Page 31 - sadc40en

Box 1.4
The Harare Declaration and beyond

The OAU Ad­hoc Committee on Southern Africa met in Zimbabwe in advance of the SADCC Summit in August
1989 on the question of South Africa, and issued the Harare Declaration, which became a key milestone on
the road to change.
The Harare Declaration presented a Plan of Action agreed by all of Africa that included a Statement
of Principles, and set out the Climate for Negotiations ­­ release political prisoners, lift bans, remove troops
from townships, end state of emergency and cease political executions. Thus Africa gave its full backing to
the liberation movement to begin negotiations, starting with agreement on a mutually binding ceasefire,
then the mechanism for drawing up a new Constitution.
The document mandated the OAU Ad­hoc Committee on Southern Africa “assisted by the Frontline
States, to remain seized of the issues of a political resolution.”
The Harare Declaration, issued on 21 August 1989, opens with a preamble:

Harare Declaration
Declaration of the OAU Ad­hoc Committee on Southern Africa on the question of South Africa
BOTSWANA, GABORONE 6 JULY1984 21 August 1989 Harare Zimbabwe
1. “The people of Africa, singly collectively and acting through the OAU, are engaged in

COMMUNIQUÉ serious efforts to establish peace throughout the continent by ending all conflicts
through negotiations based on the principle of justice and peace for all.
2. “We reaffirm our conviction, which history confirms, that where colonial, racial and
apartheid domination exists, there can neither be peace nor justice. 21
3. “Accordingly, we reiterate that while the apartheid system in South Africa persists, the
peoples of our continent as a whole cannot achieve the fundamental objectives of jus­
tice, human dignity and peace which are both crucial in themselves and fundamental
to the stability and development of Africa....”

This meeting of the OAU Ad­Hoc Committee assisted by the Frontline States took place just four
days before the SADC Summit on 25 August in Harare. SADCC leaders “urged the South African government
to engage in genuine negotiations to bring apartheid to an end, and agree on a political dispensation ac­
ceptable to all.”
Nelson Mandela and others were released from prison soon after, in February 1990 and the first group
of external leaders of the liberation movement flew directly into South Africa from Zambia in April. Contacts
COMMUNIQUÉ
ZIMBABWE, HARARE25 AUGUST1989
commenced at the official residence of the State President in Cape Town culminating in the Groote Schuur
Minute setting out a common commitment to the resolution of violence and the process of negotiations.
Before the end of the year, the President of the African National Congress (ANC), Oliver Reginald Tambo re­
turned home after almost three decades at the helm of the liberation struggle, and stood down as he was
now unwell having put all of his energy into leadership in liberating the country. He handed over the presi­
dency to Nelson Mandela, with Walter Sisulu as deputy. These three former Youth League leaders had grown
into leaders of the international movement to end apartheid, from exile and from prison.
In October 1991, 92 organisations united in their opposition to apartheid met in Durban in to con­
solidate their negotiating position, and the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) opened
on 21 December at the World Trade Centre in Johannesburg. A total of 228 delegates from 19 political
parties pledged their commitment. The chief negotiator who led the team through the long, arduous and
difficult negotiations that resulted in democratic elections in 1994 was Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, the
General Secretary of ANC, and now President of South Africa. They were closely supported by neighbour­
ing countries through their regional organisation, by then formalised as the Southern African Development
Community (SADC).