Address by ANC President Jacob Zuma on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the raid on Liliesleaf Farm Rivonia, Johannesburg

The Deputy President of the Republic, 

National Officials of the ANC,

Ministers and Deputy Ministers present,

Veterans of the Liberation Movement,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Chairperson and CEO of the Liliesleaf Trust, 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Comrades and friends,

 

Good evening. Sanibonani nonke!

 

We are gathered to celebrate the special place of Liliesleaf Farm in the history of our struggle.

 

Exactly 50 years ago today, a contingent of the racist apartheid police raided this farm and arrested some of the most senior ANC and SACP leaders who constituted the MK High Command. 

Thus today, we draw inspiration from the lives and sacrifices of the stalwarts of our revolution such as Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Andrew Mlangeni, Dennis Goldberg, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Harold Wolpe, Elias Motsoaledi, Rusty Bernstein, Bob Hepple, Arthur Goldreich, James Kantor, and others.

 

We also draw inspiration from President Nelson Mandela. This is where Madiba hid for more than a year under the assumed name of David Motsamayi, when he planned underground activities. 

 

It is at this very place where Madiba reported when he came back from abroad in 1962, to brief the organisation’s Working Committee on the achievements of his mission.

We are encouraged that he is responding to treatment in hospital. He remains as much of a fighter now as he was 50 years ago when incidents such as the raid on this farm took place.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Comrades and friends,

 

On this special day we reflect on the meaning of Liliesleaf Farm and also on the meaning of our struggle, and its impact on our people and our country.

 

More importantly, we are celebrating the fact that we were able to triumph over the evil that is institutionalised racism and the oppression of people on the basis of race.

 

The anniversary also provides an opportunity to reflect on a difficult period of our struggle, when the need arose to take up arms against the apartheid regime.

This special venue was used to give effect to the decision of our movement to fight rather than submit to apartheid oppression and dehumanisation. 

 

This resolve was meticulously captured in the Mkhonto Wesizwe founding manifesto when it said:

"The time comes in the life of any nation when there remains only two choices: submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. 

 

“We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means within our power in defence of our people, our future and our freedom".    

 

Comrade Walter Sisulu stated in his evidence-in-chief at the Rivonia Trial that the ANC did not take this decision lightly.

“We have tried, by all means, not to get into this situation".

 

The MK High Command met here at Liliesleaf under extremely difficult circumstances until the raid on that fateful day on the 11th of July 1963.

 

After the raid and arrests on July 11, the apartheid regime was convinced that it had successfully crushed all resistance to it. 

What they did not know is that the seeds of resistance that were planted at Liliesleaf had germinated beyond the physical boundaries of the farm itself. 

 

The revolutionary ideas discussed at Liliesleaf could neither be contained at the farm nor in prison cells. They were already proving to be the chief content of the actions of the resilient masses of our people.

 

If the regime thought it was instilling fear in the Rivonia trialists who faced charges some of which carried the death penalty if found guilty, it was mistaken. 

They used the court sessions as a platform to advance the cause of the revolution. And also their conviction made it difficult for the enemy to obtain information that could cripple the struggle for liberation.

 

They took a conscious decision to make political and ideological statements rather than focusing on the legal technicalities because they knew that they could not get justice in the racist apartheid court. 

They became the chief spokespeople of our movement which the racist regime had tried to silence through banning orders at the time. 

 

And they remained defiant and would not cooperate with the enemy. Comrade Sisulu stated in his testimony;

”I would certainly find it difficult to testify or to answer any questions relating to my organization which might lead to the prosecution of my people. I would not do anything which would lead to revealing the workings of my organization and confidential matters. 

 

“I would not be able to testify insofar as that aspect is concerned. I am aware that by so doing I might worsen my position. But I find that I cannot do otherwise".

 

They exposed the moral depravity of the regime. 

 

As stated by Comrade Elias Motsoaledi;

“More than three months ago they arrested my wife and detained her under 90-days. And when she finished her 90-days, she was re-arrested again. As it is, she is still in jail. I consider this disgraceful on the part of the police, my Lord, that a woman with seven children should be punished, because of offences committed by me".

 

And Comrade Andrew Mlangeni reminded the regime of the exploitation of the majority.

“South Africa, my Lord, is a very rich country, the resources could be exploited for the benefit of all the people who live in it. This government and the previous governments have exploited not the earth but the people of various racial groups whose colour is not white. But the government daily makes suppressive laws in its white Parliament, which laws are aimed at suppressing the political aspirations of the majority of the people who have no say".

 

This act of bravery, of using the court as another site of struggle, was yet another proof that the ideas born at the Liliesleaf Farm had not died at the point of the raid. 

 

And the escape of Arthur Goldreich and Harold Wolpe from Marshall Square reinvigorated our movement and our people at large. 

 

It served as a beacon of hope and was the most practical expression of the fact that an arrest does not mean the defeat of the revolution. Our people regained confidence in the armed struggle and its objectives.  

 

The Trialists proved to the regime that it could not crush mass resistance, nor could it break the resilient spirit of our people. 

The sentencing of the Rivonia Trialists to life imprisonment led to ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli making a strong call for sanctions.

 

He said; “I appeal to governments throughout the world, to people everywhere, to organisations and institutions in every land and at every level, to act now to impose such sanctions on South Africa that will bring about the vital necessary change and avert what can become the greatest African tragedy of our times".

 

Indeed ladies and gentlemen, Liliesleaf Farm represents a turning point in our struggle for freedom and justice.

Liliesleaf must serve as a reminder that we have the ability as South Africans, to respond to any situation at whatever level as dictated by concrete material conditions.

 

The ideas born at Liliesleaf Farm did not die at the point of the raid and should never die.

 

We must ensure that the ideas and the spirit born at Liliesleaf Farm continue to inspire and guide us in working for a better life for all. 

Confronted with the stubborn challenges of high unemployment, extreme poverty and inequality, the current generation of leadership must continue to draw lessons from the experiences of the Liliesleaf generation. 

 

Just as they saw the need for the armed struggle in order to bring the apartheid regime to its knees, we must bring to life the radical economic policy shift needed in order to bring our present challenges to their knees. 

 

On this score, we have declared that we are now in the second phase of our transition from Colonialism of a Special Type to the National Democratic Society. 

 

Together as South Africans we successfully ushered in a democratic dispensation founded on a progressive constitution which guarantees the basic human rights and equality before the law. This second phase of the transition must be characterized by a resolute struggle for socio-economic justice.

One of the things we have done thus far, to this effect, is to produce the National Development Plan which is the overarching vision for our country and which will serve as the blueprint for our development until 2030. 

 

In simple terms, we have to ensure that all households have water, electricity, sanitation and that no child goes to bed hungry. 

 

We have to prepare conditions for the economy to grow for our people to get jobs. We have to create an environment for the youth to obtain the necessary skills and jobs for their own development and also for sustainable economic growth.

We are inspired by the Liliesleaf generation which found as its mission the creation of a society based on the Freedom Charter which outlines the type of society we should build. It is the society that the National Development Plan is designed to help us create.

 

The ideas born on Liliesleaf did not die at the point of the raid, and we should prove this through living these ideals in everything we do.

 

As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the raid on Liliesleaf Farm, we salute all the heroes and heroines of our revolution who were willing to pay the ultimate price for our freedom.

We owe a huge debt to them which we can only repay through selflessness, sacrifice and humility in serving our people. 

 

Today we pay tribute to all the members of the MK High Command who operated from Liliesleaf. These leaders distinguished themselves by their death-defying spirit of no surrender at the most challenging of times. 

 

These were times when just to be associated with the ANC and MK was equivalent to either being brutally killed or to face long term imprisonment, banishment or exile.

They demonstrated their profound love for the country and showed their commitment, dedication and conviction.

 

They lent their visionary leadership to ensure that a free, non-racial, democratic, just and non-sexist South Africa we have come to enjoy over the past 19 years does indeed become a reality.

On this special day, we recommit to honour our military veterans so that they can take their rightful place as dignified and respected citizens of our beloved country. 

 

We are however, alive of the enormity of the task at hand. 

The Department of Military Veterans has been allocated R300 million for the current financial year, to enable it to deliver the much-needed socio-economic benefits to Military Veterans.

 

Ladies and gentlemen

Comrades and friends,

 

We all have a responsibility to ensure that the story of Liliesleaf and the Rivonia Trial is told in full for the benefit of current and future generations and that to ensure that the ideas born on this farm live forever.

 

We have thus begun a process that will culminate in declaring Liliesleaf Farm a heritage Institution. 

This will help to preserve the heritage contained in this farm and to ensure that the place is adequately resourced as a heritage institution, which belongs to the people of all South Africa.

 

By preserving this heritage we are contributing to the ongoing process of national healing and the building of a more cohesive society.

 

Liliesleaf is a place of hope. It must be a shrine to which we come for inspiration, to be re-energised to take forward the task of building the country of our dreams, as described in the Freedom Charter and the Constitution of the Republic.

 

We express our sincere gratitude to the Liliesleaf Trust and to all those who continue to work hard to ensure that this farm and the role it played in our struggle is never erased from the history of the evolution of our society.

 

May the ideas born at Liliesleaf Farm live forever!

 

I thank you.