[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
[October 8, 1994]
[Pages 1724-1725]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address With President Nelson Mandela of
South Africa
October 8, 1994

    President Clinton. Good morning. This week I'm honored to be joined 
by President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, a man who has been a hero 
for people in every corner of the world. For a long time, the name 
``Nelson Mandela'' has stood for the quest for freedom. His spirit never 
bent before the injustice of his 27 years of imprisonment. Apartheid 
could not silence him. And when he was freed, Americans all across this 
country who had fought for justice in South Africa rejoiced.
    After his long struggle, Nelson Mandela found in himself the 
strength to reach out to others, to build up instead of tear down. He 
led his country forward, always choosing reconciliation over division. 
This is the miracle of the new South Africa. Time and again, President 
Mandela showed real wisdom and rose above bitterness. President Mandela 
and the South African people, both black and white, have inspired others 
around the world.
    In our own hemisphere today, the people of Haiti are emerging out of 
fear into freedom. Now Haitians have the chance to do what South 
Africans have done, to bring together a country where there have been 
deep and bloody divisions. It can be done, and the United States stands 
ready to help.
    We must do all we can to help civil societies free themselves from 
the shackles of repression, to sustain their fragile democracies, and to 
defeat the forces of destruction that threaten all of us. That's why 
America stands with Nelson Mandela and the South African people through 
economic assistance, through trade and investment to help them to build 
the thriving democracy they so richly deserve, and why we're working to 
help the Haitian people stand up and reclaim their freedom and their 
future, too.
    Now I'd like to ask President Mandela to speak with you.

[At this point, President Mandela discussed his visit to the United 
States and thanked the American people for their friendship.]

    President Clinton. Thank you, Mr. President. This week I pledged to 
President Mandela that the United States will continue to support his 
nation just as we have since before his election. And I want to 
encourage all of our citizens and especially our businesses to accept 
the President's invitation to invest, to build in his country, to visit 
his country. A flourishing South Africa involved in the rest of the 
world is in our interest.
    President Mandela was right the other day when he called the 
transformation of his country an achievement of all humanity. The kind 
of peaceful development we're seeing in South Africa will inspire 
progress all around the world. Now South Africa is a model for building 
the open, tolerant societies that share our values. And when we look 
around the world at the stirring changes in Russia, the moving 
developments in Northern Ireland, the stunning achievements of the peace 
initiatives in the Middle East, we see the prospects for democracy and 
peace growing. Our mission is to build a new world for our children, 
more democratic, more prosperous, more free of ancient hatreds and 
modern means of destruction. This is no easy task. But more nations than 
ever are choosing democracy, and more are embracing the values of 
tolerance that allow each of us to make the most of our God-given 
potential. Freedom

[[Page 1725]]

is on the march, and that is good news for all of us.
    Once again, let me thank the symbol of freedom for the world, 
President Mandela, for visiting us here in the United States. And thank 
you all for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:53 p.m. on October 7 in the East 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on October 8.