E EPISCOPAL CHURCHPEOPLE for a FREE SOUTHERN AFRICA C 339 Lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. 10012-2725 (212) 477-0066 S FAX: (212) 979-1013 A '1 February 1995

PRESIDENT Nelson Man· Mr Mandela's shake;up, "Maj·Gen Fivaz faces a dela unveiled a radical over· which followed consultations massive task. The police are . haul of South Africa', white· with Mr Sydney Mufamadi,' totally discredited in most dominated police force' the Safety and Security Min· black townships after tbelr yesterday with the ister, Clme as a series of brutal attempts to enforce announcement of a more scandals and crises buffeted Leadership apartheid and scandals racially representative eam­ the police. implicating senior officers in mand structure. The press alleled last orchestratinl violence. This year "will be the rear week that police officers had He stressed tbat bis main of chanle for the police' J be known in advance of a aims were to achieve "an _aid in Pretoria after planned attack by black radio shake-up f~r acceptable and accountable" Ippointinc the eauntry'. top cals on a white church con· force, to restore discipline five policemen. lrelation, but had let it hap. and morale and remove all Maj·Gen Georle Fivaz, an pen to disc"'tJlt the ANe. forms of discrimination. Afrikaner, was appointed Mr Mane !Ia said he was . "We must make a clean national police commis· taking the claims very leri· South Africa and definitive break from the ,ioner. His appointment may . ously and :Il'le of the most past," he said, addinl that he help to reassure the white­ important tasks of tbe new would seek to introduce the dominated officer earps, who team was to investi,ate such police force's first "consulta· have foulld it hard t~ adju:t char:es. to post-apartheid realities. He also insisted that the tive and participatory" . police force approach to management. He is to have four deputies, C41binet's recent decision to Underlining the enormity two of whom are black and , cancel applications for of bis task, even as he stood one Indian: the first non· indemnity made by 3,500 beside Mr Mandela, police whites to hold such senior r policemen shortly before tbe officials in the newly·named 'posts in the Soutb African \ election was "iJTeversible". Gauteng province were try· police. 1 This will increase unease ing to broker an acreement Tbey include Maj·Gen among senior policemen who with more than 100 strikinl John Manuel, the first black thought they wt!J'e ufefrom officers from Soweto. ceneral in the force, and Maj. prosecution for crimes com· The talks followed a clash Gen Zolisa Lavisa, a deputy mitted while enforcin, on Friday between the black commissioner in the former apartheid. strikers and the white·domi· Transkei homeland, which But Mr Mandela uid be nated riot squad in which one was aliened to the African WIS aware that police morale striker was shot dead. National Congress before its was low, and he appreciated After two hours of talks in reincorporation into South that the appallinl crime Johannesburg, Ms Jessie Africa last year. levels would not decrease Duarte. Safety and f. ecwity Their appointments should unless the public co. Minister for the p-ovince, reassure ANC radicals that operat~d. persuaded the str. '(ers to the police are slowly starting return to work today. to reflect the transformation • Twelve miners died In fac· of society in the new South tional clashes at a workers' -Africa. hostel at Vaal Reefs lold mine near Orkney. in South Africa's North·West provo ince.-AFP ------_._--- White commiSSioner never served in notorious security branch Mandela names new chief amid crisis in police force

missioners, one from each of said it will defY the ban, claim· versible", He stressed there D.vld .....fonl the country's main racial ing central government does was no intention of staging In Joh.nn...... groupings. not have such authority over it. "Nuremberg trials". "We don't The new command will have The long· running row over want to continue a battle about ELSON Mandela has to deal with a series of prob­ indemnities for security force the past. We want to move be· appointed a white lems affecting the force, whose crimes during the apartheid yond the past. We are not after career officer as low morale was dramatically era also bubbled on at the week· vengeance." he said. N South Africa's new demonstrated last week when end. The former foreign minis· The names of more than 3.000 police chief. officers opened fire on fellow ter. Plk Botha, indignantly de· police who secretly applied for Yesterday's announcement policemen staging a strike over fended himself against charges Indemnity a few days before came as the force struggled allegations of racism at Sowe· that he authorised cross·border April's majority·rule elections with a series of crises, Includ· to'S Orlando police station. One raids in which civilians. Includ· have been published in a gov· Ing fall-out from a mutiny In officer was killed and three Ing children. were killed, ernment gazette. Local news· Soweto. a power struggle in were injured. The allegations were made by papers have begun linking the KwaZulu·Natal and continued A showdown is also threaten· Craig Williamson, a former names to some of the worst controversy over indemnities. Ing with the police authorities police spy and army Intelli· atrOCities of the apartheid era. The new national commis· in KwaZulu·Natal. over the gel,.-e officer who has joined an They include two officers sioner is General George Fivaz, planned graduation of 500 local oul .. ry against National Party present at the fatal interroga· a former narcotics agent and recruits to the force. po:iticians for allegedly aban· tion of Steve Biko anrl 0 general police inspector untainted by The minister of safety and se­ do. -Ing the security forces in who allegedly helped found a service In the security branch. curity, Sydney Mufamadi. has the face of a "witch-hunt". police murder unit. Gen Flvaz. 49. replaces General ordered the postponement of President Mandela told South • Ten workers died and Johan van der Merwe. a former Friday's graduation ceremony Africa yesterday that a cabinet more than 80 were injured duro security branch commander pending Investigations into decision revoking indemnities ing fighting between two fac· who recently announced his claims that the recruits Include claimed by nearly 3.500 police­ tions at an Anglo·American premature retirement. a number of convicted crimi­ men - Including Gen Van der mine near Johannesburg at the President Mandela also ap­ nals and fugitives from justice. Merwe - and two former cabi· weekend. The source of the dis· pointed four new deputy com· The provincial government has net ministers remained "irre· pute was unclear. THB NBW YORK TIMBS INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, JANUARY 22,1995! Eritrea's President Exhorts U.S. Not to Shun Role in Africa

i' By STEVEN GREENHOUSE ••< ing down Somali militia command- I from foreign ald. But we need for-i " , SpI!cIAI 10 TIle Ne ... Yor~ Tllne. . ;, . ers. elgn aid temporarily' until we can'j ,WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - The!' "The United States role iii Somalia stand on our own feet." President of Eritreaj one of Africa's 'I' was welcomed' by the region, but The United States Is set to give J newest nations,' has come here to, .then something went wrong," Mr. about $22 million In aid to Eritrea· urge the Clinton Administration and! Isaias said. "But it's wrong for pea- . this year. about half of Which will be ' Congress not to let the bitter exPeri­ pIe to say that because of that, the emergency food relief aimed at tid- . ence of Somalia lead the United United States has no role to play in Ing the country over until it rebounds: States to withdraw from the .contl­ that part of Africa. One particular from Q lengthy drought. ' nent's affairs. incident should not be decisive about , The Erltrean President, Isaias' what America's role should be." ' I Mr. Isaias Is also scheduled to , Afewerki, who is ori a two-week trip Mr. Isaias voiced alarm at the meet with Secretary-of State Warren to the United States, said in an inter- ; push by many Republicans lawmak- Christopher and Anthony Lake,' view that African nations need . . ers'to slash economic aid to Africa PreSident Clinton's national security America's diplomatic clout and eco- , and to' eliminate the' $800 million . adviser. J Development Fund for Africa. nomic aid to help them achieve TIle New York Timet , Much of Mr. Isaias's trip has been"! peace, democracy and better living Eritrea became' independent of "When you consider that Israel, devoted to wooing Investors. With Its ' long coastline along the Red Sea,; standards'. ' Ethiopia in May, 1993., 1 receives $3 billion In aid and that Mr. Isaias, who heads one of the Egypt receives $2 billion, $800 mil­ Eritrea has attracted !everalon i world's newest democracies, a coun­ ------~ lion In aid for the 600 million people companies interested in offshore ex- : try of 3.5 million people on the Horn ~ II wars in Somalia and the Sudan. of Africa Is not a very large ploratlon. Mr. Isaias is also hoping to' of Africa that became .Independent. Mr. Isaias, 47, said he feared that amount/' he iiald."Siasillngaid to attract Investors' interest in tour- 1 in May 1993 after winning a 30-year many Americans wanted the United Africa will hurt many Africans but is Ism, agriculture and his countrY's 1 war for independence against Ethio­ States to play a minimal role In It going to solve America's economic 'gold and copper deposits. i, pia, said that when he meets Presi-. Africa after its miSSion in' Somalia problems?" ' "After 30 years of war, we have I dent Clinton on Feb. I he will tell took a disastrous turn on Oct. 3,1993, Mr, Isaias Insisted, however, that . many Infrastructure problems:, : him, "It's an obligation for the Unit­ when 18 AmerIcan soldiers died he had not come to the United States roads, telecommunications, health I ed States to have a major role in there in a firefight. The United with his hand out. and education," he said. Africa." States originally sent troops to en­ "Our country was devastated by 1 The Clinton Administration gives able relief groups to distribute food 30 years of war,'~ he said of Eritrea, , Eritrea, which had been a semi-; high marks to Mr. Isaias for joining throughout the war-torn country, but once the northernmost province of i :autonomous part of Ethiopia, began other leaders in the region in sup­ they became embroiled in fighting Ethiopia. "We recognize that the so- : ;its Independence fight shortly after: porting diplomatic efforts to end civ- when their mission changed to hunt- lutlon to our problems will not come . IEthlopia annexed it in 1962. lrfong About Africa N MAKING THE case for his own sweeping as President Clinton said in an address last year approach to foreign aid, the chainnan of the at a White House conference, "Mrica matters to I Senate foreign operations subcommittee, the United States." It is not only because a Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, dis­ superpower like America with a democratic his­ misses Mrica as unimportant to the security tory has a responsibility to be concerned about interests of the United States. Under Sen. the battles between despotism and freedom tak­ McConnell's restructuring proposals, money for ing place on the continent. A growing. politically Mrica would be slashed deeply while funds for open and prosperous Mrica promotes our long­ the Middle East and Europe, which he regards as term economic and political interests. Without strategically more critical, would get a boost. As the Cold War, as Mr. Clinton has said, we have one of the Republican majority's more interna­ the freedom and duty to see the diverse nations tionally minded members, and with his perch on of Mrica in that new light. the Appropriations Committee, Sen. McConnell's There are other reasons why we cannot just thoughts will be given great weight. Congress, walk away, as some in CongJ:ess maytbink we however, should be slow to rubber-stamp the should. ProblemS like the unChecked sCourge of senator's views on Mrica. American security and drugs and AIDS, exploding populations, declining economic interests cannot be so easily divorced economic opportunity, rampant tyranny and ethnic from the state of affairs in Mrica. conflicts that spill over borders aren't only Mri­ How we regard Mrica depend~ on how U.S. ca's concerns; they all have consequences that strategic interests are defmed in a post-Cold War contain potential threats to our own future. It is in world, To concentrate American attention on our own interests to help solve those problemS. former decades-old rivalries or familiar tradition­ The absence of a communist threat is no insulation al relationships too narrowly defines this coun­ from what ails Mrica. "Africa illustrates a central try's international interests. Viewing Mrica of security challenge of the post-Cold War era," said today through the old prism of the Cold War, as President Clinton. That is an important assertion some are doing, does just that. On the contrary. Congress cannot easily brush off.

Senator Mitch McConnell, chair Subcommitt~e en 'foreIgn Operations PHONE; 202-224-2541 US Senate Washington,:DC 20510 Neighbourhood watch in

southern Africa ' THE ECONOMIST O'CEM."JRO 1994

Regional co-operation has been much talked ofin southern Africa. Now South Africa's political transformation is giving the idea some reaIlife

OUTHERN AFRICA'S former rebels are Scultivating a new role as regional village ning and drug-trafficking have taken its elders. Nelson Mandela, of South Africa, place. Some 3m aliens live illegally in South and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe are getting Africa, many from next-door Mozambique, together to keep a paternal eye on potential, some from Zaire and Rwanda. With plenty troublemakers in the region and to step in of jobless of their own, South Africans find early, if need be, to resolve disputes before immigrants easy scapegoats. As for drugs, they lead to conflict. the region, Mr Mbeki tow. a recent meeting This alliance emerged in August, when of the 11-nation Southern African Develop­ Lesotho's fragile democracy cracked and ment Community (SAD C), "has become a King LetSie III sacked the country's elected conduit for trafficking between East and prime minister. Along with President Quett West." Police forces in the region are begin­ Masire, of Botswana, Presidents Mandela ning to work together. and Mugabe joined forces to twist the king's America, eager to avoid more misadven­ arm. Their armies even carried out joint ex­ tures abroad, also likes the idea of a neigh­ ercises, in readiness to go into Lesotho. The bourhood watch. Bill Clinton's men are threat was enough: the king backed down talking seriously to the Organisation of Afri- and the prime minister was reinstated. can Unity, a body which Ameri- In October Mozambique was, due to" " caRS once regarded as impot~nt" hold its first free election. Led by Mr at best. The aim is to set up im Southern Africa already has an array ot Mandela and Mr Mugabe, other countries African peacekeeping force, co-operative arrangements: SADC; SACU of the region warned its rival parties to ac­ which could also be called on by (the Southern African Customs Union, link­ cept the result and said that if the UN. Running parallel to this ing South Africa with BotsWana, Lesotho, need be they would send in a is a new effort to keep the peace Namibia and Swaziland); and COMESA force to help keep order. Then, before it cracks: the United (the would-be Common Market for Eastern only hours before the poll, States Congress last month and Southern Africa, with 22 members). Afonso Dhlakama, the former passed an African Conflict Reso­ South Africa has now joined SADC. Set up as rebel leader, said his Renamo lution Act to set aside foreign aid a way of doing without South Africa during movemen~would pull out. Both for that purpose. the apartheid years, this torpid body now Mr Mugabe and South Africa's plans co-operation in regional projects such first deputy president. Thabo Trade and investment as transport, tourism and energy. But if Mbeki. promptly got on the tele- Southern Africa's trade minis­ southern Africans are serious about co-op­ phone to persuade him to ters too are talking headily of re­ eration, they need to rationalise these ar­ chanl1e his mind. Mr Dhlakama gional co-operation. The area's rangements. SADC is not primarily a trade complied, Renamo took part in economies are expected to grow organisation. Should it become one? SACU the election, and, says its leader. by about 4% in 1995. Only about is a customs union. Should it become a free­ accepts its defeat. 5-7% of its official trade is carried trade area? Architect of negotiated revo­ out within the region: its main These are delicate issues. Smaller south­ lution in his own country, Mr exports are commodities, most ern African countries fear what they see as Mandela-whether he wants the of them heading for Europe. The South Africa's economic imperialism. Its ex­ responsibilirv or not-is a natu­ hope is that a newly opened ports to them are worth eight times its im­ ral arbiter fo~ the region. As the South African economy will ports from them, and they fret that its indus­ deadline approached for last help diversify, and expand, tries will swamp theirs. Zambia recently week's signing of the Angolan those of the whole region. sent its trade minister to South Africa to pro­ peace deal. Angola's president Southern Africa bustles with test at what he called the dumping of cheap and the rebel UN ITA leader each new activity. Foreign direct in­ South African manufaCtures after Zambia telephoned Mr Mandela to vestment in Zimbabwe in the 12 months to had cut its import tarifF.; by 60%. The other complain about the other's be­ July exceeded the (admittedly tiny) total of countries also worry that South Africa will haviour. But, Mr Mandela, $l77m for all the,previous years since 1980., suck foreign investment away from them. mindful of his neighbours' lin­ South African exportS to Zambia and Zim­ Whatever agreements are reaChed, the gering suspicions about South babwe have leapt in the past two years. problem will be to tum them from paper Eskom, South Africa's electricity company, into practice. As Ali Mazrui, a Kenyan-born Africa's military and political might, is keen is building a new power line to Zimbabwe. historian, puts it: "Africans are better at not to let his country look like a superpower. South Africa's railways are helping those of uniting for freedom than for development." Zimbabwe's stability and the 70-year-old Zambia and Tanzania to improve their ser­ Freeing trade requires tough decisions. Zim­ Mr Mugabe's experience make him a natu­ vices, and the three, plus Zimbabwe, have babwe, boldly, has lifted its exchange con­ ral ally. So off went the pair together to Lu­ agreed to let freight travel uninterrupted trols; but South Africa, the economy that saka, in Zambia, where the Angolan deal across the region. Mozambique'S deep-wa­ matters, still lacks the foreign reserves it had been negotiated, to try to save it. They ter ports are being rebuilt. needs to do the same with confidence. succeeded. South Africa, along with Zam­ Yet behind the enthusiasm lurk prob­ For now, Zimbabwe and South Africa bia, Botswana and Namibia, has now of­ lems. One of them is that, though Afro-opti­ are co-operating better in diplomacy than fered help for a United Nations peacekeep­ mists talk brightly of "southern Africa", in commerce. Zimbabwe, arm-twisted by ing force-if there is ever a peace to keep. only a few of its 11 countries show much the World Bank, has recently pushed Africans like the idea of a "neighbour­ shine. Angola could be rich, but is­ through some painful economic reforms hood watch", in which everyone keeps an maybe-just starting to finish a civil war. and has been phasing out subsidies to in­ eye on the house next door to deter mischief­ Mozambique, even if it remains stable, is dustry. Yet, to its dismay, South Africa, its .makers. It fits the pan-Africanist notion, miserably poor, with GDP per head of less single ,biggest market for textiles, two years now back in vogue, that Africans ought to than $100. Tanzania and Malawi too are ago slapped heavy tariffs on imports of al­ sort out their troubles for themselves. poor, if less wretched. Only South Africa, most all Zimbabwean textiles. A trade treaty Civil war, or the threat of it, is only the Botswana and Zimbabwe, and to some ex­ that covers textiles comes up for renegotia­ largest of these. The fear of communism that tent Namibia and Zambia, have reasonably tion between the two countries early next white-run South Africa used to justify its healthy economies with reform pro­ year. It will be a timely test of South Africa's readiness to intervene beyond its borders grammes in place. And South Africa dwarfs willingness to make regional economic co­ has gone. But illegal immigration, gun-run- the rest: in 1993 it accounted for four-fifths operation work. of the entire region's GDP. . THE iCONOIUIT DICa .... ," 24TH 1994-JANUAaY 6TH 199'

South Africa and Europe

Knock knock p?rts from South Africa, notably gold an diamonds, duty-free. But South Africa i RISING open South Africa's economy keen to diversify. And there the Europearu hand; Europe is the closest. A free-trade to trade and investment should be at the get touchy: they do not want its apples, aver link, argues Mr Collier, could attach the twO P dos centre ofeconomic policy, Thabo Mbeki, its c:a or flowers, paper, leather goods or tex­ as closely as the EU is linked to Norway Or first deputy president, told the African Na­ tlles, not even its coal. Even after the reduc­ Iceland. This would not only open EU mar­ tional Congress's confererice on December tions provided for by the GAIT'S Uruguay kets to South African goods but might pre­ 18th. He might have added that South Africa round, EU tariffs on temperate fruit, for ex­ vent theEu resorting to its familiar "anti­ also needs its trading partners to open their ample, will still be a hefty 12-13%. dumping" c::xcuse for keeping them out. economies to it. Sanctions are dead, but ex­ The EU will not easily open its doors Above all, such a binding deal would ports still face plenty of obstacles. wider.. Still to digest the Uruguay round, make .South Africa's commitment to open­ In the first ten months of1994, the value and With Eastern Europe clamouring on its ing its economy fully credible, by putting of South Africa's exports inched up by only doorstep, it is not in generous mood. Its trade policy beyond politicians' reach. The 2%. One reason lies at home. Many busi­ ~editen:anean members, with noisy fann­ caution of foreign investors towards South nesses, raised and coddled by a siege econ­ mg lobbies and a climate much like South Africa since the end of apartheid is due omy, have still to learn the art of making ~ca's, will try to keep it that way. It is also chiefly to the fear of political risk. Mindful competitively priced goods and selling mmdful of the fears of other Lome Coun­ of Nelson Mandela's age, many worry that them without shame or discretion abroad. tries, including some in Africa, that a South the ANC'S present zeal for free-marketry But South Afnca's past international isola­ Africa competingl)n equal terms would 1lO~ld be dil.uted by some more radical lead­ tion has brought other difficulties. While it pinch their markets. er. Even anxious South African industri­ turned inwards during the sanctions years, Not that opening to South Africa would alists might be ready to accept greater com­ the rest of the world began to build regional make much odds to Europe. South Africa's i petition at home if it guaranteed an trade blocks. South Africa is no longer a pa­ GOP!S only 1.7% ofthat of the EU as a whole. outward-looking economy. riah, but it still finds itselfleft out. !'lor !leed the Lome countries lose as they Nor would a link with Europe contra­ Over ha If South Africa's trade is with the Im~gl~~ "Our export profile is similar [to dict South Africa's plans for closer integra­ European Union (EU). Britain is now its sin­ theirs), Mr Manuel told the men in Brus­ tion with its neighbours. Mexico, inside gle biggest trading panner. The EU gives for­ sels, "but most of our products are differ­ NAFTA, has also made a deal with two less mer colonies in Africa, Asia and the Carib­ ent"-temperate, rather than tropical, fann advanced South American countries. South bean special trade concessions under the produce, and manufactures. Africa could do likewise. Lome convention. To qualify, a country Europeans claim they want South Africa Down Mexico way must be poor. South Africa is, but not to prosper. Were it to demand such a deal, it enough: its black citizens are better off-if Perhaps,.th~ugh, South Africa is being too would at the least call their bluff. not vastly-than most other Africans, and modest m Its demands. Paul Collier, an . rich whites push the average up to rank it . economist at Oxford University, dismisses with middle-income countries such as Bra­ the Lome deal as "miserable". It excludes, zil and Chile. Indeed, under the GAIT, it is notably, textiles, and is anyway guaranteed classified as a developed country. to last only another five years. He thinks In November Trevor Manuel, South Af­ South Africa should demand from the EU a ~ca's trade minister, went to Brussels hop­ free-trade deal like the. NAFTA deal that mg to squeeze out of the tight-fisted Europe­ Mexico-with an economy equal to 5% ofits ans the same concessions they give the 70 partners'-got from America and Canada. Lome COUntries. The EU says it will reply by Why not? There is a trend for poorish February. It already lets in about 80% ofim- countries to get into bed with richer neigh­ bours. South Africa has none such near at

._,----- SouthScan Vol. 1 0 No.2 13 January 1995

"My role will be not only to interface with the constituen­ Labour bill will cut working cies, but to help them develop the capacity to negotiate and week, extend workers' rights communicate with their grassroots and try and reach agreements. The other thing is to ensure that parties have South Africa's long-awaited re-written Labour Relations Bill the capacity to keep people on board. Unions are losing that will be launched In Johannesburg on January 25 by Labour capacity; without it agreements reached are in danger of not Minister Tito Mboweni, and labour lawyer Halton Cheadle, being implemented." who headed the team that revamped the bill. Naidoo says he is concerned that the council does not Mboweni is forging ahead with far-reaching labour re­ become a crisis driven body, a failing of the NEF. forms. He has already indicated that the bill will enhance the "The Labour Bill will be an important starting point. We : rights of women employees, protect workers rights in the also need to draw up development, trade and industry and instance ofinsolvency and reduce the working week by eight monetary policies. hours to 40 hours. "We want to arrive at a series of agreements which taken On February 18, the 21-member staff complement of together will reorganise social and economic life: make Nedlac - the National Economic, Development and Labour factories work better and increase employment". Council - which replaces the National Economic Forum - Naidoo says Nedlac came about because of union unhap­ begins work in Johannesburg under recently appointed piness with an ever increasing number of scattered, usually executive director, Jayendra Naidoo. crisis-driven forums. N edlac is not entirely unique. '"There is N aidoo stresses that his plans for the Council will be nothing like this that brings on board the community, say in guided by those of the four constituencies represented - the form of civics. But countries like Mexico, Japan and labour, trade and industry, public finance and monetary Scandinavia have co-operation either between trade unions policy, and development, which will have representation and government or tripartite partners." from civil society such as civic organisations. 10 INTERNATIONAL THE (NllEPENll~:NT· MONDAY lliJANIJAIlY 1995 em On the. day they buried Joe Slovo, John Carlin (left) looks back on six dramatic IiiIl! years and bids farewell to a people with an apparently limitless capacity to forgive

One hot winter's morning in Up­ novelist J M Coetzee. "I have l I saw Mrs Seleke the' next" South African who battled ~ ington, a bone-dry town on the only to see the heavy, blank faces morning. She said she was waa '. agains~ black liberation and southern fringes of the Kalahari, so familiar since childhood to 33 but she looked twice her age. kept on battling even after the Justice Bekebeke stoQd up in court to address Justice J J Bas­ feel. gl?Om qd nausea. The. ~:n~~k'~~ebe~-~~~~~~i:-g · .. tlr:~~ft~ nr;g~e .had ra~d bulhesmthelastrowofschool- men" h d f/ h son. Mr Bekebeke had been e baptised "Ju~tice". The judge desks, raW-boned, lumpish boys, Inkatha haosteCloa~S8' !!.me rotad. , 1bday Mr Buthelezi sits in the._ grown up now and promoted to db . "'V".'. had acquired the title after years rule the land Th 'th th . t: an .urst .lOtO her house de_cabinet of President Mandela'.. of service in the South African . eyWl . err a- mandlOg"moneyorawoman". government. of national uruty. legal profession. Mr Bekebeke thers and moth~rs, therr aunts They didn't see Mrs Selelee,' Mr Buthelezi's most loyal lieu" was being tried for murder. Mr a~d uncles, therr brothers and who was in the kitch n She tenants, Colonel de Kock's sIsters: a locust horde, a plague -~. e . Inka h mbe f Justice Basson was preparing to , condemn him - and 13 others of black locusts infesting the • rushed mto her, ~droom and t a agents, are me rs 0 _, -to death. country, munching without locked hers~lf in. Then she parliament. The lesson Mr Man­ cease, devouring lives .'. . the heard a fusillade of gunfire, dela has taught the world is that The lJpington 14 were "Iik h dr"·there is only one way to resolve deemed by the judge to have reign of the locust family is the e t un e . She remained in seemingly intractable conflicts: shared "common purpose" in ~th of South Africa." . the bedroom all night, hypno- the murder of a black policeman I looked at the black resis- tised by a stream of blood that you must sacrifice your notio~" in November 1985. Three and a tance movement and I saw a seeped in under the door. of justice and pure principlo;· haJfyears on, each of the 14 was twitching body without a head. It was daylight by the time the however deeply held, on the al~. taking it in turns to accept the The old leaders were all in ex- frightened neighbours sum-w'of political compromise. opportunity courteously pro­ He or in jail, the young 1eader's moriedup the courage to come .., The Afrikaners, J M Coet­ vided by the legal system to in detention, victims of P W's va- round and find out what had zee'liocust family, made it ea~ make a last statement to the racious state of emergency.' ~appened. They called the po- for Mr Mandela. They repent: judge before sentence. They But then I looked at Justice lice, who came and took the bQd. ed ...,.. in deeds, if not in words. knew, for their lawyers had Beke.beke Il!ld I saw an image of ies away. The police station was F W de Klerlc, Mr Mandela's warned them in advance, that her.OIc forgiveness that will re- only 500 yards away. They had mam for me the abiding image heard the gunfrre. A local police ' predecessor and now his deputy . Justice Basson would order their president" graciously evolved in . exccution. They had no reason . Of. ~Iack : South Africa. That colonel explained why his men spmt, ~hlch I saw replicated in had not reacted earlier. "No four years, after half a lifetime then to imagine that' within dedicated to apartheid, from a • three years they would all be to~shlp after towns. hip, that complaint was lodged." mlfaculous absence of racism Blood will have blood, and Mr pragmatic to a moral belief in ' freed on appeal. the wrongness of legalised racial Mr Bekebeke, aged perhaps I and rancour among the vast rna- Mandela's African National discrimination. General Con­ 25, looked Justice Basson in the: jority of black people, was the S:ongress s~pporters, the young' . stand Viljoen. the Moses of the eye and,: "In a country like rock on which South Africa's comra~es,· responded to. ~outh Africa I wonder how jus­ democracy was built . ~nkatha s challenge, perpetrat-· far right who a year ago was tIce can really be applied. I B t't h II b' 10g unSpeakable atrocities them- leading the yolk to holy war, has u I a~ not a een swee~. selves. The evil geniuses behind emerged as Mr Mandela's most used to think that, even as a ness and IIg~t these last SIX the slaughter sat at police head­ Joyal parliamentary opponent.. ' black man, I had access to rea. years. Ar~hblshop De.smond quarters in Pretoria and in justice. But I haven't found it So Thtu descnbes South Africans as - . As an ANC cabinet miruster put·, well, my lord, what 1 would 1ik~ "the rainbow people of God". ~Iundl, Inkatha's KwaZUIU it, in a tribute to both men,: to ask is: Let's forget our racial: The South African tourism b~. I and a handful of South ·"Viljoen . has stars in his 'eyes- ' hatred, let's apply justice for all , Afncan reporters detected ear- when he looks at Mandela". . humanity. We are striving for, board talks of "a world in one Iy on the hidden hand behind the In the' most remarkable in,;' ~ac~ and every racial group to country". For me there has been township wars. 'We did our best · terview I have ever done, Eddy . lIve 10 harmony. Is it possible? ~,a Shakespearean range to the to expose it and although those von Maltitz, a firebrand farmer Never say it is not. I hope, my South African spectacle. There on the receiving end of the vio­ from the Orange FJ:eeState,told has been high tragedy and low . lence required little effoq of per­ lord, that you live to see the day me late last. year that he had seen of a free South Africa. I would comedy, depths of sorrow and suasion, among white South the error oims ways and decided like the Lord to give you many peaks of joy, high hope and ,ab- Africans we felt like lunatics that Mi Mandela was a $feat years so that one day you can see Jcct despair. During my time screaming in the wilderness. man whom he would do his ut­ me walking on the streets of a here all the vices and virtues of In due course the "Third most to supporj. Until just two free South Africa. And, my humanity have been dramati- Force" was exposed. Now we all weeks before the April elections lord, may the Lord bless you, my cally and intensely on display. kn.ow, the affidavits having come Eddy had been plotting to plant lord!" Hand in hand with all the thIck and fast, that the security bombs around the country as I was observing from the pub­ finest qualities known to the police had senior Inkatha offi­ part of his crusade to establish lic gallery when, to my left, a specie~ there has been cruelty, cials on their payroll, that they a Boer homeland, a voIkstllal, in­ small elderly man in a dark suit barbar~sm, meanness and rank I supplied Inkatha with guns, with sulated from "t4e Communists" and tie, the father of two of the hYl?~nsy: the common charac- mihtary training, with the 10- and the blacks. accused, bowed his head and tenstlCS of those who went to war gistical assistance to incre~ Mr de Klerk, General mumbled "Amen." . to stop Nelson Mandela, the em- ,what an unguarded police offi- ' Viljoen, Mr von Maltitz, even The date was 26 May 1989. I I bodiriJent of all that's best about cer once described to me as "the perhaps Colonel de Koclc, did had been in South Africa bare- : South Africa, from becoming terror value" of the attacks what they did, however mis­ Iy five months. Till then I had ' president. The violence Man- mounted "to defend the Zulu guidedly, in defence of a cause. been regrettillg my decision to gosuthu ButheJezi's Inkatha u.... nation". That was the entirely The test of Mr Mandela's noble move from central America, le~hed on the black townships fra. udulent line of reasoni~g Mr · pragmatism. has been Mr . where I had s,Jent the previous dunng the four yean between' Buthelezi employed to justify his Buthe.ezi, who did what he did Mr Mandela'. release and his' people's actions. six years. The place was so stag­ :-wbc;l used the rural Zulu p0p­ nant. Here you had the world's ~Iection vict0o/claimed lS,omJ The security police colonel at ulation, the Zulu king, the re.; was greatest injustice, the United Na­ hves, - among them Beauty s;;: I the hub of the Third Force sources of the white state, even tions' "crime against humanity", I leke s husband. mother and sev-j Eugene de Koclc, who is in jail his. foolishly deluded backers en oth~r ~Iose relatives gu~ed facing a multitude of charges.. and yet there was no visible sign overseas, like Ronald Reaian of change. I looked at P W down .mslde h~r Soweto 1l0~.1 Colonel de Kock's colleagues' and Margaret Thatcher - in , Botha, the president then, and one Dl2ht in 1990. . " • called him "Prime Evil", but the pursuit of his lust for powet: I looked at Justice Basson and label suits Mr Buthelezi just as Somehow Mr Mandela and I thought of a passage from Age well. His unique place in histo­ his supporters, among them 90 of Iron by the South African ry derives from this: ~e is a black per cent of the black population, have managed to bury their L , THE INDEPENDENT· MONDAY 16 JANUARY 1995 THE INDEPENDENT 2 • SATURDAY 7 JANUARY 1995

Joe Slovo should never have He was a -regular visitor to been in South Africa, writes Moscow and, although he was :J;qe left Richard Dowden. His father in­ anxious about Mikhail Gor­ tended to go to Argentina, when bachev's refonns, he believed he left Lithuania in the 1930s, that Communism would be the"/world but at the last moment board­ strengthened by them and con­ ed a boat for Cape Town. The tinue to spread. However he said Many happier symbols or family followed soon after. One he regarded apartheid as "im­ a 'better, reconciliation were on show at wonders what Argentina might perialism of a peculiar kind" and a farewtll ceremony at Soweto'li be like if Joe Slovo had grown openly doubted if socialism was simple Orlando Stadium. The up there. the best system for South Africa ANC choir sang Die Stem, tbe After Nelson Mandela and to adopt immediately when .p1ace' Afrikaans national anthem, as F. W. de K1erk, Slovo is proba­ apartheid was overthrown. Lat­ township youths crowded on to . bly the most important figure in er, during the negotiations with FROM HUGH POPE the backs of police armoured South Africa's recent history. the de K1erk government. it In So~to cars. And next to President There were two people who held was Slovo who proposed the his­ Mandel. sat Pik Botha, the the African National Congress toric compromise of power­ 'Ibmultuous crowds of black Minister of Energy, who was together between the impris­ sharing and it is his vision of a South Africans gave a hero's once Foreign Minister. onment of Nelson Mandela and powersharing structure which burial yesterday to Joe Siovo, "The defenders of national the unbanning of the move­ has indeed come about. President Nelson Mandela's oppression could not under, ment in 1990. One of them was In 1988 Slovo attended one of closest white ally and adviser stand wby Siovo would seek to Oliver Thmbo and the other was the early meetings between the within the Mrican National , end the dominance of bis racial Slovo. While Thmbo':; gentle ANC and South African politi­ Congress as tbey negotiatOO for kith and kin," said Mr Macdela charm kept the personalities cians and academics in Ger­ their country's new non-radst • ,I "But Joe's kin was aU buman- together, Slovo organised struc­ many. It was soon after the re­ democracy. ' ity, especiaUy the very poor." ture and policy. It was the mis­ lease ofA World Apart, the film , Bome on a gun carriage, SIo­ The immigrant from Lithua­ sion he was trained for by the about the sufferings of his fam­ yO'S body made Its lastjoumey nia was accepted as a leader by Communist Party. The South ily during his exile. Though it was through Soweto In a plaia w0od­ black Soutb Africans in a myth­ African Communist Party was so written by his daughter Shawn, en coma draped with the Dag of ical way that other white men intertwined with the ANC that he had not seen it. We watched th. new South Africa. The late may find hard to rollow He even it was impossible to distinguish I a video copy in a hotel room. By chairman of the South African led the ANC military wing which the two organisations. The style I the end of the film he was Communist Party was lowered accorded him its highest honour, of organisation and the rhetoric, weeping uncontrollably. Wynand Into the ground In Heroes' Acre the title Isithwalandwe Sea­ were clearly Marxist-Leninist Malan, a fonner National Par­ at tb. township's Avalon ceme­ paranJcoe (He who wears the and the key posts were all oc­ ty MP, took hini in his anns and tery, where be joined veteran leopard skin). cupied by ,Communists. Slovo embraced him. This was perhapS antt-apartheld campaigner He­ "He identified himself to such was the key organiser. a precursor for the astounding len Joseph'to become only the an extent with the black mass­ He was an old-style romantic \ metanoia and reconciliation second white person to be hOD­ , es tbat he seemed to me to be Communist, the type Graham I which South Africa was to un­ oured with burial there. our Moses. He was a believing Greene would have instantly dergo. Later Slovo said he had 'Order broke down brieDy unbeliever," said an Anglican recognised. His faith was ab­ never really come to tenns with when tbousands of people I priest, Mandla Sibeko, watch­ solute, his goals were millenar­ the pain he had caused those cbarged forward, Including Ing the stadium ceremony from ian but he was also urbane and close to him by his commitment youths with clubs, whips, spean, among 30,000 activists waving humorous. But he also knew that to the cause. shields and even AK-47 riDes. , ANC banners as well as Com­ homble deeds must be done that I last met him during the elec­ But, as In other memorial cer­ munJst red nags. "Joe Siovo was good might come. As head of tion campaign at a small rally on emonies around the country, the white, but really he was black, Umkhonto we Sizwe, the anned a bleak windy field in a coloured atmosphere was more in cele­ pitch black.w said Tandy wing of the ANC, he well knew township near Cape Town. He bration of Slovo's extraordi­ Skosana, a saleswoman. "He the arguments to distiRguish was exhausted but, as he said. an nary life than of mourning for was the only ODe we could trust. open election in South Africa his death, aged 68, from bone­ 100 per cent. ~ between indiscriminate terror was the event he had waited and marrow caqcer on 6 January. i~ South Africa's Chief Rabbi, worked for all his life. The " Cyril Harris,joined in the trib­ and dramatic acts of sabotage to The pandemonium kept Pres- , politicise the mas~es and terri­ sound system wasn't working utes, saying M.r §loVf.l'a com­ properly and the crowd heard lit­ 'Ident Mandela fi'om attending I passloq had roots in his Jew­ fy the oppressors. at the graveside, where Slovo's Lusaka, the lteadquarters of tle of what he said. It mattered Islmess. "Let not those religious little. They had come to see the second wife, Helena, chose to people who identified with the the ANC in the years of exile, speak about his love or wine, is one of the most depressing legendary guerrilla leader and evils of yesteryear condemn they were happy. So was he, full women and song, and the red him. The world is a better place, capitals in Africa and the ANC socks he wore as an emblem of i of joy and work. thanks to at that time was not an inspir­ his Communist beliefs. Joe." ing organisation. Many of Slo­ vo's comrades spent their time drinking and dreaming in the PRmodzi Hotel. Through all the Joe Siovo, lawyer, pany leader: hopeless years and the bicker- I bom Obela;, Lithuania 23 May ing Slovo kept the organisation 1926; member, South African alive. But he always kept in the Communist Pany 1942-95, Gen-' background and in 1988 I was eml Secreta,,. 1986-91, Chairman lucky to be given the first inter­ 1991-95;foundingmember 1961 view with him for many years. Umkhonto we Sizwe, chief ofstaff The Pamodzi had run out of 1985-87; member, national exec­ 4imbian beer but had a few cans utive committee, Africqn Na­ of Castle, which is brewed in tional Congress 1986-95; Minis­ South Africa. To touch any­ ter of Housing 1994-95; married thing South African at that time 1949 Ruth First (died 1982; three was mortal sin for anti-apartheid daughters), secondly Helena Dol­ campaigners but Slovo shrugged. ny; died Johannesburg 6 January "Needs must," he said, swearing 1995...... tn cp,...prv with a smile. aUy allowed to receive photographs and even an 1'1 el-son Mandela album; it became his most cherished possession, which he lent to other prisoners until it was in LONG WALK TO FREEDOM tatters. The autobiography of Nelson Mandela But his pride in his family was mixed with 630pp. Little, Brown. £20. tremendous guilt that he haa left it without a 0316909653 head: "I rued the pain I had often caused my family through my absence." And he was painfully aware ofthe strains his actions imposed . . ANTHONY SAMPSON on them. Writing about a beautiful tomato plant, . which he had grown in his cell, which withered through lack of care, he compared it to his mar­ elson Mandela's story is so like a fairy- But Mandela's own book remains an indis- riage to Winnie: "sometimes there is nothing one tale that it is difficult to face up to the pensable historical document, which provides can do to save something that must die." N workaday details behind it. Towards the important new evidence to the forty-year story And he reflects poignantly on the conflict end of his twenty-seven years in prison, Mandela of apartheid, as seen by its most formidable , between his political struggle and his family, had become so mythologized - and there had opponent. And there is enough candour to prO-I between being father to his country, and to his been so few glimpses of his real character - that vide insights into the nature of leadership, and to own children. "My family paid a terrible price, on his emergence to freedom it seemed that he . help to answer one of the most baffling ques- i perhaps too dear a price, for my commitment." In would be bound to disappoint. Yet the four years tions: what was the inner strength which enabled the end, it is clear that it was not his faith in fam­ between his release and his election as Head of him to maintain his integrity intact in his long ily, religion or the law which accounts for his State marked his greatest achievement. And years in prison, and to emerge as a world leader? strength. It is his sense of his own dignity, which I today, at seventy-six, President Mandela can s~ill Mandela seems never to have had the kind of went back to his upbringing. He was the son of an surprise his opponents as he co-operates WIth aU-embracing religious faith which has sustained illiterate chief with four wives who was deposed the military leaders and bankers who were once so many political prisoners. He was influenced by by the local white magistrate for insubordination, his chief enemies, and pursues his policy of his Christian education at Wesleyan schools and and died when Nelson was nine. But despite his forgiveness. by impressive missionaries, including the Rev- father's early death, Mandela was brought up As he reflected at his inauguration as Pres- erend C. Harris, the governor of Carkebury with a strong sense of traditional respect for lead- : ident in May, Mandela's rise was the result of a school, the Reverend S. S. Mokitimi, his house- ership and tribal democracy; this was fortified dramatic turnabout in his fortunes. When the master at Healdtown college, and the Reverend when he was adopted by the Regent of his pe0- generals saluted him, he commented that "Not Matyolo who presided over the mission station. ple, in the "Great Place". His account of his early so many years ago before, they would not have But he does not share the deep faith of his closest years in the poor but beautiful countryside of the saluted but arrested me." friend, Oliver Tambo, or his Anglican ally Father Transkei shows little sense of oppression. It was It is unlikely that Mandela's autobiography Huddleston. When he was imprisoned, he not until he ran away from coUege to Johannes­ could have been as dramatic as his actual life. He thought about religion and attended services of burg that he reaUy felt the humiliation of the has never easily articulated his hopes and fears, all denominations, but he never embraced a black people. To begin with, he saw himself as a either in speeches or to friends. "I am not and single svstem.- gauche country boy who could not use a knife never have been", he explains, "a man who finds Nor, unlike many of his colleagues, ~~. he and fork; but his chiefly background and his pow­ it easy to talk about his feelings in public." And ever a convinced Marxist. As a young politiCian, : erful physique soon gave him a sense of confi­ any collaborator would find it hard to bring out he was one of the chief opponents of Commu- • J dence and command which made him.a natural his emotions - particularly so because of the con- nists joining the ANC youth league; thereafter leader. stant demands on his time. His two first chosen he learnt much from Communist frien~ who When I first met him in Johannesburg, when helpers, the novelist Nadine Gordnru:r and the brought him into a wider society and "did not he was in charge of the "defiance campaign" of professor Es'kia Mphahle~e, gave ~p ~n f~tra- seem to pay attention to colour at. ~ll". He 1952, he already had a formidable presence. He tion; and a televised version of hIS life IS now became interested in dialectical matenallSm as a did not then see himself as the future leader - he bein~ delayed bv similar difficulties. way of explaining world history, but he never later told me - and he looked to Oliver Tambo The final choice to collaborate 'on the OOOK, became a Communist, as so many Weste~ con­ and Walter Sisulu as his intellectual superiors. Richard Stengel, a former Time corresponden.t, servatives aUeged. He remained, prim~ly, ~n But he was a true man of action; and when pas­ has achieved a convincing result, in a lacoDlc African nationalist, committed to working WIth sive resistance was quashed and the ANC style which sounds much like M~nd~la's o~. other races. "The cynical have always sugge~ted accepted his proposal for the armed struggle he But he has explained elsewhere his difficulty m that the communists were using us. But who IS to was the obvious person to lead it. getting behind Mandela's public persona: "the say that we were not using them?" His sense of dignity was accompanied by a man and the mask are one." And MandeJa's On Robben Island, he took part in longargu.l stubbornness which could make him headstrong; commitment to reconciliation with his former ments with his Cmnmunist .::.olleagues zhaut the but under the harsh discipline of prison he learnt enemies inevitably lessens the bite. Important relationship between the party and the ANC, the self-discipline crucial for a true leader and sections of Mandela's story need to be amplified Iand successfully insisted that the ANC must statesman. And his confrontations with the war­ by a biographer, rather than an autobiographer;- remain separate, as "a mass liberation move- dens strengthened his confidence. As he writes: someone who can include other people s ment that welcomed aU those with similar objec- Prison and tlie autliorities conspire to rob each accounts, most obviously about the years in gaol; tives". man of his dignity. Of itself that assured that I when his colleagues have testified to acts of His belief in the law provided a kind of faith, would survive, for any man or institution that courage which he cannot de~ribe .himself. ~nd: as it has done for other Third World leaders, tries to rob me of my dignity will lose because I Mandela is inevitably constralOed 10 recountlOg, including Mahatma Gandhi. The law gave ~ a will not P!'rt ~tli.it at any price or under any the collapse of his marriage to Winnie; only I theoretical structure of fairness and enabled him pressure. . . a third party would be able to describe this to confront policemen and warders with some Or "Strong convictions are the secret of SUrvIV- . objectively. confidence. In the midst of some of the most cyn- i ing deprivation; your spirits can be full even Such episodes are illuminated by the short ical political trials, he was still able ~o appeal to i when your stomach is empty." But he also learnt biography, now updated: by Mary ~enson, the, Afrikaner judges who, he knew, retamed a sense to be more flexible with his own colleagues, par­ veteran campaigner agalDSt apartheid who has of justice. But he also saw how deeply lawyers . ticularly after 1976 when, following the Soweto known Mandela over thirty-five years, and who could be corrupted; most wretchedly wh~n the I revolt, a new generation of more militant black writes with both vivid descriptions and scholarly' Transvaal Law Society sought to strike bit:. off rebels joined him on Robben Island. He tells of accuracy. She does not e~ade .the emb~rrass-' their rolls, under pressure from the Minister of watching the film HeU'$ Angels, about a d~lin­ ments of the b~k-up With ~s first wife, or: Justice, while he was in prison. . . quent motor-bike &,..ang, with a young revoluuon­ the misdeeds of his second ~fe. And. she can : j Certainly his sense of family was a source of ary who saw the film's protagonists as free~om convey the full tragedy of his separat~on from support in his long years in gaol; this is clear from fighters. Mandela realized then that he mIght Winnie, as he himse~ canno~:. "an mtensely this book, and from an earlier biography, Higher "become stuck in a mind-set that was no longer proud man, he had sUfVlved political ,:"~dom tlum Hope, by Fatima Meer, which quotes from . revolutionary". only to face personal betrayal and UDlMagmable his letters to Winnie and to his children. In the humiliations." autobiography, he describes how he was eventu- ut he also felt independent enough t~ risk De Klerk still hoped to divide the blacks by I Mandela is at his most di~eet in the last pan offending his coUeagues when he saw the pursuing a "double agenda" (as Mandela calla .: ?~ the ",<>ok. for he ~nnot nsk ~ffending polit- chance to start talks with government it). which included supplying ann! and money to ',I Ic:ta~s WIth wh~m he IS now working closely. The Bleaders. "There are times when a leader must" Chief Buthelezi's Zulu movement, Inkatha. But, I forgtveness which he shows to aU his former en- . move ahead of the flock, go off in a new direc:, in prison, Mandela bad learnt the power of re~ I e~e.s, including warders and torturers as well as tion, confident that he is leading his people tJte' conciliation, and he successfully held the ANO' I pobtlc~lleaders, appears aU the more miraculous right way." It was this combination of indepen~ together in !' very broad coalition. which I ~er hIS account of the brutali::ies of the long dence, flexibility and the reflectiveneS$ he. had! attracted both the leaders of the "Bantustans" 1 pnson years. But this attribute s.ometimes makes acquired in gaol, which made him such an un~~;" i, and many younger Zulus. And, while he did not the story bland. pectedly formidable leader after his release in. ~ trust de Klerk after he realized the extent of the A fuU account of the "double agenda" in both 1990. Both the South African and the Britisb ':'. double agenda, he was still able to negotiate with the national and international arena remains for governments expected that. after his long talks: ':' him, with a shrewdness which OUlm$Doeuvred future historians, who will have no need for dis- with Cabinet ministers, he would have become ,": his adversary: cretion and will be able to make use of sources more detached from the ANC; Mrs Thatcher, u·: "I' I never sought to undennine Mr de Klerk for the" from aU sides. But Mandela's unique life- weU as President de Klerk, was taken aback b.t practical reason that the weaker he was, the story reveals how a succession of plots were his first speech in Cape Town, which conf01llle4t. weaker the negotiations process. To make peace defeated by a towering personality who used 10yaUy to ANC policy. . with an enemy, one must work with that enemy, his experience in prison to learn the true secrets

" I and the enemy becomes your partner. ______ofleadership. ~ ______

Extracted from the address by President Nelson Mandela

at the funeral of Joe Slov0 3 l5 January 1995. The advooates of racial, $uperioritv could not understand how Slovo could be part of the liberation struggle and operate under the leadership of the hapless inferiors they despised. But Joe took part In struggle as an equal, as part of the people. The defenders of national oppression could not understand why srovo would seek to end the dominance of his racial 'kith and kin'. But Joe's.kin was all humanity, especially the very poor.

The champions of privilege and concentration of wealth could not fathom why Slovo identified with the wretched of the earth. But JO~ knew that these were the creators of wealth and they deserved their fare share.

It is ~he trs{Jedy of South Africa that his humanity, pragmatism an~ industriousness were realised by many, particularly among the ~hlte c~mmunltYI on!y after close on to 40 years of an artificial Silence Imposed on hIm by constant banning. And it is a tragedy still, that these qualities are extolled by some, as if they were new.

let It be said loud and' clear today, that the qualities Slovo der:ryonsUated in abundance in thfJ past few years were the same a~trlbut.e~ that spurred him to struggle, the qualities that drove him to JOin the liberation movement and the qualities that he helped engender in these organisations.

We in the Government of National Unity know intimately what vacuum Minister Joe S!OV?'S departure has left in our midst. We shall miss. not only .hl~ IncIsiveness, experience and verve. We are conso.'ous that It IS given to a few to so ably combine theory and practIce, as Joe demonstrated in his portfolio.

But we know too that he has left us a legacy which will continue to guide ot,Jr approaoh. And that is to mobilise all the role~players in any area of work for ,'oint efforts to build a better life for alf. The depth of it all $ captured in the profound messages that we have received from the civios movement mortgage·fendinq institutions, the construotion industry, , property owners associations, the banks and many others. WEEKI. Y MAIL & GUARDIAN J/nis!y 610 12 1995 UN treads a minefield of controversy

John Fleming In Maputo R about the price of a ham­ Many involved with the demining "Such a scandal simply cannot be burger you can buy a T-72 anti­ project here also complain that Lon­ repeated in Angola,· said Christian personnel mine containing rho commercial interests in Mozam­ Provoost, the director of Handicap enough 'INI' to blow your leg off bique are the main beneficiaries of the International in Mozambique. R contract. One foreign diplomat up to the knee cap. To remove the Provoost, as dirctor of an agency that same mine from the ground costs pointed out that Lonrho is only dem1- deals with 4 500 amputees a year about $1 000 (R3 500). ning roads in the two provinces in (most are landmine victims), is an In the past year, some 15000 peo­ Mozambique where most of its com­ advocate of banning companies ple were killed or maimed by land­ mercial activity is. involved in munitions manufacturing mines around the world, accordfug to MLonrho is contractually bound to from bidding on demIning contracts. the International Red Cross. During clear roads only in Manica and Sofala Many Mozambicans feel abused by the same period the United Nations provinces, but those are just the roads the UN's choice ofcontractors. ~ is spent millions on mine clearance Lonrho needs to clear," the diplomat just one more thing that has charac­ operations. said. ~e majority of those roads are terised the UN behaviour in Mozam­ Landmine clearance, in the past not that important, except to Lonrho, bique," said Joao Paulo Coelho, a limited to a small number of compa­ while just across the border in Tete Mozambican historian who has Writ­ nies, is fast becoming a growth indus­ proVince there are some major roads ten on the UN operation here. It try. With an estimated 100-million that haven't been touched. makes "M~cans have never had Ii say landmines located in 30 countries ! me sicit.' but 'You can't blame ~o in the choice of the demining compa­ around the world, business promises for getting a good deal from the UN." nies or anything else the UN has done to to be good in the future. Royal Ordnance used to be the here, we have been victims all One of the biggest bidding wars on British government-run munitions around," he said. the horiwn is Angola. If the peace supplier. in that role It manufactured, holds, one of the first orders of bus1- among other things, Jandmines. The e few Mozambicans who do ness for the UN will be to rid the coun­ UN Dem1ning Expert. who makes rec­ benefit from working with the try of some of an estimated nine mil­ ommendations to the UN authorities, l1demining companies are paid lion Jandmines. The laridmine clear­ is Patrick Blagden, a former Royal Ord­ between $70 and $100 a month, or ance programme is Written and top nance employee. He will make recom­ about the same as a domestic maid is UN demining experts are already in mendations about contracts for paid in the captial Maputo. The work Angola evaluationg the situation. But Angola. often requires them to work six days a if the UN goes about its contracting Royal Ordnance promptly subcon­ week under harsh conditions for the same way It did in its present pro­ tracted the actual demining to months at a time. ject in Mozambique, then controversy Mechem. For years Mechem designed The Lonrho team does not use waits around the corner. and ~eveloped land mines for the Mozambicans to demine but has That project was plagued by prob­ South African Defence Force. Since . Mozambican support staff and has lems from the beginning. (An 18 the SADF was a prime supplier to used manual deminers in the past month delay in awardfug the contract Renamo during the cMl war, there is a 'We wish we could use them. It cer­ resulted in about 1 000 landmine good chance that some of the mines tainly would save us a lot of money," casualties according to Handicap they are pulling out of the ground are said Lonrho manager in Mozambique, International). But the most stinging the same ones they had a hand in Leo Sche1jde. "But we have found that criticism has come because of the supplying in the first place. the Mozambicans just are not ade­ choice of contractors. The UN picked a Mf ·~hem has a unique technique quately trained to do the work in a team made up of the British multi­ • which uses heavy Casspir lrucks that safe, effective manner." national Lonrho and Royal Ordnance drive down v1rtually ImpaSsable roads In preparing to start demining in (also British) and the South African­ collecting mtered air samples. The Angola, one wold think the UN would can company Mechem. samples are packaged and sent to labs set out to avoid controversy. But Blag­ Lonrho, active in Mozambique for where a dog sniffs them for explosives. den, who has travelled to Angloa to years, was one of a few companies that If explosive~ are de.tected, theteam