Nelson Mandela Urges Congress to Retain Sanctions

The African National Congress had been banned since 1960, and its leaders had spent decades in prison or exile. President F. W. de Klerk lifted the ban in February 1990 and began removing barriers to negotiation, before South Africa had held a democratic national election. [1]

Nelson Mandela stood before a joint meeting of Congress on 26 June 1990, four months after his release from prison. He visited as deputy president of the African National Congress. After 27 years of imprisonment, he could make his case directly to legislators who had challenged American policy toward the apartheid government. [3] [4] [2]

Mandela acknowledged President F. W. de Klerk’s commitment to negotiations, while warning that opponents of democratic change could obstruct the process. He described the political system the ANC sought: voting rights regardless of race, a democratic constitution, an enforceable bill of rights, independent courts, and competing political parties. [2]

He also set out an economic argument. Political freedom needed housing, education, health services, and work if a settlement was to survive. He welcomed private investment while defending government action to overcome inequalities created by apartheid. [2]

Thanking Congress for its sanctions legislation, Mandela urged legislators to keep the pressure in place. He asked that South Africans determine when change had become irreversible enough for the international community to lift sanctions. [2] [5]

Related Diplomats

1. Pieter G. J. “Piet” Koornhof [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

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