asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the efforts being made by the European Community to promote political change leading to a just and peaceful settlement in South Africa.
Written Answers. - Human Rights in South Africa.
25.
The European Community takes an active and consistent interest in the problems of South Africa and those of neighbouring States affected by South Africa's aggressive policies. The Deputy will recall that on 10 September 1985 the Foreign Ministers of the Twelve adopted a package of positive and restrictive measures towards South Africa. At that time the Ministers undertook to keep the situation in South Africa under review and to consider further action in the absence of progress within a reasonable time.
On 3 and 4 February 1986 a major meeting took place in Lusaka between the Twelve and the front line states. The purpose of this meeting was to send a strong signal to South Africa that the Twelve shared the resolve of the front line states to see an early end to the system of apartheid in that country. In the joint communique issued after the meeting Ministers called on the Government of the Republic of South Africa: "to declare categorically that apartheid will be dismantled completely; to end the state of emergency; and to initiate a dialogue with the genuine representatives of those South Africans now excluded from the present government structure on the future of that country". The communique went on with an appeal to the South African Government to release unconditionally all political prisoners and detainees, including Nelson Mandela, to facilitate the process of negotiations, and to lift the ban on the African National Congress of South Africa, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and other political parties so as to create an atmosphere conductive to the desired political dialogue. I am arranging for copies of this communique to be placed in the Library of the House.
Prior to the meeting in Lusaka, Ireland and other member states were represented at a meeting in Harare of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference which consists of all states in the Southern African region, other than South Africa and Namibia, and which seeks to reduce their dependence on the South African economic, transport and communication system. The Deputy will be aware that three of the SADCC member states, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia are priority countries for Ireland's development cooperation programme and that the SADCC is a major recipient of aid under the European development fund.
On 14 February the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands in his capacity as President in Office of the Foreign Ministers of the Twelve met the South African Foreign Minister in Geneva to reaffirm in unequivocal terms the views of the Twelve on what is required in South Africa.
Most recently Foreign Ministers of the Twelve discussed South Africa at their ministerial meeting in The Hague on 25 February, after which a statement was issued reaffirming Twelve policy and calling on the South African Government to take action. Copies of this statement will also be placed in the Library of the House.
From this outline of recent developments I think it will be clear to the Deputy the extent of the efforts the European Community is making to achieve peaceful change in South Africa and the extent to which there is continued interest by the Twelve in what happens there. The Twelve will continue to express the view that there is much for the South African Government to do to bring about the complete abolition of the system of apartheid, it being clear to them that the measures announced so far by Pretoria do not go far enough.