[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 5, 1994]
[Pages 848-849]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Announcing Assistance to South Africa
May 5, 1994

    Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to all of you. 
Last week we watched with wonder as the citizens of South Africa went to 
the polls, as voters lined up for miles and miles, coming on crutches 
and in wheelchairs, waiting patiently, crossing the countryside to 
exercise their franchise, to create a new nation conceived in liberty 
and empowered by their redemptive suffering.
    I have just spoken with President-elect Mandela and with President 
de Klerk. I congratulated Mr. Mandela on his victory and told President 
de Klerk that he clearly deserves tremendous credit for his leadership. 
Their courage, their statesmanship, along with the leadership of Chief 
Buthelezi and others, has made this transition smoother than many 
thought possible.
    South Africa is free today because of the choices its leaders and 
people made. Their actions have been an inspiration. We can also be 
proud of America's role in this great drama. Because those of you here 
today and many others have helped to keep freedom's flame lit during the 
dark night of apartheid, Congress enacted sanctions to help squeeze 
legitimacy from the apartheid regime. Students marched in solidarity. 
Stockholders held their companies to higher ethical standards. America's 
churches, both black and white, took up the mantle of moral leadership. 
And throughout the fight, American civil rights leaders here helped to 
lead the way. Throughout, South Africa's cause has been also an American 
cause. Last week's miracle came to pass in part because of America's 
help. And now we must not turn our backs.
    Let me begin by saying that we all know South Africa faces a task of 
building a tolerant democracy and a successful market economy and that 
enabling the citizens of South Africa to reach their potential, 
economically, is critical to preserving the tolerant democracy. To show 
that reconciliation and democracy can bring tangible benefits, others 
will have to help. I'm convinced South Africa can become a model for the 
entire continent. And America must be a new and full partner with that 
new government, so that it can deliver on its promise as quickly as 
possible.
    We've already begun. Over the past year, the United States sent 
experts to South Africa to negotiate a new constitution--or to help them 
negotiate the new constitution. We provided considerable assistance to 
help their elections work. We lifted sanctions. We sent two trade and 
investment missions to lay the groundwork for greater economic 
cooperation. And we had a very fine American delegation of election 
observers there during the recent elections. And I'd like to especially 
thank the leader of that delegation, Reverend Jesse Jackson, for his 
outstanding contributions to the success of the South African elections. 
Thank you, sir.
    Today I am announcing a substantial increase in our efforts to 
promote trade, aid, and investment in South Africa. Over the next 3 
years we will provide and leverage about $600 million in funds to South 
Africa. For this fiscal year we have increased assistance from $83 
million

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to $143 million. Along with guarantees and other means, our resources, 
which will be mobilized for next year, will exceed $200 million. Through 
the programs of 10 U.S. Government agencies, we will work with South 
Africans to help meet the needs which they identify, to build homes and 
hospitals, to provide better education, to promote good governance and 
economic development.
    I'm writing to the leaders of the other G-7 countries and asking 
them to join us in expanding assistance to South Africa. And we urge the 
international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, to do the 
same.
    Next week, I'm also sending an official delegation to South Africa 
for President Mandela's inauguration. Vice President Gore will lead the 
trip, along with Mrs. Gore. They'll be joined by the First Lady, 
Secretary Brown, Secretary Espy, and many others, including those here 
in the audience today.
    We are taking these actions because we have important interests at 
stake in the success of South Africa's journey. We have an economic 
interest in a thriving South Africa that will seek our exports and 
generate greater prosperity throughout the region. We have a security 
interest in a stable, democratic South Africa, working with its 
neighbors to restore and secure peace. We have a clear moral interest. 
We have had our own difficult struggles over racial division, and still 
we grapple with the challenges of drawing strength from our own 
diversity. That is why the powerful images of South Africa's elections 
resonated so deeply in the souls of all Americans.
    Whether in South Africa or America, we know there is no finish line 
to democracy's work. Developing habits of tolerance and respect, 
creating opportunity for all our citizens, these efforts are never 
completely done. But let us savor the fact that South Africa now has the 
chance to begin that noble and vital work.
    Thirty-three years ago, Albert Luthuli became the first of four 
South Africans to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As he accepted the award, 
he described his people as, and I quote, ``living testimony to the 
unconquerable spirit of mankind. Down the years they have sought the 
goal of fuller life and liberty, striving with incredible determination 
and fortitude.''
    Today, that fortitude and the strivings of generations, have begun 
to bear fruit. Together, we must help all South Africans build on their 
newfound freedom.
    Thank you very much.
    And now I'd like to ask the Vice President to come forward to make 
some acknowledgements and some remarks and to talk a little about the 
historic trip that the American delegation he will lead is about to 
make. Mr. Vice President.

Note: The President spoke at 11:20 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to South African President-elect 
Nelson Mandela, President F.W. de Klerk, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi, 
leader of the South African Inkatha Freedom Party.