YouSaid · the spoken record

Mangope

lines on the record

17

first

1992-07-16

most recent

1992-07-16

sittings or episodes

1

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un-security-council

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1. “I appeal to the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole to use their considerable influence to endorse this proposal. It is the right and just way forward; it is the responsible way forward; it is the only way forward. The alternative is too ghastly to contemplate.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

2. “For many years now we have been convinced that the only viable solution to the problems of our region would be the adoption of a confederal system, with the closest possible economic ties between the constituent sovereign elements in such a system. But, irrespective of what emerges at the end of the negotiation process, our overriding consideration will always be to make our recommendations based on what we believe to be in the best interests of our people, and then to ask the people themselves to make the final decision. Finally, I want to propose today that all southern African leaders put aside self-interest and power politics and that we meet head-on our responsibility to end the chaos and misery through reasoned negotiation.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

3. “We were invited to participate in deliberations at CODESA and aid so very willingly. We were, and remain, convinced that we have an extremely meaningful contribution to make. Bophuthatswana has a lot to share by way of hard-earned experience which has resulted in the many successes we can boast of today. We humbly and sincerely submit that if the Council wishes to see and experience what a near-ideal future South Africa could be like, both in terms of development and inter-racial harmony, it should visit and experience Bophuthatswana today. I humbly and sincerely extend an invitation to the Council to do so, just as we have extended an invitation to the Organization of African Unity.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

4. “It was incomprehensible to us that, despite the fact that the CODESA management committee met several times after the CODESA 2 deadlock, the African National Congress failed to raise or pursue the very issues over which it is now embarking on mass action. These issues were, after all, on the agenda of each of the subsequent meetings, but the African National Congress delegation all but ignored them. Irresponsible use of the emotions of the masses, such as we are experiencing at the moment, will do nought for our progress towards true democracy, and will hasten the headlong plunge to anarchy and hopelessness. For its part, Bophuthatswana has made, and stands ready to continue making, a constructive contribution to the resolution of the serious problems of our region.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

5. “It is regrettable that an organization which was jointly responsible for the wording of the CODESA declaration of intent and the peace accord, and which is a signatory of both these documents, can persist with its destabilization campaign by way of mass action, intimidation, strikes and covert plots. In our part of the world, these lead almost inevitably to confrontation, violence, arson and horrendous loss of life. With this in mind it is worth noting that many of us firmly believe that the African National Congress decision to walk out of CODESA and launch its mass-action programme was made some time before CODESA 2 even convened. Remember that we are an integral part of CODESA, including its management committee.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

6. “Provided the African National Congress meets the simple and universally accepted requirement to register as a political party and thereby become accountable for its actions and utterances, it will have the democratic right to operate in Bophuthatswana without hindrance. Irrefutable information at our disposal, coupled with the recent utterances and actions of the African National Congress and its allies and front organizations, indicates that, if anything, the destabilization campaign against Bophuthatswana has been stepped up. We are in possession of proof that the African National Congress is pursuing a double agenda, which involves negotiating on the one hand and, on the other, wholesale destabilization of institutions and individuals with which it disagrees.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

7. “Mandela thanked me for my repeated insistence during his years of imprisonment that he should be released and his organization unbanned in South Africa. He also acknowledged the fact that the African National Congress had never been banned or restricted in Bophuthatswana. It was during this meeting that Mr. Mandela, when confronted with the evidence, gave his personal assurance that the African National Congress would cease forthwith its orchestrated programme of destabilization in Bophuthatswana. I am disappointed to have to report that for reasons best known to the African National Congress this undertaking was not complied with. For our part we have stated repeatedly that the African National Congress is not, and never has been, banned in Bophuthatswana.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

8. “Prominent African National Congress leaders have on various occasions alluded to these pians in public, most recently in a despicable attack by an African National Congress leader who promised the use of the hideous necklace method of political assassination to ensure my party's removal from government. Our underpinning philosophy has been, and remains, the belief that the problems of our region are going to be solved nowhere other than at the negotiation table. We are historically a non-violent nation and everything we have achieved to date has been via the process of civilized discourse and negotiation. In February this year Mr. Mandela of the African National Congress travelled to our capital, Mmabatho, for discussions with my Government and me on the prevailing situation. During our lengthy meeting, Mr.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

9. “While it is not my intention today to indulge in a counter-productive finger-pointing exercise aimed at apportioning blame for the present state of affairs, there are certain home truths which must go on record as far as Bophuthatswana is concerned. It is an unfortunate matter of record in our country that the African National Congress has, as official policy, the aim of destabilizing Bophuthatswana with the objective of creating a climate of ungovernability in order to install an administration to its liking. This was officially confirmed once again at no less a gathering than the African National Congress national policy conference held in May of this year. I speak here not of hearsay or speculation. It is fact.”

   1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

10. “The misery of these poor souls is too profound to describe, and we are doing everything within our means to assist them. There are many factors which have contributed to the Bophuthatswana success story, not least of which is the political and industrial stability we have enjoyed since independence 14 years ago. However, I have the unenviable task of reporting to the Council today that the dark thunderclouds of unrest and violence which cover neighbouring South Africa at present are, almost inevitably, beginning to obscure the sunlight of stability and progress to which Bophuthatswana has become accustomed. While Bophuthatswana has thus far largely been spared the violence currently sweeping South Africa, we know that plans for mass action, strikes and boycotts in Bophuthatswana are well advanced.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

11. “We effectively used the apartheid policy to begin claiming back that which was rightfully ours, and which had been wrongfully taken from us. In the past 14 years, through a vigorous policy of free enterprise, enlightened economic policies and less rather than more government, we have become one of the sole beacons of light on the otherwise dark continent of Africa. Our successes are a matter of record, and all was achieved in the absence of access to the usual international sources of development funding, and without any humanitarian aid whatsoever. To crown it all, we have become a haven of stability to which South Africans are fleeing in large numbers on a daily basis to avoid the violence and uncertainty c£ the conditions in their own country.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

12. “Feeding this flame, maintaining this light was the one underpinning fact of our existence, which no man-made philosophy or ideology could shake. This was our unwavering faith in God Almighty: that He in His infinite wisdom would ultimately show His hand in determining our destiny. This, we believe, occurred in 1977, when we finally achieved our independence from South Africa and began the monumental task of rebuilding our nation literally from scratch. Since then we have confounded our critics with our success, and we continue to do so. We maintained in 1977, and we maintain today, that we are not, as our critics at home would have the world believe, a child of apartheid. I want to emphasize that we are not a creation of apartheid.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

13. “Our land, known as British Bechuanaland, was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1895, while the rest of the land of our forefathers would, with the stroke of a pen in Whitehall, become what is today the independent State of Botswana. What followed is well documented. The Batswana of what had been British Bechuanaland - today, our country Bophuthatswana - were systematically dispossessed of their land and their rights by both the British and the Boers. Our people were fragmented and scattered willy-nilly across the subcontinent. Our culture, our language, the very fabric of our being as a people, began to be dissipated and lost in a bastardized tapestry - a Situation exacerbated by the evils of apartheid. But through it all there remained in our souls the flickering flame of nationhood, which no amount of abuse or inhumanity could extinguish.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

14. “In 1871, the British formally and legally recognized our sovereignty in terms of the now infamous Keate Award of that year. Our forefathers were deeply concerned that they would lose their land, their freedom and their sovereignty if British and Boer expansionism in the region was not checked. They were led to believe that the Keate Award was the answer to their fears, and they accepted its validity in good faith. After all, it was backed by the might of the British Empire and the monarchy. But within months of the award the British had reneged on it, and it was not worth the paper on which it was written. Our worst fears were realized.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

15. “In those times of need, men of vision emerged to fashion order from chaos and to restore national pride and industriousness where there was only dejection and apathy. We in Bophuthatswana remain steadfastly optimistic about the future of our region, for the very simple reason that we are living proof that the people of our region have what it takes to rise from the ashes of near-extinction and succeed where others thought we would fail. My people, the Batswana people who speak the Setswana language, have known betrayal, subjugation, fragmentation, loss of identity and dignity, and the inhumanity of apartheid. My people occupied what could be generally described as the north-western area of South Africa from the beginnings of their history and certainly long before the appearance of the first white man.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

16. “Seen against the background of the present mindless violence and killings in South Africa, and that country's recent history, which will be eternally blighted as a result of its inhuman apartheid policies, no one could be blamed for being deeply concerned about the country and its apparent headlong flight to self-destruction. It is a tragic irony that for more than 300 years black South Africans have struggled for freedom and the restoration of their dignity, with many paying the ultimate price. Now, just as it would seem that we are approaching the realization of that dream, the unthinkable is happening and all is being put needlessly at risk. South Africa can be likened in microcosm to the macro-situation prevailing in Europe after the two great wars, and more recently after the collapse of communism.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source

17. “Mr. MANGOPE: I should like to thank the members of the Council and the Organization of African Unity for providing us with the opportunity to help broaden your understanding of the situation as it pertains to southern Africa today. One of southern Africa's greatest statesmen, General Jannie Smuts, who ironically played no small part in the conceptualization and founding of the League of Nations, later to become the United Nations, must this day be convulsing in his grave. As people in South Africa proceed to kill each other by the thousands by means so barbaric as to be unspeakable, one is forced to speculate on how the founders of the United Nations would have reacted.”

    1992-07-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3096 (1992) · source