SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

Yeoville Community Centre, 21 October 1999

Today is the 13th celebration of African Human Rights Day. Those who are superstitious may consider this an ominous sign - especially as this is the last African Human Rights Day of the 20th Century.

But for us here is South Africa, this is a good omen. It is good omen for the following reasons:

• This is the first time that we officially celebrate African Human Rights Day as a nation.
  
• We celebrate African Human Rights Day as a free people and a democratic country.
  
• We are able to have present at this celebration our sisters and brothers from all over the continent.
  
• Thanks to the support which the people from Africa gave to our liberation struggle, South Afric has a last been able to regain is place in the African Family of Nations.

The theme for our celebrations today is Africa First. This is appropriate and relates directly to the call made by our President - that the next century is to be the African century - the century of the rebirth of Africa and the African Nation.

Today is a day of festivities and celebration. African Human Rights Day is an occasion for the whole continent to display its unity and its diversity.

Our aspirations for African unity are embodied in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. It is captured in our music, in our dance and in our song.

But let us never forget that it is also captured in our history - tragic as that may have been. Our continent's past is a travesty of oppression, exploitation and suffering experienced by the African people through slavery, colonialism and imperialism.

So while we rejoice in what we have accomplished, let us never forget our history.

As we celebrate today let us also remember that great son of Africa, one of the founding fathers of the Organisation of African Unity and a moving force behind the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Julius Nyerere, who will be buried today.

Life is a perpetual cycle. As we celebrate the rebirth of our continent, we also mourn the loss a great leader and internationally recognised statesman.

It is in the memory of "Mwalimu" and his contribution to the struggle to free Africa and restore its pride and dignity, that I declare these festivities open.