African Activist Archive

Copy of a letter sent to members of Congress urging them to oppose any efforts to modify or suspend the existing sanction of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 until apartheid in South Africa is ended. The letter says the intent of Congress in the Act and the struggle in South Africa is to dismantle apartheid and achieve one person, one vote in a non-racial and united South Africa. The letter says the Washington Office on Africa welcomes the important changes in South Africa, including the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC and other political organizations. However, the pillars of apartheid are still in place: over 3, 000 political prisoners remain; the Group Areas Act still reserves 87% of the land for the white minority, while the Black majority is herded into the remaining 13%; the Population Registration Act still classifies each South African at birth according to a racial group for the purposes of determining access to social services and political rights; and the Internal Security Act, which, among other things, allows random detention and arrest without charge or access to legal services, is still the law of the land. The letter urges the member of Congress to support House Concurrent Resolution 270 introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which calls for no modification or suspension of sanctions until all conditions for termination in the 1986 Act have been met and apartheid is ended.

African Activist Archive

[Dear Member of Congress: I urge you to oppose any efforts to modify or suspend the existing sanctions of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 until apartheid in South Africa is ended.]

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