It is about time that the humiliation of South African freedom fighters in democratic United States came to end, African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee member and businessman Tokyo Sexwale said on Saturday.
The United States House of Representatives on Thursday adopted legislation that erases from government records the apartheid-era designation of the ANC and its leaders as ”terrorists”.
”The removal of this legislation is a positive move and more than welcome. As one who was on the receiving end of this repugnant and denigrating legislation over the last 18 years, it is about time that the humiliation of South African freedom fighters in democratic US comes to end,” Sexwale said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress last month to pass the legislation. She called it ”embarrassing” that she still had to waive travel restrictions when former president Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders visit the United States.
Sexwale acknowledged the efforts of the public representatives who had ”taken the matter to heart”.
”[We] trust that the final leg of the process, its passage through the US Senate, will take place without any further delay so that ANC leaders visiting the US are accorded the respect they deserve.”
Sexwale has engaged with numerous US representatives on the issue over the past 10 years, both publicly and privately, arguing that the legislation is both humiliating and offensive.
Late last year, he briefed lawyers about potential legal action in the US Supreme Court, although this had been withdrawn in the light of the new legislation. — Sapa