Panafrican News
Agency
January 9,
2000
Cape Town, South Africa
(PANA) - As the African National Congress observed its 88th anniversary
Saturday, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa said the greatest problem that
plagued the African continent over the past century has been discrimination on
the basis of colour.
In an address to thousands of people at Thohoyondou in the Northern Province,
Mbeki said the solution to this centuries old problem constitutes a challenge
both to all Africans and to the rest of humanity.
The challenge facing the 21st Century is the solution of the problem of the
colour line! As the leaders of the African peoples and the peoples of African
origin met in London a century ago, the peoples they represented, except those
in the Ethiopia, Liberia, Haiti and the United States, were still in bondage.
He said a century later, the political circumstances of the black people have
changed radically and after major struggles everywhere, political liberation has
been achieved.
"Where she was colonised and oppressed in 1900, Africa in 2000 is free. And
yet the problem of the colour line, loudly and correctly proclaimed in 1900, has
not been resolved! The complete emancipation of the peoples of Africa the heart
of the problem of the colour line has not yet been achieved," he said.
He said the people of Africa continue to be immersed in poverty, millions of
Africans continue to lose their lives as a result of preventable diseases,
including AIDS, millions of families cannot feed themselves because they have no
jobs, no land they can till and have no possibility to live in conditions of
freedom because they continue to allow tyrannical regimes to retain power.
"We have given space to those who do not care for the fundamental aspirations
of the people, to divide the people and divert them from their real and common
interests, by driving them to racism, narrow nationalism, tribalism, ethnicity,
regionalism and religious fanaticism.
We have accepted the creation of conditions as a result of which some of the
best African brains have left our Continent, choosing to settle in countries
outside Africa which were already more advanced than we are.
We the Africans, who led the ancient world in science, technology,
intellectual activity and the arts, have stood by as the rest of the world moved
forward while we regressed towards becoming a historical curiosity."
Mbeki said that whereas as Africa gave birth to all humanity, "we are today
seen as the least advanced of all human societies anywhere in the world."
The President said South Africans must, by their own actions and the results
they produce, contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the African
Century.
"By this means, we should also win the confidence of the sister peoples of
our Continent that we are a serious and reliable partner in the struggle to
achieve those objectives. One of these goals is the further entrenchment of the
system of democracy both in our own country and our Continent," he said.
He said his government will strive to ensure that by the end of the year, all
countries on the Continent are at peace and that none are ruled by military
regimes.
"As we are about to commence the African Century, these masses, both black
and white, as well as many other people on our Continent and the rest of the
world, are confident that we will not fail to discharge our responsibilities in
the concerted struggle for Africa s Renaissance," he added.
The ANC was founded in 1912 in response to the formation of the Union of
South Africa in 1910, which ignored the wishes of the majority of the people of
South Africa.
For 30 years from 1960 to 1990, the ANC was declared a banned organisation
and was forced to operate underground.
Its leadership was either jailed or forced to live in exile. When the ANC was
unbanned in February 1990 and its leadership released from prison, the
organisation engaged in protracted negotiations with the South African
government to map out a new constitution and create a climate for the country's
first democratic elections.
It came to power after the April 1994 all-race polls and its majority was
confirmed in the national elections on 2 June 1999.
The party has a long history of fighting white domination and has committed
itself to building a new South Africa through the Reconstruction and Development
Programme.
Copyright (c) 2000 Panafrican News Agency. Distributed via
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