Northern Ireland unionists who fear change will learn, like white South Africans did, that they stand to gain rather than lose, President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday.
White South Africans, he said, had feared losing certain privileges in the post-apartheid era.
”But now, 11 years afterwards, they are all saying what we feared we are going to lose we didn’t. We are happier, freer … we have become richer… If we move this [peace] process in Ireland, indeed people who fear the future will discover that that future is a much better thing for everybody.”
Mbeki was speaking to reporters after meeting Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in Pretoria.
Adams said people in his country want what South Africans have — freedom, a rights-based society and the ability to live together in peace.
Northern Ireland can draw many lessons from what has been achieved in South Africa, he added.
Mbeki said the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) decommissioning of weapons has been a strategic contribution to the peace process, opening the way for the re-establishment of political institutions.
Sinn Fein is the IRA’s political arm.
”We will continue to follow as much as we can the events there and do whatever we can to contribute to the success of the process,” he said.
Northern Ireland’s dominant Protestant party, the Democratic Unionists, has stalled on power-sharing talks with Sinn Fein — which represents mostly Catholics.
Catholics are seeking to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, while Protestants are loyal to Britain.
Power-sharing and IRA disarmament were aims contained in Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday peace accord.
Adams is on a four-day visit to South Africa, which also included talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said a core focus of the visit would be sharing experiences on decommissioning and disarmament, and lessons to be learnt from various peace processes in Africa.
Adams is due to hold talks with Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils, lay a wreath at Freedom Park and address the South African Institute of International Affairs before departing on Friday. — Sapa