ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 25, 1996 TAG: 9608270050
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DESMOND TUTU SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST
The transformation of South Africa from a security state that fomented hatred between people to a rainbow nation symbolizing peace and reconciliation is nothing short of a modern miracle. It is a glorious revolution embodied in the birth of a new nation and a guiding light for the cause of freedom around the world. It is also a cause that has succeeded with the support and assistance of the United States.
When young students stood up to the machinery of oppression during the 1976 Soweto uprising, Americans saw the horror of the South African situation and recognized the parallels with U.S. history. The story of South Africa resonates with the history of the United States because the fates of our two nations are so closely intertwined with the emancipation of the oppressed and the victory of freedom. In South Africa, the ideals of Abraham Lincoln and the courage of Martin Luther King were being tested.
In 1986 the commitment of the American people was extended to the cause of freedom in South Africa. Congress passed with bipartisan support the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which imposed economic sanctions and focused foreign assistance on the challenges of defeating apartheid. Following the passage of this act, the U.S. government was empowered to support human rights, education, community development and the empowerment of disadvantaged people who had been systematically denied their most basic human rights.
As the result of that assistance, black leaders emerged and provided the foundation for a vibrant civil society that was to form a wall against the ravages of apartheid.
Looking back, it is clear that this assistance arrived just in time. South Africa was ready to begin a tenuous course to dismantle apartheid and build new institutions of democracy. But when Nelson Mandela walked through the gates of Victor Verster prison he found a South Africa on the precipice of violence. The pressures created by apartheid were ready to explode.
Remarkably, they did not. South Africa's leadership held a steady hand. A critical mass of people were engaged in the process of reconciliation and could see the possibilities for peace. By promoting a broad engagement of South Africans in the peace process, U.S. assistance helped to stabilize a volatile situation.
The elections of 1994 were central to this process of reconciliation, and the United States was again the largest provider of support. It provided the means to educate our people about elections in the most remote corners of the country. Important partnerships were also created. I am the chairman of one U.S.-supported organization called Project Vote. Assistance has been channeled through the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, an American organization that has been working hand-in-hand with Project Vote since 1991 to provide necessary guidance in navigating the tough terrain of democracy. Other partnerships have been formed with U.S. organizations such as the African American Institute, the International Republican Institute, the American Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO.
What is perhaps most interesting about our transition to democracy is that South Africans, especially the masses who were oppressed, understand the requisites of nation-building. We understand our duty to meet our own challenges, to build our own schools, to tackle the vestiges of racism, sexism and discrimination. We understand that the new South Africa is our country; it belongs to us, and it places demands on us. The air in South Africa is new; it has the freshness of freedom and the inspiration of a challenge.
U.S. assistance, which costs each American family about $3 a year, has been essential to the democratic transformation in South Africa. But while we have succeeded in our elections we must now engage in the process of building the institutions of our democracy and the mechanisms to solve our own problems. U.S. experience and assistance are needed for South Africa to transform its institutions and processes. The consolidation of Africa's most vibrant democracy is strategically important to secure an anchor for the cause of freedom on the continent of Africa.
I serve as the chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has been charged with hearing and examining the atrocities that occurred during the apartheid era. I have spent months hearing the testimony of my fellow citizens about the most inhumane and cruel behavior under apartheid. The stories of murder, torture and rape that were committed for that dark cause have brought me to a point of despair. But in testimony, there is redemption. In democracy, there is hope.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission also has given me an opportunity to consider the fragility of democracy and the commitment and support a new nation requires. Assistance from the United States is a critical ingredient for the development and success of our new democracy.
But I fear for the frustration many Americans feel concerning their role in the world. Today the international political arena is more complex and more frustrating than ever before. We enjoy a new era of communication and news coverage that has brought us closer together. But by seeing the burdens of the world each night, we can easily become filled with frustration.
Our moral choices still can be clear. When I see the ravages of apartheid, my eyes burn: the poverty in the faces of South Africa's children; the schools deprived of books, pencils and chalk; the hospitals without medicine, beds and doctors. You see, the cause of South Africa and the cause of freedom throughout the world has only just begun. We must not forget that we are brothers and sisters in the world's rainbow.
Desmond Tutu an archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa, is chairman of that country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.|
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