Human Rights Developments

Defending Human Rights

The Role of the International Community

In his speech to the ANC’s conference in Mafikeng in December 1997, President Mandela delivered an extraordinary attack on nongovernmental organizations as well as on opposition parties. Mandela accused some NGOs of becoming “instruments of foreign governments and institutions” who funded them “to promote their own political agenda.” In September 1998, however, ANC Chief Whip Max Sisulu issued a press release criticizing opposition parties for not supporting an ANC resolution recognizing the valuable work done by the NGO sector.

The state-funded Human Rights Commission and the Commission on Gender Equality carried out valuable work during the year, and in July South Africa hosted the second conference of African national human rights institutions. During the year, a number of senior ANC officials called for the ANC to aim to achieve a two-thirds majority in the 1999 elections, to enable it to amend the constitution. In the context of other remarks by the officials, such calls apparently threatened the independence of these state bodies. Mbeki, however, stated that the ANC was committed to the constitution in its existing form.