The President
The Vice President
Minister Yvan Gil
Ministers and Vice Ministers Present
Your Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am honoured to be part of such an auspicious occasion, the 30th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relations between South Africa and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This is a unique opportunity for me, personally, to also commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the passing of the international icon and the symbol of the South African revolution, former President Nelson Mandela.
These are two distinct events but remained linked. Venezuela and South Africa established official diplomatic relations on 3 December 1993, however, the history of our political relations can be traced during the dark days of our struggle when genuine friends were few and far in between. During those years, the people of South Africa represented by the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC SA) as it was known then, forged solidarity with the fraternal organisations of Venezuela who were also fighting for the restoration of democracy and human rights against the military juntas of the time.
Mr President
After 1994, South Africa made a conscious and logical choice by choosing Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela as a location for her Embassy. In 1958, Venezuela entered its democratic period after the end of its military dictatorship and two political parties alternated power until the early 1990s. During this period of bipartisan democracy in Venezuela, the country enjoyed political stability and high economic growth. In the foreign policy space, the country strongly opposed the South African apartheid regime at all times. In international several organisations and through different initiatives, Venezuela raised its voice against the inhumane apartheid regime. Venezuela was a reliable and helpful ally in the struggle against apartheid.
Venezuela was a leading supporter of one of the first motions in the General Assembly of the United Nations, urging that the question apartheid should be a subject of debate and being racially mixed itself Venezuela rejected any kind of racial discrimination. Having a colonial past herself, Venezuela was a strong supporter in the creation of the Decolonisation Committee in 1961, where, amongst others, the cases of the then Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); South West Africa (Namibia); and the democratic South Africa were discussed. Lastly, together with other independent African States, Venezuela also supported resolutions in the Security Council of the United Nations which called upon the racist regime to end its human rights violations and release all political prisoners. After 30 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations, the two countries are marching side by side supportive of each other on the international arena. Like Venezuela, South Africa’s support for the people of this country is based on the principles of solidarity in the face of adversity faced by the country under coercive measures and economic embargo imposed against the government.
The two sister countries and in their quest to improve the standard living of their people improving their bilateral relations in leaps and bounds and in many areas of human endeavour. Today, as I speak Mr President, Venezuela is a partner country of BRICS and South Africa is looking forward to a day where this country would belong to this fast-growing political formation of the global South. Furthermore, Mr President I am looking forward to the day in which you would visit my country soon.
Mr President
In September 1983, the former President of Venezuela hosted the “Latin American Regional Conference for Action against Apartheid” in Caracas, to discuss steps forward to support the international struggle against apartheid. Ironically, it was the same year, 24 July when the late Acting President of the ANC, Mr Oliver Tambo, the great comrade and personal friend of Nelson Mandela visited Venezuela for the first time to receive the Simon Bolivar Award “The Liberator” on behalf of Mandela. It was at the time the struggle of the South African people had intensified and the international solidarity was at its heights.
Your Excellences, I am sketching all this history to demonstrate that South Africans have enjoyed a long history of solidarity from the Venezuelans and it did not start in 1998 after President Hugo Chavez came into power. Sometimes, historical context is important. As we are commemorating the 10 years of Comrade Mandela’s demise, it is important to remind ourselves that he, like the Liberator Simon Bolivar mortgaged his life to the vision of freedom, independence and equality amongst people. They both hated oppression, and because they hated it, they fought to destroy it. They hated falsehood, and therefore perished for the truth. They loathed barbarism and consequently sought to secure human dignity. They fought to do away with everything which aimed to impose misery on the peoples of the two continents and the world.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was an outstanding and esteemed leader of the liberation struggle of the South African people. He fought neither for personal power, nor for fortune, nor even glory but for the liberty alone. He formed and organised in Umkhonto we Sizwe – the Spear of the Nation in the name of the entire democratic movement and the struggling people of South Africa as the struggle entered a new phase. Having defeated the racist regime of apartheid after 1994, he embarked a new course of reconciliation with the express intent of rebuilding the nation. He dedicated all his energies to the course of nation building and peace promotion around the African continent.
Mr President
In closing Mr President, Excellencies and the distinguished guests, we wish that our struggle icons could live forever, but we also know that nature has not made provision for such. As we overcome one hill after the other in search for larger freedoms, we will continue to draw from their vast spiritual world of resistance against those who want to continue oppressing and exploiting one against the other.
I thank you