Special Hearings — Political Party — 1998-05-06

MOHAMMED VALLI MOOSA: Well if I can just say that as Murphy has mentioned that at the time of the formation of the UDF it invited specifically AZAPO to become part of the United Democratic Front and I personally was involved with discussions with the leadership of AZAPO in 1983 in Johannesburg.  We of course did not succeed in that attempt.  I think enough has been said about the role of the then state in the conflict or perceived conflict between our own organisations.  But what needs to be said is that certainly at a leadership level there had always been a cordial relationship between ourselves and the leadership of AZAPO, an all time cordial and one of communication.
 In 1988 the anti-apartheid conflicts were being before organised and an invitation had been extended to AZAPO.  Of course it was banned at that time by the regime.  Then in '89 we had the conference for a democratic future in Johannesburg, it was a conference we had wanted all organisations to attend, it was co-convened by amongst others, AZAPO, the MDM I think, it couldn't have been the UDF because it was banned, the same thing at that time probably, COSATU, NACTU, the religious formations and we conducted that conference jointly with AZAPO and I think that would have been a powerful manifestation to everybody, certainly the membership of the two organisations that while we may differ, we do regard each other as being part of the liberation family.  We of course endorsed the Harare Declaration at that conference.  After the unbanning and with the beginning of the negotiations we then attempted to form and we did form what was referred to as the Patriotic Front.  There again we had communication with AZAPO, invited AZAPO to become part of it and the PAC of course, we did not succeed but certainly those invitations had been extended and everybody had known publicly and I would like to believe that now the UDF does not exist, but in whatever we are doing, you will find that our own conduct wherever we are, and I don't want to mention specific examples ....to everybody that we don't regard members or former members of AZAPO, that in fact we regard them as friends and I think our conduct does show that in the manner in which the people we work with, the people we associate with, the manner in which we are constructing the institutions of state etc.  Thank you Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: I would like to in conclusion of this hearing thank the many people who made it possible including members of our staff who've worked long and hard, members of the public who have attended, participated by their attendance, members of the media who will report on this across the nation. I'd like to thank Mr Mpshe in particular and our research department, those responsible for the transcripts, the many people who make this possible, but most of all I obviously would like to thank the delegation of former UDF leaders and now leaders in their own specific fields.
 I think one of the points I would like to underline is that there was never any suggestion in our mind, either in this hearing or any other hearing that people had to come and explain their mistakes, their successes, that's not really what we're about.  What we are trying to say is that hindsight is not an empty academic gesture, it's a deliberate attempt to reflect on one's own history so as not to make the same mistakes again, to learn from that history in order that the future and even the present can be enriched by it.  This is not the occasion for me or anyone else to try to assess the contribution that the UDF made in the lead up to negotiations and democracy but I think that without any fear of contradiction there is no doubt that the coalescing of forces, the co-ordination are the commitment in the leadership and in the membership of the UDF who played a very significant role in transforming this country and I think that's a very important reason why you ought to be part of the TRC hearings. You have already  made it clear that possibly because and in the main because of the nature of the conflict, the ambiguities and the contradictions of that conflict, that there are many things that perhaps one could have done better like all of us in every organisation I know of and I think that as we move into a future which is full of threat, full of crime, full of dislocation, full of baggage, full of challenge, the courage and the leadership of yourselves and so many of those that you represent are going to be called in again and are being called in again, and we want to thank you for what you did then, what you are doing now, for your willingness to be absolutely frank in terms of omissions and commissions and that this will help us in the way we are trying to read the past so that we can make some small contribution as a Commission to the future.  Your presence has helped us enormously, I hope you feel that this hasn't been a waste of your own time and energy because I know the difficulties under which you worked.  Thank you again and this Commission is now at an end.  Thank you.

POPO MOLEFE: Well we would be allowed just to make some concluding remarks?

CHAIRPERSON: Of course.

POPO MOLEFE: As a self-appointed representative of this group here, may I in reciprocation express our appreciation for the invitation to address the Commission but also to assure the Commission of our full support in the work that it is doing and appreciation for the excellent work that you have done so far.  Certainly you have uncovered lots of atrocities which clearly are gross violations of human rights and represent therefore a blight in what would have been a glorious history of struggle and we do think that the humble submission that we have made today will indeed assist the Commission to address a number of questions which were unanswered.
 We also do think that it may assist in providing a framework from which you could begin to look at many cases of amnesty that you are dealing with from a different angle and thereby ensure that as part of our contribution to reconciling our people and building the nation.  There are many people who are in jails who are uncertain about their future may in due course be reunited with their own families and we trust that having discussed all these experiences quite clearly would ensure South Africa does not regress again into a shameful of its history as we have experienced previously and that we, all of us chart a new path into the future and by so doing engender this spirit of new patriotism that our President Mandela constantly calls for.
 On that note we want to really thank you for this opportunity.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, we are adjourned.
HEARING ADJOURNS