Thirty years of democracy, diplomacy and peace: The unyielding spirit of a nation and its idealism By Jaimal Anand Directorate: Humanitarian Affairs

We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social system whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people.

~ Nelson Mandela, on accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo 1993

For one hundred days, between April and July 1994, Rwanda experienced a level of bloodletting that demonstrated, yet again, the brutality that the human condition is capable of. While the slaughter was underway in Rwanda, a new nation was being born on the southern tip of Africa. In bizarre irony, Africa celebrates the birth of her leading, modern, human rights-based, peace-loving nation while simultaneously commemorating its greatest tragedy.

The Sharpeville Massacre, the Youth Uprising on 16 June 1976, the Boipatong Massacre, the Bisho Massacre and the assassination of scores of freedom fighters within and outside of South Africa’s borders, including Chris Hani, Dulcie September, Ahmed Timol and many, many more, was an indication of the violence that was firmly entrenched as the defining characteristic of apartheid South Africa. Many will also recall the execution of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging fanatics who tried to invade Bophuthatswana, raising fears of a civil war only weeks before the 27 April 1994 election.

However, the relentless spirit of a people across the racial spectrum emerged triumphant. A “new South Africa” came to be symbolised by the white doves of humanity, peace and unity of purpose that became the crest of the emerging, though battered and bruised, South African psyche, a Rainbow Nation that struck awe and amazement in the hearts and minds of the international community.

That spirit was embodied in the 1994 elections, the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic in 1996 and the full admission of South Africa into the community of nations, are but a few of the events that stand tall among the ingredients of a South Africa that was optimistic about its future and its place in the world. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) became the basis of a nation in healing and even in criticism, remains a gold standard for many scholars, activists and post-conflict studies the world over.

If not for the miracle of 1994, and mainly due to rejection of the inherent violence of oppression, South Africa avoided, albeit narrowly, becoming a nation marching towards the doom and disaster of war and ongoing conflict and a victim of its history.

Crimes against humanity: The case of South Africa  

During his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1993, the soon-to-be South African President, Nelson Mandela further stated that:

“I am also here today as a representative of the millions of people across the globe, the anti-apartheid movement, the governments and organisations that joined with us, not to fight against South Africa as a country or any of its peoples, but to oppose an inhuman system and sue for a speedy end to the apartheid crime against humanity.”

The role of the United Nations (UN) in declaring apartheid a crime against humanity was a fundamental step and reminder of the impact of peace and diplomacy, as well as the importance of the global governance architecture as a machinery designed and intended to protect and advance core human values.

The term "crimes against humanity" was first used by George Washington Williams, an African American Civil War veteran who focussed his attention on Europe and Africa after the war, in a pamphlet published in 1890 to describe the practices of Leopold II of Belgium's administration in the Congo. In 1948, a UN report on the Armenian Massacres referred to the use of the term "crimes against humanity” which came to serve as a precedent to the Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters.

There are 11 specific categories: extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. Article 7(J) of the Rome Statute lists the crime of apartheid as a crime against humanity.

In the early 1970’s, the UN tasked the Third Committee to conclude the Draft Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. The Committee approved the draft convention on 26 October 1973 and submitted a report to the General Assembly (A/9233 and Adds.1 to 3) by which it recommended to the Assembly a draft resolution with the draft international convention.

The former Soviet Union (USSR) and Guinea together submitted the first drafts of a convention to deal with the suppression and punishment of apartheid. These drafts were eventually recommended by the Third Committee on 30 November 1973. The General Assembly adopted, by a vote of 91 to 4, with 26 abstentions, resolution 3068 (XXVIII), by which it adopted and opened for signature the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. The Convention entered into force, in accordance with Article XV on 18 July 1976, only weeks after the June 16 uprising and on the birthday of former President Mandela.

South Africa’s freedom: A banner for peace

The 21st century has moved, with relative speed, from the promise of hope, peace and prosperity to a world order increasingly characterised by strife, instability, insecurity, and degrees of polarisation. This reality has become a serious threat to everything humanity has strived for over the centuries. Diplomacy as an institution, global governance, international law, respect for sovereignty and the right to statehood, democracy, constitutionalism, liberty and institutionalism were hard-won and are far too important to lose.

It is in this context that South Africa has a unique historic mandate. We must revive and advance the ideals that emerged out of toil and struggle. As we celebrate our thirty years of freedom, peace, stability, democracy and constitutionalism we are required to reflect on our role in the international community. We must acknowledge and celebrate the impact that South Africa has made and continues to make on the world stage, especially in these complex and perilous times. Our foreign policy positions are increasingly required to reflect the values and principles that gave birth to our nation and the implementation of our foreign policy is required to embody this history.

To date, South Africa’s principled positions on Palestine, especially the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, our role in Africa, particularly in the Sudan, the Western Sahara, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and many others, is not a choice but an obligation. For South Africa’s freedom to be truly complete, our commitment to the liberation of oppressed peoples globally, strengthening multilateralism and ensuring our enduring legacy to peace is a promise to which we must remain faithful.