Page 3710 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 October 1990
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Those are very emphatic words. Those opposite mutter words like "shame", "disgraceful", "racist" and so on, because they have a certain Messianic complex that says that, if their words, their rather slanted expressions, are not adopted by the Assembly, they being the carriers of some torch that says that they are the only true representatives of racial liberty, those who oppose their words are somehow racist or opposed to the general principles for which Mr Mandela stands.
That is just not true; it is false. We in this place ought to remind those outside this place, who will undoubtedly be seeing the words of the Opposition in the form of its press release, that that is not the case. We do support the changing of circumstances in South Africa. Clearly, the South African Government is not democratic, the people of South Africa are not free, and that Government ought to be made well aware of the fact that the governments of the rest of the world - indeed, the peoples of the rest of the world - do not wish to tolerate the maintenance of that kind of system of government.
I am greatly encouraged by the fact that the changes in South Africa are occurring not in isolation but in the context of a change all over the world, which sees the advent of democracy and freedom as a new standard by which governments are measured. We should all be proud of the fact that those changes are taking place, that we in this country have long been advocates of those changes and have supported them through various governments over many years and that, to some small extent, the changes that are taking place in South Africa and elsewhere are due to those pressures and forces to which we as a country gave rise.
But I think it is also worth reflecting that it is wrong for us to step into a situation which is changing very rapidly and suggest that we ought to take a particular side in what is a multifaceted debate or discussion. There are many sides to this argument. We should not see it just in terms of - if you will excuse the pun - black and white or free versus oppressors, or anything of that kind. There are many features to this debate, as exhibited by the differences between blacks in South Africa. Not all blacks would agree with everything that Mr Mandela says. Not all whites would agree with everything that Mr de Klerk says. It would be wrong of us to take blindly and unilaterally one side against the other.
We must, however, support our general view that Mr Mandela's position is one of advocating freedom in South Africa; we should support his general position and hope that that proceeds on the basis of a struggle which is free from violence. I am a member of Amnesty International, as are many other people in this place. It is worth noting in passing that in the past Amnesty International has not adopted Mr Mandela as a prisoner of conscience because he failed to fulfil one basic criterion for Amnesty International support, and that is that he would not
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