There will be no Minister present for the start of the statements as agreed. The first speaker, therefore, is Senator Finneran.
South Africa: Statements.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on South Africa as it is important to reflect on the holding and the outcome of the elections in South Africa. I felt privileged to be an observer there for eight days in the lead up to and during the elections. It was history in the making to a great extent in that there were a number of observers from Ireland; along with those from other countries, present who had the privilege of being in South Africa in the dying days of apartheid.
It is great to see that apartheid is now, hopefully, dead as it was an obnoxious system. I found the reports of the implementation of apartheid from 30 or 40 years ago quite disturbing, reports which were relayed to me by people who had lived through it, people uprooted from their own houses and lands and segregated into areas where they had no wish to live, having had no say in their being moved.
Our colleague, Deputy Ferris, was there as an observer and I want to express my good wishes to him, as the House has done. He was one of four observers in the area of Beaufort West and it is a coincidence that he became ill in the town in which the famous heart surgeon, Dr. Christian Barnard, was born — his father was a Dutch Reformed Church minister in Beaufort West. Deputy Ferris is now in good care in Cape Town and making a good recovery, and it will not be long before he is back in the Oireachtas.
South Africa is on the road to democracy, but it will be a long and difficult road because there are structures embedded in the administration of the country and in people's minds, in particular among the minority, that will be hard to remove and change. It is in this, coupled with the expectations of the black and coloured people, that difficulties may lie. It will take all the statesmanship, courage and determination of people such as Mr. Nelson Mandela and Mr. F.W. de Klerk to overcome the real difficulties that will be experienced over the next five years.
As an observer at the elections I can say that the Independent Electoral Commission which was in charge of the elections did an excellent job. It was receptive to the needs of the voters, accommodating to the needs of the observers, and it ran the elections in a free and fair manner.
Indeed, it could be said that we might learn lessons from its running of the elections. There was one aspect which I thought was of significance. They had a special election day prior to the main election, allowing the ill, the infirm and the old to vote. This was an important decision by the Independent Electoral Commission. These groups could vote at their ease on the Tuesday. Although a further day's election was required because of difficulties experienced with the lateness of ballot papers arriving in certain regions, the gesture was important nonetheless. The polling booth was taken to the old people's home in the area I was observing and the election agents were accommodating as regards the provision of seating for queues outside. This election had a number of good points. Indeed, the provision of similar measures for those with disabilities and other difficulties could be useful in our elections.
South Africa is a beautiful country. It has a beautiful climate, fertile land and great wealth. Unfortunately, the wealth and the nation is divided. The smaller white grouping have most of the wealth while the black majority have little. As a result, there is massive wealth on one side and terrible want on the other. The new administration will have to create a new balance in that area. The major priority that it needs to address is the atrocious conditions in the townships. New housing, health and education programmes are also necessary.
I found it extraordinary that all of the land was portioned out to fellow whites. This is history repeating itself. Those of us who look back at our history will find that even our poorest land was taken and parcelled out to the landlords, even though they may never have never walked on it. They certainly never tilled or harvested it. The same situation applies in South Africa. The white minority even took the mountain ranges and portioned it out to their own race. Indeed, in the Beaufort West area of the north-western Cape where I was an observer, the Hottentot tribe roamed the plateaus before the arrival of the whites, but there is now none of them left. At this stage no one is sure if there is any genuine member of that tribe alive today, although there are rumours of a family of Hottentots in the Kalahari Desert.
That shows the extent of the involvement of the planters and of those who moved to that country in the destruction of the tribal system and of those who roamed the area. Even the mountain ranges had been confiscated by the settlers and there was no land available to the natives in that region. They lived in hovels on the farms where they worked. Their accommodation would remind one of outhouses where our farmers kept pigs many years ago. Between ten to 20 families live on any one farm, which could be as large as 25,000 acres. The monthly family income of such families in the region I was in is £13, which is a total injustice. The old apartheid system and the social classing will have to be broken down. People must get their rights and, eventually, land.
I was informed by the Irish Ambassador to South Africa, who met us on the night we arrived in Johannesburg — subsequent to that we met his consul in Cape Town — that there are 31,000 holders of Irish passports in South Africa. Indeed, this would only be a drop in the ocean if those of Irish descent are considered. There is currently a clamour for Irish passports in South Africa, which indicates the high esteem in which we are held there. Many Irish people have been involved in the affairs of the country. For example, Bishop Hurley was an outspoken opponent of apartheid when it was unpopular and dangerous to do so. Fr. Séan O'Leary is also a well known figure in Soweto. The administration in South Africa know him so well that they gave him private accommodation and plenty of people to watch his movements when he spoke on behalf of the majority. However, he survived that and continues to speak out. The Irish are involved in South Africa in many ways, most especially in education and missionary work. From the information I could gather, we are held in high esteem, despite the fact that many Irish people went to South Africa as settlers in the past. This I attribute to the involvement of our Church and other fine people.
A programme of education, housing, and health is important to maintain the stability that has been acquired. If the administration does not bring people into the fold and see them as part of the community, which has not been the case for many years, those same people who supported the struggle peacefully through the determined words of Nelson Mandela may find their expectations have not been realised and may turn away from the democratic path. This is one of the tragedies of many African states that have achieved independence in the past. Many of those who were oppressed over the years found their expectations not being realised under the new regime. They turned on their leaders and civil war became a reality. That would be a pity if it were to happen in South Africa because it has some advantages that may not have existed in other African countries.
There is good infrastructure and wealth in many of its areas. It also has a national Government. There appears to be a certain balance in that Government which realises that the situation, which may be described as "as you were", will not continue. It would be totally inappropriate if this situation were to continue because it would deny the native South African his land, his rights and his opportunity to develop himself and his family in his own land.
It is important that there is a progressive development in South Africa which will, in the first instance, identify and provide for health, housing and education needs, which we in this country consider to be basic rights. Their other need is income and in this respect a social welfare system is required. This will ensure that the present situation does not continue where, because of the lack of a social back up, in many cases the youngest and the oldest of the coloured people have to scrape for a living.
It is a sad situation where, to date in South Africa, a black child does not have to be registered. This is why it could not be established, even within South Africa, how many people were eligible to vote in the recent elections. It was estimated by some to be 20 million and by others, 22 million, 25 million or whatever. The number entitled to vote has still not been established, although it is now known how many people voted. However the number entitled to vote will not be known until a census is undertaken.
It is a shame on those who have been educated and on those who introduced and supported the apartheid system that their fellow South Africans were treated the way they were. However, power has shifted, and without war or terrible hardship being brought upon the people during the transition. We must be grateful for that and to those in the white Government, especially Mr. F. W. de Klerk for negotiating to enable the elections to take place. Mr. de Klerk is to be complimented in that he at least achieved this when some of his supporters of earlier times turned completely against him following his efforts at making an accommodation with his fellow South Africans, the blacks and the coloureds. History will be kind to Mr. de Klerk for his attempts to bring equality and justice to South Africa.
However, it is the future and the implementation of the outcome of the election that are important. In this respect the international community has a major role to play in South Africa. The country was ostracised by the world community and by the sporting community. This had repercussions in so far as that economy took a nose dive for many years following the sanctions which were rightly imposed by the international community in view of the policies which were being implemented by the South African authorities.
It is now time to address the present situation in South Africa. The initial response by President Clinton is important, even though it appears to be small support at this stage but hopefully it will grow. The EU has a role to play and this country, through the EU, should be involved in the restructuring of South Africa, in the provision of loans and opportunities for trade and commerce. In this respect, South Africa has much to offer the world community and an expanded and working South Africa, different to the country we have known over the last 30 or 40 years, can have a major role to play.
I could address this subject for many hours. There are many aspects of South Africa I would like to debate further and hopefully opportunity will be provided for an ongoing debate in the House on this subject. Hopefully also this House will continue to speak out on South Africa and encourage those who have taken the peaceful path. A first step has been taken but, like a baby's first step, it must be watched, encouraged and supported.
The international community has two roles to play. The first is to oversee the implementation of the recommendations which were on the table when the Government of National Unity was formed for the restructuring of South Africa and to ensure equal opportunity and the removal of injustice. The second is to ensure that we supply our good counsel and financial support through the EU and the international community to the development of commerce and trade with South Africa. This will take South Africa along the road of being one of the African countries which had a peaceful transition and which will go on to develop itself to the extent that the native people and the settlers have a positive and productive future in democracy created in that country.
I wish Deputy Ferris a speedy recovery from his recent illness and I welcome the opportunity to relate some comments on my recent visit to South Africa.
When the concept of a Government of National Unity was first conceived for South Africa, legislation was put in place for the formation of such a Government. A Constitution was drawn up which will now have to be ratified by the new Parliament. The legislation provided for the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission which was to supervise the elections. This was a major task for the commission because over 20 million people, who have previously been denied the franchise, were now entitled to vote.
At a meeting of the Heads of State of the EU, it was decided that a delegation would be sent from each EU country to act as observers to ensure that the elections were fair and free. I had the privilege of being selected as a member of the Irish delegation which consisted of seven Deputies, four Senators, a diplomat, a senior official from the Office of the Attorney General and a county manager.
When we arrived in Johannesburg we met with the delegates from the other EU countries. For the purpose of the elections, South Africa was divided into nine electoral areas known as provinces. After two days' briefing in Johannesburg I was delegated to the North West Province. Ten delegates, five teams of two, were sent to this province for the purpose of observing the elections. Each delegate was accompanied by a delegate from a different nationality.
Our first stop was Klerksdorp, a town approximately 150 kilometres north-west of Johannesburg. There, the teams of ten delegates stayed for approximately three days and we were then allocated our different areas of responsibility. I and my colleague were sent to Vryburg, a town approximately 150 kilometres north west of Klerksdorp, or approximately 300 kilometres north west of Johannesburg. If Members can imagine the North-West Province as being similar in size to County Galway, County Sligo, County Leitrim and County Donegal combined, then I and my colleague were given responsibility for an area approximate in size to County Galway.
Vryburg is the centre of an agricultural area, which mainly consists of large maize and sunflower growing and cattle grazing farms. We were given responsibility for ten polling stations in that area. Our first duty was to visit them to report on the state of their preparations for the elections. We were asked to fill in a questionnaire which asked if the polling stations were satisfactory, if they were equipped with water, electricity, telephones, medical services and toilets, if polling officers and monitors were selected and trained and if the parties appointed their agents.
One of the polling stations was a fine school. It had five classrooms, toilets and a general purpose room. However, it was closed because there was not a sufficient number of white children in the area to keep it open. The next polling station was about ten miles down the road and was a school for black children. It had broken windows and no doors. Children had to be taught in the open because there was not sufficient room to teach them in the school. All the toilets were dry. I have always known that apartheid was immoral but I saw there for the first time how evil it was.
As well as examining polling stations in the area, we were also involved in voter education. The area consisted of large farms. The UN had the duty of carrying out a voter education programme for workers on these farms. It carried out this duty well. As many voters were illiterate there were photographs of the leaders of the parties on the ballot papers. I visited one farm on which 200 labourers worked. The white farmer was very good. He built good houses for his employees and treated them well. He put in showers and toilets for them. I met another white farmer who was also good to his employees. He went as far as providing university scholarships for some of them, which was unheard of.
However, other white farmers were not as responsible towards their employees. When we see townships, we often see the terrible conditions under which these people live. It was only then I realised how this comes about. Townships have fine dwellings but also terrible shacks. Some irresponsible farmers, when their labour force is no longer of any use to them, put their workers on lorries to be brought to these towns where they live in terrible conditions.
In our area we had an excellent team from the UN. We were also fortunate that the Independent Electoral Commission's director for the area was David Matthews, who was born in South Africa but was educated in Trinity College. I brought back many happy memories to him of his time in Dublin. We had to attend a meeting which was called at the behest of the ANC. Prior to my arrival, there was a fracas between the ANC and a monitor from the IEC. Unfortunately, this resulted in the death of an ANC agent. The meeting was tense. The ANC's local politician made a long speech. I understood little of it because it was in the native language. He then addressed us, said we were welcome and that the ANC did not have any ill feelings towards us. He did so in the same vein as Nelson Mandela has done in recent years. When David Matthews addressed the meeting, peace and tranquillity descended on it, and this was the end of that nasty incident.
On voting days we were required to cover our ten polling stations. The first day of the elections was for voting by the handicapped and the elderly. It was the most moving experience of my life to see people being carried in to vote. I saw expressions of delight on their faces when they voted. It was thought that black people, such as farm labourers, would not come out in strong numbers to vote. However, I felt that if I had been deprived of the franchise and had lived in hope of receiving it one day, whether I was aged 80, 90 or 100, able to walk or not, I would exercise my franchise. It was wonderful to see these people doing so freely and willingly. When one man who had been carried in to vote had voted, his friends put him on a lorry and placed a blanket over him. He smiled and said he was delighted to have at last fulfilled a wish of a lifetime.
The elections were different to those held here. There was no voting register. Voters were entitled to vote in polling stations of their choice. I saw that this could give rise to difficulties. The population of the area I was in is very small compared to industrial areas. It was estimated that about 500 to 1,000 people would vote in each polling station. I was close to one of the homelands. Under apartheid blacks were not allowed to own land. For this reason they were given six homelands where they could purchase land. I visited the homeland near me. This reminded me of what Cromwell said to the Irish people —"to hell or to Connacht". The homeland was like this. It was the last place one would want to live.
There is nothing wrong with Connacht.
That was in Cromwell's time. I am sure it has improved since then. When we saw the homeland we realised that a number of its people did not want to vote there because of intimidation. They came to our area. One day 1,500 people queued in the hot sun outside a polling station to vote. The station could only accommodate a smaller number and ran out of ballot papers. I waited to see what would happen when the presiding officer announced at 5.30 p.m. that he would have to close the station. They are an extraordinary people of goodwill. They smiled, walked away peacefully and came back the next day to vote. That would not happen in Ireland, the station would be burned down.
The voting procedures were interesting. I had some reservations about this but the IEC did a wonderful job. When people came into polling stations, their credentials were checked quickly. They were asked to put their hands under lamps to see if they had voted previously. If this was shown not to be the case, they were sprayed with an invisible dye and had to again put their hands under lamps to see if this procedure worked. If it did so, they were given ballot papers and voted. They were then given second ballot papers for the provincial elections. The number of people who voted under this procedure each day was extraordinary. The staff in the stations were well trained.
We were permitted to observe the procedures to see if the elections were free and fair. We were given election manuals which set out the procedures. If we saw any infringements of these procedures it was our duty to bring them to the attention of the presiding officer. We witnessed about three or four irregularities, which I brought to the presiding officer's attention and they were immediately corrected. We were a little apprehensive about how we were going to be received there as we felt that we might be seen as intruders in South African affairs. However, we were given a wonderful welcome at the polling stations we went to and by everyone with whom we came in contact.
The elections were carried out under a list system. Four hundred members were elected to Parliament: 200 as the result of the percentage of the vote which each party received and 200 as a percentage of the vote which each party received in the province. This delayed the count. People did not understand that there were two counts in one. Ten senators were elected for each of the provinces, which is more generous because it was a proportional representation of the population. The ANC received 83 per cent of the vote in my area, the population of which was 20 per cent white and 80 per cent black. The National Party received 8.8 per cent and the Freedom Front Party received 4.6 per cent.
While I had to observe the elections from a neutral point of view I was always opposed to apartheid. I saw it as immoral that a system should divide people because of the colour of their skin. Apartheid was first introduced in 1948 and law after law was passed which turned the screw on the black population. The only concession which they received was that they got the six homelands where the black population could live and buy land. I have always been an active member of the Irish anti-apartheid movement. I must pay tribute to and congratulate Kadar Asmal, who was a leading light in the anti-apartheid movement in this country for many years. He gave us a glimpse of the injustice which the black people of South Africa were suffering.
I was also proud to be a member of the Dublin City Council in 1988 when it gave the freedom of the city to Nelson Mandela while he was still in prison. We were the first capital city in the world to so do. He acknowledged this when he came to sign the book of freedom after his release from prison. The then Taoiseach, Charles J. Haughey, gave him a singular honour in allowing him as a non-elected member to address the Dáil. I hope that when he makes his next visit to our country he will, as he is entitled to do as President of South Africa, address a joint meeting of both Houses of the Oireachtas.
He is an extraordinary man, who after 27 years imprisonment shows no signs of bitterness or animosity. His generosity of spirit has come at an extraordinary time in the history of South Africa. However, this has been matched by the magnanimity of F.W. de Klerk, who in a short period of five years has undone that screwing down of apartheid. He has loosened the screw on the black people of South Africa and allowed them to be free. I think that he will go down in history as the great reformer of our time.
There is a similarity between South Africa and our own country. I was very saddened when I came back to Klerksdorp — I could not get international news in Vryburg — to learn that eight people had been murdered in my own country that week while I was trying to promote the democratic process in South Africa. In a television debate between F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela I saw a glimpse of Brian Faulkner in 1973, a man who felt that something should be done for Northern Ireland and that the majority there would have to share power with the minority. We all know what happened then, how this was established and then failed through no fault of the people who established it. I hope that in the very near future the same spirit which has overcome the leaders of South Africa will apply to the leaders in Northern Ireland and that we will have a government of national unity to bring peace and prosperity to Northern Ireland.
What is now needed in South Africa is huge investment by the US and the European Union. I was pleased to note that John Waples, in an article in the business section of The Sunday Times, dated 1 May 1994, said that the historic elections will pave the way for the nation to return as a leading player in the financial mainstream and that investors stand by to invade South Africa. He stated:
International investors are ready to celebrate South Africa's first all-race elections by pouring billions of pounds into the country. Under apartheid, the country has been isolated, held back by trade restriction and boycotted by some of the world's biggest institutions. The emergence of the ANC as the ruling party will change all that. South Africa is about to become a mainstream player in the world's financial sector... The world's financiers have classified South Africa as an emerging market.
He quoted a spokesman from Warburg, the institutional bank, who said:
South African companies are going to find ways and means of making acquisitions in Europe and America, financed by issuing their equity to international investors.
I have often been asked by the white population of South Africa what the future of South Africa is. If there is peace and tranquillity in South Africa then that financial investment which they speak about will come. The free world owes it to South Africa to make this investment. We need South Africa because it is a very rich country and is fortunate to have a well established market economy. There are prospects of great prosperity for South Africa.
The difference between what happened in Africa over 30 years ago or in Central Europe after the fall of communism and Nelson Mandela's country is that freedom is not traumatic for South Africa. The character of its leaders, the smoothness of the transition, the assets of its solid economy and the goodwill of the international community should ensure that South Africa will escape the fatal meeting between superpower and underdevelopment.
I will conclude by quoting from an article by the foreign editor of Le Monde, the French newspaper, which was published in yesterday's Irish Times. He stated:
The challenge presented to Nelson Mandela and his heirs is huge. It is to turn South Africa into the only stable, multi racial, parliamentary democracy in the world governed by a black majority. The new president has so personified this great cause that one hardly dares wonder where his country would be today if it had not met, at the right time, this smiling old man.
At his trial Nelson Mandela stated:
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
We must all thank God that Nelson Mandela has lived to see this dream come true and that under his leadership South Africa will enjoy peace and prosperity.
I wish to give way to Senator Wilson.
Strictly speaking, it is the turn of Labour. Senator Wilson is the second Fianna Fáil speaker. However, if the Senator wishes to do that he can.
I wish to say very sincere thanks to the Chief Whip who issued the invitation to me and allowed me to be part of the observer team. With regard to the previous speaker, I am one of those whose forbears chose Connaught.
I happen to be in the same boat. Cromwell said to go from Meath to Roscommon, so we moved.
It was my great honour and privilege to be there. It was an experience which I shall never forget. I had the feeling that I was watching history being made, democracy in action for the first time in decades in South Africa. Before I went, there were those who asked me if I was scared about going to South Africa. My answer was that when one has lived in Northern Ireland, as I have done for 46 years, one is not scared to go to South Africa.
I did a little homework and read two or three books on the history of South Africa. However, I went with an open mind and no preconceived ideas or answers. Having been there I have not fallen into the trap of thinking I know all the answers for South Africa. I am sick to death of people, usually journalists, who come to Northern Ireland for two weeks and go away thinking they have all the answers when they do not. That was not our job. Our job was to observe and, perhaps most importantly of all, to be seen to be there.
We had to report irregularities. We saw very few and those that we observed were insignificant. We were part of the European observer team. The people I met from other countries in Europe spoke to me, without exception, in the highest possible terms about the contribution this land makes to Europe, which they said was out of all proportion to its size and population. A Chathaoirligh, if you have any hand in nominating people to the European Parliament I ask you to consider my name.
We spent two days in Johannesburg where we were briefed on what we should and should not do. I pay tribute to a colonel in the Irish Army and with the United Nations who has been on many missions abroad and briefed us on personal security. His name is Colonel Michael Shannon and he is greatly respected by the people there, who speak highly of him.
I was in a group with seven others from different countries in Europe. My partner was a senior diplomat in Luxembourg. We stayed in Pretoria, where the Irish Ambassador to South Africa, Mr. Eamon O'Toole, was temporarily residing. He was good to us and very supportive.
We were sent to a black township called Mamelodi, which is ten to 12 miles north from Pretoria. It has a population of 400,000 to 600,000 black people and there is no census or register. That is the same population as the city of Belfast. The area is spread over miles with primitive accommodation, shanty towns and hostels. I was shocked. I had heard about apartheid and the problems but it was not until I got there that I saw how evil apartheid was.
The blacks were not just second class citizens. They were rubbished; they were nothing, but this was their chance. These people had no television, although some might have a radio. The majority of them were illiterate. They spoke either Sutu or Zulu and yet most of them could speak English. However, they were lovely people who greeted us with a smile and a welcome without exception.
We attended voter education meetings. These were people who had never voted before so they had to be taught and that was an immense undertaking for millions of people. We also went to party political meetings. One of the fears I had when I arrived was that Mr. Mandela had raised black expectations far too high and that they expected a job and a house the morning after the election. In fact that was not the case. He was well advised and got it across to his people that he was talking about a period of five to ten years. One cannot house or find jobs for 500,000 people overnight in the township we were in. It is not physically possible, regardless of how much money there is.
We spent three to five days finding our designated polling stations. This town had no street names and no landmarks. We established contact with the local police and we always made sure we were seen there, both by the police and the officials, who were all black. There was a special election day which has already been referred to and which I found very moving. It was followed by the two full election days.
After a 5 a.m. call we arrived at the polling station at 6.30 a.m. The polling station was to open at 7 a.m. but the ballot boxes had not arrived. That was the first hitch we met. The boxes arrived at 8.30 a.m. and by then there was a queue, four deep and a mile long, outside in the hot sun. People had waited and were going to have to wait for hours. But they did so patiently and quietly, with a smile on their faces.
I was both impressed and moved when, just before the door was opened, the presiding officer, who herself had never voted before, closed the door and asked her people to concentrate and do their work. She said it was a big opportunity and that she wanted to get it right. She then said: "Shall we pray?" She prayed for peace, South Africa and a peaceful election.
Unfortunately, we had to come home before the count, but as far as I was concerned the election procedures were excellent. South Africa is on its way to peace. President Mandela and Mr. de Klerk are world class statesmen and men of great courage. More importantly, the people of South Africa, black and white, want it to work and want peace. I saw a meeting of minds and hearts between blacks and whites.
There will be bumps and bounces and the extremes will have to dealt with. However, it is going to work if only because the blacks and whites need each other. I wish all of them well. I pray for peace in South Africa. I would like this House to send at the very least good wishes to the new transitional Government in South Africa.
Despite my happiness at seeing it apparently work so well and seeing a start made on the long and bumpy road to peace, I could not help but draw parallels between South Africa and Northern Ireland. Every time I rang home I heard of another death. We in Northern Ireland must have the same meeting of hearts and minds. We must work harder to achieve peace and we must say, as President Mandela said in his inauguration speech, let us forget and forgive.
It is a proud moment for democracy. The critical issue is that the law breakers have effectively become the law makers. As Senator Wilson said, there has been a huge accommodation of difference in a political context. A Government and a country have emerged from the cloud of violence and it has evolved into a democratic state. Effectively in South Africa, there is a Government by the people, of the people, for the people and this means all the people. There are lessons for us to learn.
On a lighter note, it is fair to say that the new Government in South Africa is similar to the Dublin journalists' annual golf outing. There is a little prize for everybody, whether it is Chief Buthelezi, the National Party, Pik Botha or Winnie Mandela. There was a place found for all of them in the Government or around it. This is something we can examine and welcome.
What has happened in South Africa is a beginning. One of the most powerful, influential and richest countries in the world has begun to take its place among the nations and in doing so, it has shown us a way forward. It has also shown what can be done in terms of tolerance, openness and a readiness to accept change.
There are two amazing elements. The first is that those who were revolutionaries a short time ago are now in Government and making the law. The second is that the oppressed have become leaders and in taking over the role and mantle of leadership they have found a space for those who were their oppressors until recently. It must make us all feel humble and inadequate and make public representatives examine what we are about. President Mandela extended the hand of welcome and hope and shared it with the National Party which oppressed him and his people all his life. If that can happen in South Africa, it can happen in any other country. We must learn from this when it comes to the North.
I am always hesitant to make the link between the North of Ireland and South Africa. Lest people get carried away with the view that the Provos are equivalent to the ANC in South Africa, we should clearly and immediately establish the difference. In South Africa, the black majority did not have democratic freedom. They were not enfranchised and could not participate. There was no transparency or visibility in the system and there was no place within the operation of power for black South Africans. They were excluded from the political process and the voting system, except in a very contrived gerrymandered way.
The rationale for the violence of the ANC was that of a true revolutionary, seeking full political equality, participation and accessibility. We should be quite clear that the terrorists on this island can participate in the ballot box. They can stand for election and it is open to them to involve themselves in the political process. There is no comparison between the Provos of this generation and the ANC in South Africa.
The movement from revolution to resolution has been painful and successful but the inauguration of a democratic process has not come easily. It has required extraordinarily skillful manoeuvrings. The foresight of those who proposed former President de Klerk and President Mandela for the Noble Peace Prize in 1992 showed that they were well informed and had an understanding of how South Africa would develop. It is astonishing to consider the amount of argument, discussion, development and progression that had to take place within both the ANC and the National Party. In the same vein, the position of Chief Buthelezi should also be considered. He also had to accept change, the movement forward and the election results. To his credit, he accepted a position in the new consensus Government.
The estimation of where the ANC would finish in terms of its percentage of the vote gradually changed as the election results emerged. Its percentage began in the early fifties and gradually rose from 55-56 per cent to 60 per cent. We were all aware of the fact that if the ANC had gained 66? per cent of the vote, it would have had control over the constitution and be in a position to change it. I was delighted it did not reach that level. I was even more impressed by the fact that President Mandela said publicly that he was not disconsolate about not reaching it. The South African Government and state has been born of a serious attempt to find consensus. To give absolute control over the constitution at this time to any party, even the ANC, would create extraordinary tensions for all parties. The person who would suffer most from that in the first instance is President Mandela. He would come under pressure from his people to make the changes in the constitution that they have demanded all along without having to make concessions or compromises to the other side.
If South Africa is to be successful as a democratic state and if there is to be a calm and peaceful transition, there must be continued tension within the political spectrum. This is to ensure that there is continued pressure on all sides to convince others of their just objectives and needs. There should also be pressure on all sides to attempt to find consensus. Politics is not the art of compromise, as has always been stated; politics is the attempt at consensus. It is never achieved but the process of seeking the achievement of consensus always brings the best results in politics. What has happened in South Africa is a classic example of that.
There is an extraordinary, vast and open vista as regards where South Africa goes from here. Progress can be made in a million different directions. I hope that in President Nelson Mandela the peoples of all African countries will see a statesperson of international acceptability who will look at the needs of the whole continent as well as those of South Africa. Too often the problems in the Horn of Africa, in Rwanda, Kenya and other parts, particularly in the interior, have failed to receive the attention of international statespersons who make decisions around the globe. I hope Nelson Mandela will take a strong position in speaking for Africa, as his is the accepted voice.
It is important to look to the future, even if it is somewhat worrying and in a sense brings us back to earth when we consider the euphoria that greeted the change from communist rule to democratic socialism in eastern Europe a few short years ago. We remember the extraordinary expectation that people in different parts of the former Soviet Union expressed at that time and the great hope they had that they would control their own destiny. There was a great sense of potential economic development coupled with the view that those countries would become an influential part of the global village. It has not happened. Many of the politicians who were welcomed by the people with extraordinarily huge support in voting terms two years ago are now the target of the most bitter criticism from those same voters.
The great difficulty that Nelson Mandela now faces is how to help his nation to develop and grow. It is different from any other emerging nation in Africa in that South Africa is a wealthy state with indigenous material and mineral wealth including diamonds and gold. The question is whether that wealth can be directed into building a social infrastructure to give people of all races the opportunity to participate fully in and have full access to all the benefits of the democratic state.
We have a very long and proud record of contribution to overseas aid and the development of new economies and new countries. I wonder how we can relate this to South Africa. South Africa does not need money from this country because it is a far richer country than we ever will be, but what it may well need is support and expertise. For many years Irish people have been in South Africa working mainly in Church-related activities. I hope the Department of Foreign Affairs will consider developing this a bit further and that groups like APSO will now contribute towards the development of infrastructure in South Africa. I am talking about building and developing schools, hospitals, legal systems, etc., all of which will need a professional input throughout the infrastructure of that huge country.
Is there an opportunity for this Government to direct professional people in the medical, legal and educational areas to make a contribution to the development of South Africa's infrastructure? It is going to be an extraordinarily difficult job. The problems of organising the election in South Africa gave some idea of the vastness of the country and its population as well as the difficulties of ensuring that the multiracial approach extends to everyone.
So far the change in South Africa has not been an easy ride given the movement from revolution to resolution, agreement and democracy. Those changes have necessarily taken place at a very high level, between leaders, but the difficulties experienced at that level will pale into insignificance compared to the problems the government will now be faced with in ensuring that an infrastructure is built up. We must give that process every possible help.
It is hard to see how a government of such diverse interests — from Chief Buthelezi's Inkatha movement to the ANC, the National Party and the many other tribes and groups comprising diverse personalities — is going to merge into a unit. It is our hope that it will eventually merge into a unit. If it does it will be successful, but if it does not it could cause chaos in that country.
Looking back at how South Africa came to this point and looking at the small contributions many of us made in our own ways, we have to look at the Dunnes Stores strikers more than any other group. These were people who, like the black people of South Africa, suffered in their attempt to get rid of the evil of apartheid. The Dunnes Stores strikers took a stand and lost out on it in terms of jobs and opportunities. Some had to emigrate while many have never recovered. Those ordinary workers took a stand for people thousands of miles away. Their contribution has to be recognised and welcomed at this time.
It is to Nelson Mandela's credit that he has managed to retain a level approach by retaining Pik Botha as Minister for Materials and Energy, and a National Party member as Minister for Finance. In welcoming the developments taking place, we as a State should be prepared to offer support in addition to ensuring that we are as interested in the development of South Africa's social infrastructure as we were about its political development to democracy. It is a proud day for democracy and a lead for other emerging democracies. There is a lot to be learned about accommodating differences as we see it in Northern Ireland. We can look forward to major positive developments in that part of the world.