many other voices have ben raised and continue to be heard condemning what is happening in that country. But the reactions of the South African Government leave no doubt about its determination to continue its acts of repression and violence. 28. We recall that that Government has often suggested to the Western Powers that they should support it out of a spirit of solidarity. At least that is what becomes apparent in the many statements and replies made by South African leaders to Western leaders. One of the most significant is John Vorster’s reply of 5 August last, in which he claims to be warning the President of the [Jnited States regarding the policy that his country has adopted towards South Africa. Addressing the President whom he calls the “leader of the free world”, Vorster asked him “not to prevent South Africa from playing its role in the free world”. “Why”, he asks, “make an enemy of the only country that can be counted on should a crisis arise’? ” Because of its implications, that is an incriminating statement which should lead the Western Powers to make further efforts ta improve their credibility. They have a chance to do so in connexion with the initiatives they have taken to facilitate “a progressive transformation of the South African society with a view to creating conditions for a majority r8gime”. 29. Doubtless, at the end of this debate, the direction and the orientation that those nations intend to take will show us just how determined they are to free South Africa of apartkid. We shall then be able to measure their willingness to give effective assistance to men who are struggling peacefully in their own countries merely to achieve recognition of their basic human rights. 30. It is a bitter irony of fate that the Western Powers which have always give assistance to South Africa are today having their own sincerity put to the test by the regime of 1 A/CONP.74/36. chap. II. 31. The Western Powers now have more than one reason to be convinced that, without exerting pressure and taking effective reprisals, they wal not be able to break down the stubbornness, arrogance and madness of the Vorster rbgime. In response to an interview given by the Vice-President of the United States, the South African Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pik Botha, recently-on 18 October, in fact--gave a reply, reported by Agence France-Presse, that was certainly not over-burdened with diplomatic niceties and that I hope I may be forgiven for quoting. Botha simply described the President of the United States and his Secretary of State as “moralists pontificating from their platforms to the applause of a crowd of followers”. He ended by saying that “in spite of the threat of sanctions, the whites are determined to survive”. 32. Obviously nobody suggests to serious-minded countries that they should define their governmental policies in the light of such replies clearly dictated by emotion. But J felt that that reply should be cited here since it comes from a spokesman of the apartheid r6gime at Pretoria and indicates the true state of mind of the Afrikaners. 33. Let us turn now to the proposals on how our debate should conclude. 34. The international community has already done much to set in motion in South Africa a process of democratic transformation leading to a progressive attenuation and eventual disappearance of apartheid. But we must all acknowledge that this has had no significant effect on the Vorsler rkgime. On the contrary, that rkgime, by hardening its position, has redoubled the defensive reactions of the Coloured population, and appears more and more intent on pursuing and intensifying its escalation of violence and repression. 35. We agree whole-heartedly with the South African liberation movements that their people’s liberation is primarily in their own hands. But, confronted with an ironclad monster armed with sophisticated weaponry that it has been helped to acquire and which it will doubtless put to savage use when it feels itself with its back to the wall, the international community must take effective measures while there is still time. Tomorrow may be too late. There may be open insurrection or civil war, for all of southern Africa could be immediately affected by what happens in South Africa because of the position South Africa occupies in that region. 36. The Senegalese delegation believes, therefore, that the adoption and implementation of the four draft resolutions which have been before the Security Council since late March 1977 /S/12309 to S/12312/ might now be considered the minimum that we might expect from the Council. Those drafts could be updated to include, for example, mention of the new situation prevailing in South Africa, They should also further emphasize the measures 37. The Senegalese delegation supports these draft resolutions and considers that the measures advocated in them, if supported by the whole international community, could open the way to a new stage leading to a transformation of South African society and the elimination of apartheid.

The Soviet Union, like many other countries, was outraged by the latest crimes of the racist regime of South Africa against the African population of the country. We entirely share the alarm that has been expressed here by representatives of the African countries and the national liberation movements over the situation in that stronghold of colonialism and racism resulting from the repressive measures taken by the Pretoria regime. It is the firm belief of my delegation that those acts by the South African racists represent a further challenge to the efforts of the international community and the decisions of the United Nations and other international organizations in this field to eliminate the vestiges of colonialism. 39. The system of violence and repression, which has been elevated by the South African regime to the level of State policy, and its acts of aggression against sovereign African States have created a situation in that part of the world that poses a direct threat to peace and security. The Soweto tragedy was a vivid example of what that policy leads to inside the country. The South African authorities are intensifying their racial oppression and resorting to acts of massive repression and, as recent events have shown, even to the physical annihilation of Africans. Suffice it to recall the fact known to all that, in the last few months, about 50 Africans who had expressed strong protest against the policies and practices of apartheid have died in South African gaols without even standing trial. The shots fired at Soweto and in other African settlements, the angry protests of millions of indigenous inhabitants bounded into reservations and ghettos and the tragic fate of those in the clutches of apartheid have torn the mask from the true face of the racist regime of South Africa. 40. There is serious concern at the continuous improvement of the Pretoria regime’s military machine and the equipment of its armed forces with modern military technology. The racists of the Republic of South Africa are feverishly building up their military potential, and even reaching for nuclear weapons. The intention of the South African racists to acquire weapons of mass destruction is a challenge to Africa and to the whole world. It is contrary to the decisions of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity urging that the continent of Africa should be regarded as a nuclear-free zone, and contrary also to United 42. In my delegation’s view, the representatives of African countries have placed before the Security Council a series of important and, in this situation, necessary proposals, the main points of which are that the Council should once again demand that the South African racists should cease their repression and violence against the opponents of apartheid, release all those imprisoned for speaking out against apartheid and desist from the policy of bantustanization. It is proposed that the Council should once again bring urn the question of putting an end to the unprecedented hostile incursions and provocations mounted by the South African regime against African countries and peoples, and of removing the threat of its armed intervention against neighbouring independent African States. 43. All this is necessary and important, but it may fairly be asked whether it can be expected that the racist regime of South Africa, which, according to the terms of General Assembly resolution 3411 G (XXX), has been recognized as illegal and as having no right to represent the people of South Africa, will heed the decisions of the Security Council if those decisions are not backed by others providing for the imposition of certain sanctions against that regime. Experience suggests a negative reply to that question. It is therefore quite natural that representatives of the African countries should bring before the Council the question of the need to adopt enforcement measures against the rCgime in South Africa as provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter. We consider that the time for this has come and, indeed, came a long while ago. 44. As is known, the General Assembly has repeatedly demanded that ail States should entirely refrain from any co-operation with the criminal racist regime in South Africa, including co-operation in the military sphere. Unfortunately it must be noted that the obstinate continuation of the policy of apartheid by the South African racists inside the country and of acts of aggression against other countries is based on the assistance and support that they receive from outside. It has to be noted that some Western countries continue to ignore the numerous appeals and decisions of the United Nations for an end to co-operation with South Africa, It is not enough to condemn the racist regime for its repressive and terrorist actions against the indigenous population; it is essential that those countries should stop giving it political, diplomatic, economic and military assistance and support. 46. That is why the delegation of the Soviet Union favours the immediate adoption by the Council of effective decisions, If no effective measures are taken now, with a view to producing a substantial change in the situation, then the Council and those of its members that oppose such measures will be assuming a heavy burden of responsibility for the future. 47. So far as the delegation of the Soviet Union is concerned, it endorses the demand of the African countries for a mandatory embargo on arms shipments to South Africa and for the adoption of economic and other sanctions. The Soviet Union, not in words but in deeds, is prepared to take the most effective measures aimed at bringing about the final, definitive and irreversible elimination of the policy of apartheid in all its manifestations. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, Mr. Gromyko, recently stated before the Genera1 Assembly: “The sooner we do away with this anachronism of our age-colonialism, racism and apartkid--the cleaner will be the air in Africa and the world at large, and the greater will be the range of action for the policy of ddtente. This is what was called for by the historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples adopted by the United Nations 17 years ago.“2 48. In supporting the position and the proposals of the African countries, my delegation would like to reaffirm once again that the Soviet Union has always been and will remain on the side of the courageous fighters against racism and apartheid and, together with the peoples of Africa and progressjve people in all countries, will continue to give them active assistance and to support them in their noble and just struggle for freedotn and independence. This is fully in keeping with the position of principle of our country, as reaffirmed by the twenty-fifth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. As was declared at that Congress by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Comrade Brezhnev, the complete elimination of all vestiges of the system of colonial oppression, of the infringement of the equality of rights and the independence of peoples, and of all hotbeds of colonialism and racism, is one of the most important international tasks of the Soviet Union.

Mr. President, as 1 am speaking for the first time in the Council this month, I 50. The Security Council has been seized of the question of South Africa since 1960, when the massacre at Sharpeville aroused the conscience of the world and at last awoke all members of the Council to the potential danger to international peace and security posed by the situation in South A.frica. Since then, the winds of change have bIown away the great empires which dominated the continent of Africa and other parts of the world. In those 17 years, the doctrine and practice of upartlzeid have been condemned aver and over again in ever more stern language by all the countries of the world and in every possible forum. No one argues any more that the systematic usurpation of the rights of the black people of South Africa by a minority is a matter that lies within the domestic jurisdiction of that Country, S 1. The continued occupation of Namibia by South Africa was held to be illegal by the International Court of Justice.3 South Africa stands virtually expelled from the United Nations and is publicly reprimanded by countries with which it claims to have affinities of spirii and culture and which have been among its closest friends, supporters and allies. But in South Africa itself little seetns to have changed in these 17 years of turmoil and transformation. f’ctty apartheid with its daily indignities and injustices has scarcely been modified; it is, on the contrary, encompassed in the greater apartheid of bantustans, which is but another name for the usurpation by a racist minority of the political rights of the majority and the economic resources of the country. 52. The massacre of Sharpeville has been echoed in the killings of Soweto. The brutal murder of Steve Biko while in custody is the most dramatic of numerous such officially authorised or condoned murders of political prisoners. 53. Despite sanctions, the economy of Southern Rhodesia continues to grow and flourish and has never run short of oil to grease its wheels: nor is the Smith rCgime short of arms to protect its illegal usurpation. South Africa has provided inspiration and abetment, open support and secret help to the illegal Smith rCgimc in Southern Rhodesia. 54. South Africa’s own illegal occupation of Namibia continues and, while the Turnhalle effort has been halted, the South African aim remains the same, namely, to install there a government which will bc essentially subsetvient to South Africa and will not interfere with the continued exploitation by South African and other outside interests of the rich resources of the Territory. 55. South Africa has now developed nuclear capability-- surely not by its own unaided efforts. The intervention of the two super-Powers to stop South Africa carrying out a 3 I,egal Cormcptences jbr States o{ the Cor~timted Presence 01 Sotrfh Africa i/z Namibia (South West Africa) tlotr~~ithstalldiI1R 5krriit.s Council Rcsolutiotl 2 76 (19701, Adi?so,:l~ Opinion, I. CL!. Reports 19 71) p. 16. 56. The Security Council last considered the question of South Africa in March of this year, at which time the sponsors of the four draft resolutions which are still before the Council were persuaded not to push them to the vote. Some members of the Council who had been engaged in negotiations with the Vorstcr rCgime in connexion with the issues of Namibia and Southern Rhodesia and who appeared to discern signs of flexibility in Mr. Vorster’s approach felt that the adoption of those draft resolutions might jeopardize the success of those negotiations. After last week’s announcement of a series of measures of unprececlentcd severity against the opponents of the regime, the most sanguine among us must surely have little doubt left as to the South African regime’s real intentions. 57. The United Nations has from its very inception been concerned with the question of racial discrimination in South Africa and I am proud to be able to say that my country, together with your own, Mr. President, was among the first to bring the matter to the attention of the Organization. The world community has been concerned with South Africa not because it is the only country which practises racial discrimination but because there that pernicious practice has taken the form of a social dogma and a political doctrine which are entrenched in its constitution, whose animus is to bc found in every law, regulation and act of government of that country, and which distort and destroy normal relationships between human beings. Nor is this simply a manifestation of the fundamentalism of the Boer or of the so-called laager mentality, though undoubtedly such ideas and attitudes thrive in the environment created by apartheid. 58. We must bc concerned with racism as a social phenomenon, but South African racism is more than that; it is a doctrine which provides cover for an economic system which promotes the exploitation of all the resources of that vast and rich country for the benefit of the peopIe of a particular race and ruthlessly exploits the labour of the black majority to the same end, reducing the black people to the position of hclots and slaves, depriving them of equal opportunity in education, employment and every other field and subjecting them to a treatment of systematizcd humiliation and indignity. Finally, the situation is of concern to the world because it posts a threat to its peace and security, a threat which, as l have said, has now assumed a more dangerous dimension by reason of South Africa’s acquisition of nuclear capability. 59. It is unfortunate that, even while condemning the evils of qartheid, recognizing the injustice and untenability of the system and conscious of the danger it poses to world peace and security, we seem to remain divided now as we have been ever since the matter was brought before the United Nations over methods of dealing with the issue. There are those who counsel patience and would put their 60. That is indeed the lesson of history, for, without the sustained struggle and sacrifice of millions of people under colonial rule, the great and powerful colonial empires would not have fallen, nor would the apparentry peaceful transfer of power in some colonial territories have taken place. It is the sacrifices of the children of Soweto and of those who have defied the r&ime and braved its prisons and the treacherous death which sometimes awaits them there that have brought about some semblance of flexibility in the policies of the apartheid r6gime. It is the very success of their struggle and the fear of its impending triumph that have provoked the Vorster regime to close in upon itself and to unleash a new wave of repression against its opponents. 61. The struggle will not stop. We all know that. It will not wait upon events or on the slow evolution of diplomatic interventions and negotiations. What Mr. Vorster’s latest actions have done is to tell the freedom fighters of Azania that their way is the only way. 62. By his actioris, Mr. Vorster defies the world community but also confronts the Security Council with its responsibilities. The latest actions of South Africa underline the fact that the time has come to go beyond verbal denunciations towards a policy of action. Pragmatic diplomacy has not succeeded so far in disentangling the questions of Southern Rhodesia and Namibia from the heart of the crisis, the problem of South Africa itself. South Africa stands isolated from the rest of mankind, but the international community has yet to take measures which would make it realize and bear the full consequences of that isolation. 63. My delegation believes that the Security Council must now consider action which would bring to bear on South Africa in an effective manner the full weight of the world’s disapproval of its policies. If the Council fails to act effectively and unanimously at this juncture, the task of finding a permanent and long-term solution to the problems of southern Africa will be made more, not less, difficult. It is important that the failure and bankruptcy of the policies followed by the apartheid rCgime should be brought home to the people, black and white, of South Africa. It is important above all that the Council should take steps which will demonstrate the seriousness with which the Council as a whole and its members intend to pursue their declared aims. 64. The PRESJDENT: The next speaker is the representative of Viet Nam. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 66. In its meetings from 21 to 29 March last, the Security Council was unable to take any decision on the four draft resolutions sponsored by Benin, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Mauritius [S/J2309 to S/12312/ because the Western States members of the Council asked for time in order to persuade the Pretoria regime. Seven months have now elapsed. Yet that regime has merely gained time to step up its repression of the black majority, to create new bantustans and to continue with impunity its policies of intervention and aggression against the neighbouring countries. Are we therefore to conclude that the promises of persuasion were simply manoeuvres to rescue the rkgime of apart/& from the sanctions called for in the four draft resolutions? 67. The most recent developments in the situation in South Africa have confirmed that interpretation and have, furthermore, brought out the following facts. First, the Pretoria rCgime, with the assistance of its Western allies, is continuing to strengthen its military potential and its repressive machinery, to terrorize savagely all elements hostile to its apartheid policy, to rescind the most elementary legal rights of the black majority and to practise its policies as the regional gendarme of imperialism. Secondly, the United States, the United Kingdom and some other Western countries continue to link their economic, strategic and other interests even more closely to those of the Pretoria rkgime. It becomes obvious, therefore, that the egotistical interests of those countries stand as the main obstacle to the possible adoption by the Security Council of determined measures to be applied against the apartheid rCgime pursuant to the terms of the Charter. We must stress that the uparflzeicl rBgime is, by its nature, a repressive regime, and any effort to use persuasion as a pretext to delay the adoption of coercive measures against that rEgime can be considered as nothing but a simple manoeuvre intended to lull world public opinion. Thirdly, the international community has never been more conscious than today of the drama of South Africa, and it has spared no effort to join with the South African people in the struggle to establjsh a democratic majority rhgime there. The sanctions advocated in the four draft resolutions submitted to the Council for adoption could give extremely valuable assistance to that struggle. In the light of these considerations, my delegation supports all the sanctions provided for in the draft resolutions and will support all efforts to ensure the effective implementation of such measures. 68. In playing the role of regional gendarme of imperialism, the Pretoria rCgimc benefits constantly from the economic and military assistance, including the technical assistance, provided by the Western countries that allows it to manufacture the most sophisticated modern weaponry, to strengthen its rCgime of uparthrid, of repression and exploitation of the people of southern Africa in Namibia, to strengthen the illegal rCgime of Ian Smith in Zimbabwe and to continue its policies of intervention and aggression against the front-line countries of Africa. All this spells a grave threat to peace and security in Africa and in the 69. We do not oppose a negotiated solution. However, we find it difficult to share the view of those who believe that certain Western Powers are sincerely eager to achieve a negotiated settlement. The situation in southern Africa and other regions of the world over the last decades has proved that our doubts are well founded. 70. In conclusion, my delegation wishes to reiterate its unreserved support of the peoples of southern Africa against the greatest scourge of humanity, namely, apartheid. It is high time for the international community to adopt more energetic measures in support of that struggle and to put a stop to any effort at rescuing the Vorster rigime.

The next speaker is the representative of Botswana. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. President, allow me to extend to you my very warm congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. It is pleasing, and indeed very appropriate, that a man of your immense diplomatic skill and experience, a man who represents a country whose long and unflinching fight against apartheid is a matter of public record, should preside over this crucial debate. 73. The sad events for which the racist rtgime in South Africa was responsible during the past week serve to remind us once again, in a very painful way, that the situation in South Africa poses a great danger to the people of South Africa, to the whole southern African region, to the African continent and, indeed, to the international community as a whole. 74. Africa has on several occasions warned of this explosive situation and called upon the international community to arrest its development before it upsets the stability and peace of our continent and threatens international peace and security. African leaders have formulated blueprints for peaceful change in South Africa. As we all know, South Africa has disdainfully ignored those peaceful efforts. While the international community hesitated and temporized, while Africa talked peace, apartheid South Africa continued to fashion and perfect its apparatus of oppression in open defiance of the overwhelming wish of the international community. 75. So late in the day, it is not necessary for me to dwell here at length on the events of last week, for they are well 76. The dreadful events of the past few days correctly arouse the indignation of the international community as they go against the norms of all civilized standards. llowever, viewed historically, in the context of the tragic blood-stained history of South Africa, they are scarcely surprising. 77. Ever since the settlement of Europeans in South Africa 300 years ago, oppression, exclusion from the political process, banishment of individuals and organizations, murders and executions have persisted. Long before the events of last week, long before Soweto, long before Sharpeville, hundreds of other martyrs fell. We can recall, for example, the brave Chief Langalibalcle of Zululand--and there were several others-who, together with his followers resisted the oppressors, fought them from the mountains and was finally captured and detained on the now notorious Robben Island as early as 1879. Many heroes have since followed him to that island. These are the unsung heroes, but their silent graves and the folklore of the blacks of South Africa still bear testimony to the long history of struggle by the people of South Africa. Their memory and heroic deeds continue to inspire their descendants to carry on the struggle where their predecessors left off. 78. The history of South Africa is replete with examples of repressive acts such as those of last week. Such acts have aroused the indigation of the international community before. There was great anger at the time of the Sharpeville massacres in 1960, as we all recall. What was the outcome, one may ask? Once the shooting had died down and the people had buried their dead, the world soon outgrew its anger and business resumed as usual. Moral condemnations and short-lived indignation alone have not succeeded in ending uparthcid. On the contrary, South Africa has bccomc even more bold and more repressive as it recognjzes that condemnation alone unaccompanied by concrete action is ineffective. Let the indignation generated by the events of last week galvanize the international community into taking such action as will force South Africa to retreat from its reckless brinkmanship. 79. To those who entertained the hope that South Africa, with time and moral persuasion, would voluntarily abandon apartheid, the events of last week should amply demonstrate that those hopes were misplaced. The lessor~s of South African history demonstrate that such hopes have no basis whatsoever. 81. About one thing we arc certain. The will of a people who love and cherish their freedom cannot be dampened by rcprcssion. Throughout history, man has at times faced cannon and bayonets with bare hands when a choice has had to be made between perpetual enslavement and freedom. If the opposite were true, then after Sharpeville there would not have been a Soweto; but there were many more Sowctos than Sharpevilles. Thus the harsh action of the apart/?&l State during the past week will succeed only in forcing the people of South Africa to devise other more effective methocls of resistance. In time, the people of South Africa will rise again in protest against their oppressors. 82. I should like to refer in passing to the timely warning voiced by the representative of the Pan Africanist Congress when he addressed the Council the other day /2036th meeting/. He pointed out that two weeks ago the Vorster rkgime falsely accused Botswana and Mozambique of training South African freedom fighters and stated that such utterances were familiar preludes to unprovoked aggression. 83. Yes, indeed, South Africa has alleged that Botswana trains guerrillas for what they call “urban terrorism”. These, as my Government has pointed out, are baseless accusations clearly designed to divert attention from South Africa’s internal problems. Nevertheless, false as these allegations are, they must be taken seriously for, in their desperation, the racist minority rigimes will always try to find scapegoats. The events of last week testify to this. 84. Indeed, within the past three weeks, on two separate occasions, South African soldiers have illegally entered Botswana territory, a very serious matter of which my Government is at present seized. This goes to show that the rCgime is active beyond its borders and that, in its desperation, it will stop at nothing. Aggressions similar to those it launched against Angola and Zambia can be repeated elsewhere. 85. The ‘situation in southern Africa already threatens international peace and security. With repression at its worst within South Arrica itself, with the critical situations in Southern Rhodesia and Namibia, situations which have persisted for so long because South Africa is heavily involved in these two Territories, there cannot be any doubt that a racial war whose results can only be ghastly can break out at any time now unless the international community acts swiftly to avert it. The sacred duty to avert this possible catastrophe rests with this august body. 86. In arriving at a solution to this problem, the Security Council should now act unanimously and resolutr.ly. The Lit]10 in United Nations, New York Price: JUS. 1.00 (or equivalent in other currencies) -- 77-70001-October 1978-2,200