UN General Assembly
1986

In the history of the diplomatic struggle aimed at persuading the Pretoria regime to abandon its racist policies, the Western countries themselves have met with South Africa's intransigence. The international community has arrived at a consensus that the apartheid system has no mechanisms of self-correction and that it cannot be reformed. In that respect, may I quote the following said by President Samora Machel: "There is no democratic apartheid. There is no humane apartheid. There is no peaceful apartheid. Apartheid is the negation of justice, equality, social interaction. It is an institutionalized expression of the violation of every human right. Apartheid, like colonialism, cannot be reformed. Apartheid, like colonialism, must be eradicated." The so-called reforms heralded by the apartheid regime, under the slogan "adapt or die", are nothing but attempts to deceive the people of South Africa and international public opinion as well as to appease the popular revolt and thus safeguard and perpetuate the supremacy of the white minority.