ADDRESS BY MR F W DE KLERK, STATE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, ON RECEIVING THE PRIX DU COURAGE POLITIQUE AWARD BY POLITIQUE INTERNATIONALE, PARIS, 4 FEBRUARY 1992
In accepting the honour you have bestowed on me, I wish to share with you a few thoughts on the situation unfolding in South Africa. We are making steady progress towards our goal of a stable and full democracy, founded on the universal values of free men and women and sustained by a free, dynamic and effective economic system.
South Africa and its inhabitants have experienced a turbulent history and far-reaching social changes over three centuries. Fundamental social and economic change through urbanisation and industrialisation, is still going on. However, South Africa has now reached the stage in which it is confronted by a crucial decision : how to make a complete break with the past, its divisions and its
conflicts, so that it may achieve a stable political and social order in the future. Failure to achieve this objective will result in further instability and an inevitable slide into chaos.
A PROCESS OF HEALING AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
At my inauguration as State President of the Republic of South Africa on the 20th September 1989, I stated that our goal was a new South Africa, a totally changed South Africa, a South Africa which had rid itself of the antagonism of the past, a South Africa free of domination or repression in whatever form.
Since then, the South African Government has been working towards this goal. We have made substantial progress:
• Apartheid is dead. The move towards a new South Africa is irreversible.
• We have succeeded in removing the obstacles to negotiation.
• That which we have been able to do unilaterally, has been done.
• We have embarked on a process of negotiation with other political leaders who have recognised constituencies.
• A new constitution, which will have the support of most South Africans, regardless of their colour, culture or creed, is in sight.
• The process of nation-building has begun.
To succeed in all of this we have to go through a process of social healing: the resentments, divisions and suspicions built up over centuries have to be replaced by common commitment and mutual trust. Only then will we achieve a just political dispensation which will
satisfy the majority and in which our many minorities will feel and be secure.
OPEN NEGOTIATION FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION
The way to achieve this is, as I have said, peaceful constitutional negotiation. After two years of talks about talks, the constitutional negotiations proper finally began with the first meeting of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa last December. Practically every leader of consequence in South Africa is taking part and there is broad consensus among them about the new-constitution that will emerge from the negotiations. They already agree that it should be based on universal suffrage, the rule of law and a justiciable bill of fundamental rights. However, many important points of fundamental difference remain to be bridged.
The road ahead will, therefore, be an arduous one. There will, undoubtedly, be delays and disappointments. That is to be
expected. However, the very fact that most of South Africa’s significant interest groups have consented to negotiate peacefully and in good faith, is indicative of the real and sincere desire among most South Africans for a fully democratic, just and reconciled new South Africa.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT’S SPECIFIC VIEW OF CODESA AFTER ITS INITIAL DELIBERATIONS
With the commencement of real negotiations, what was considered by many to be impossible, has become possible. The unthinkable has suddenly become reality.
Two years ago, nobody would have believed that the leaders of the contending and even conflicting parties in South Africa could reach out to one another over the deep divisions which characterised our country. Yet they have come together to bring about a full democracy on a peaceful basis. The Convention for a Democratic South Africa is certainly the most important event to have occurred since a broad consensus on the necessity of multi-party negotiation began to develop.
At the first meeting of the Convention, I reiterated that the South African Government would be amenable to a negotiated form of transitional government being implemented expeditiously in a
democratic and constitutional manner. I also indicated that we would like this, to happen soon. This, I believe, will be the main topic of discussion at the next meeting of CODESA, possibly in March this year.
Constitutionally-based transitional structures may, within a relatively short time, enable all South Africans to become part, through their democratically elected representatives, of decision-making, as well as of further negotiations about a more final constitution. The legitimacy of such a transitional government and newly-constituted parliament will also be beyond dispute.
The South African Government is determined to see CODESA succeed and I am encouraged by what has been achieved so far. We
perceive the same determination among the other participating parties.
On its part, the Government has done everything possible to ensure the success of the constitutional negotiations. has levelled the playing field for everybody and removed every vestige of statutory discrimination that was still inhibiting the process. On their part, some of the other parties still have somewhat to do, particularly in the field of political violence, before they may be seen to be worthy partners in full democracy and the credible agreements needed to ensure it.
Nonetheless, I sincerely believe that we are on the threshold of a new South Africa, firmly based on the proven political, economic and social principles that characterise the world’s successful democracies. We must and will avoid experiments with policies and principles which have failed so dismally elsewhere in Africa and on your continent.
However difficult it might be, we will reach an accord which will reconcile the aspirations and fears, the unity and diversity of our people; which will eliminate all forms of discrimination, domination or disadvantage based on colour, culture, sex or creed.
THE POLITICAL COURAGE OF SOUTH AFRICANS IN GENERAL
Naturally, I personally feel greatly honoured to have been awarded the Prix du Courage Politique. I am, however, deeply aware of the fact that I am but one among many who have contributed to the process now underway in South Africa. Consequently, I wish to accept this prestige award on behalf of all my countrymen and women who are showing great moral and spiritual courage in a period of fundamental change. Those who are willing to take a stand in the face of adversity, intimidation and the threat of violence from extremists, deserve to be honoured no less.
The great political thinker, Jeremy Bentham, once said: “For evil to triumph, it is only necessary for good men to do nothing”. That will not happen in South Africa because of the inherent courage being displayed by the great majority of its leaders. They are determined to shape a democratic future by peaceful means. Therefore, I am confident that we shall succeed.
I believe it is fitting that I should receive this award on French soil, and in Paris in particular. Your country and this city are both symbolic of the quest for democracy, liberty and the rights of mankind, as well as of the enduring spiritual heights of which human beings are capable. It is in this spirit that I accept, in all humility, the