Mr. President, The Deputy President and Members of the National Executive of the ANC, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters, Just over one year ago, the Deputy President of the ANC, Comrade Nelson Mandela, addressed the United Nations under the auspices of the Special Committee against Apartheid. It was with great emotion that I chaired that occasion and it is with great emotion as well as deep sense of history that I stand before you today to convey the greetings of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. This is the first time, since its inception in 1962, that a representative of the United Nations Special Committee stands on South African soil. In the past 30 years, we have walked the path of struggle together with you and we have felt your pain at every turn of the turbulent history of your country. The Special Committee has endeavoured, during these long years, to carry out the mandate given to it by the United Nations General Assembly to keep the flame of solidarity with the people of South Africa alive throughout the world.
Freedom is, indeed, indivisible.
The fact that we are here today, at your invitation, in your own country, bears witness to our continued determination to walk with you the final stretch towards the new united non-racial and democratic South Africa that all of us have fought for so long. The first national conference of your Congress taking place on your country's soil in over three decades is clearly very significant. It is even more significant that it is taking place when an unprecedented opportunity for profound change has opened up in your country. The Special Committee recognizes that the recent repeals of the Group Areas Act and the Land Acts as well as the inhuman Population Registration Act are indeed positive steps. It is, however, the view of the Special Committee that positive as these steps may be, the international community must be cautious in its expression of euphoria concerning the changes.