In 1955 the southern part of the African continent was not aflame with wars. Today large numbers of South African soldiers occupy Namibia and Angola. The apartheid regime attacked, raided, coerced, threatened and destabilised all the states in the Southern African region.

In order to carry out these activities the South African regime has developed a large and sophisticated army and modern armaments industry. South Africa is widely acknowledged to be in possession of nuclear weapons. As a result of these developments, newly independent countries, desperately short of resources, have been forced to spend vast amounts on arms to defend their hard won independence. With this arms build-up on all sides, Southern Africa has become a powder-keg, a flashpoint. This is why the United Nations General Assembly has described the apartheid regime as a threat to international peace.

For its part, the apartheid regime says the instability arises from the alleged presence of ANC bases in neighbouring states. On these grounds the South African government tries to coerce its neighbours into so-called non-aggression pacts. It has rightly been said that peace cannot be achieved through such ‘deals’. The flames of war that spread across South Africa's borders are the result of the situation within our country itself.

Peace must be made, in the first place, with the people of South Africa. That is only possible when the real source of aggression, the apartheid system, has been eradicated. To build the kind of South Africa envisaged in the Freedom Charter is to provide the conditions for achieving peace in our country.

In its preamble the Freedom Charter says “no Government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people” and that “our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality” (our emphasis).