National Orders are the highest awards that the country bestows on its citizens and eminent foreign nationals who have contributed towards the advancement of democracy and who have made a significant impact on improving the lives of South Africans in various ways.
The ceremony enables government to recognise the contributions made by individuals towards building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa as envisaged in the Constitution.
President Zuma will bestow to deserving recipients the Order of Mendi for Bravery, the Order of Ikhamanga, the Order of the Baobab, the Order of Luthuli, and the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo.
THE ORDER OF MENDI
The Order will be bestowed in Bronze on:
Jetro Ndlovu: For his outstanding contribution to the fight for freedom, equality, and democracy in South Africa.
Jetro Ndlovu was one of the many liberation struggle heroes. He joined the ANC in 1959 at a time when the repressive regime began introducing more and more unjust legislation against blacks. Ndlovu served the cause of struggle with dedication and distinction. Soon after joining the ANC, Ndlovu was recruited into the units of Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961. He commanded units that operated in the Cato Ridge, Fredville, and Camperdown areas in KwaZulu Natal. When Curnick Ndlovu, Billy Nair and other members of the first regional command of MK were imprisoned or forced into exile, Ndlovu and Cleopas Ndlovu formed the second layer Regional Command structure of MK.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Joe Morolong (Posthumous): For his excellent contribution to the fight for liberation in South Africa. He endured tremendous personal persecution for the ideal of a democratic and liberated society.
Born in 1927 in the Northern Cape, Morolong participated in ANC campaigns in the Cape Town area, and was a member of the South African Congress of Trade Unions. A defendant in the Treason Trial from December 1956 until December 1957, he was detained in solitary confinement for several months during the 1960 state of emergency. In 1963 he was banned and restricted to his father's kraal in an isolated area of the Northern Cape, where he was forced to remain.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Caleb Motshabi (Posthumous): For his excellent contribution to fight for the liberation of the people of South Africa. He facilitated the creation of safe passage for many young people who went into exile to fight for freedom.
Caleb "Commandant" Motshabi joined the African National Congress in 1949. He participated in the 1955 Congress of the People in Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was drawn up. In 1961, he became the Free State commander of uMkhonto Wesizwe.
He was arrested in 1963 and jailed for 12 years on Robben Island. In 1975 he was released but immediately banished to, and placed under house arrest in Thaba Nchu. However, house arrest did not deter him from his mission to liberate the people of South Africa. During the 1970's he steadfastly recruited young activists into the ANC, youth mostly from the Bloemfontein area. He facilitated their travel to Lesotho where the ANC had substantial presence. The link between Bloemfontein and Lesotho was to be the primary axis of ANC and MK activity in the Free State.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Eric Mtshali: For his excellent contribution to the fight against Apartheid. In spite of great risks, he never deterred in his quest for true freedom and social justice.
Eric Mtshali was born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. After completing high school, he became active in the anti-apartheid movement in the then-Natal. In 1957 Mtshali was recruited into the South African Communist Party (SACP) by Stephen Dlamini, M.P. Naicker, Wilson Cele, and Harry Gwala. The following year he joined the ANC. In 1961 Mtshali was part of the Congress Alliance's group, which founded uMkhonto weSizwe (MK). In July 1962, Mtshali left South Africa and went into exile. He was sent to both the Soviet Union and Cuba to receive training. On his return, Mtshali became Chief of Personnel in MK in Tanzania. He currently serves on the Central Committee of the SACP.
The Order will be bestowed in Gold on:
Mpumelelo Washington Bongco (Posthumous): For his exceptional contribution to the pursuit of equality and universal suffrage in South Africa. He never relented and paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and democracy.
The former Eastern Cape regional commander of Umkhonto weSizwe, Mpumelelo Washington Bongco , was detained at about midnight on 15 February 1963. He alleged that he was handcuffed behind a door, and beaten and kicked during questioning the following day. After he collapsed, the handcuffs were removed. Security Branch members continued to kick him with their boots and also trampled on his face. He was subsequently charged under the 'Sabotage Act' and sentenced to death in the Queenstown Circuit Court on 23 March 1964 in connection with a petrol bomb attack on the home of Mr Domboti Hovi.
THE ORDER OF IKHAMANGA
The Order will be bestowed in Bronze on:
Themba Patrick Magaisa: For his outstanding contribution to the development of indigenous literature in South Africa. His literary work has enriched the primary and secondary education curricula in our country.
Themba Patrick Magaisa, well known as T.P. Magaisa in his writings; is one of the most celebrated Xitsonga Creative writers. He has written more than 13 Xitsonga books. He has also played a very pivotal role in the development of Xitsonga Learning and Teaching Support Materials for the new syllabus, CAPS, for the Senior Phase.
The Order will be bestowed in Bronze on:
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (Posthumous): For his outstanding achievements as a track athlete and for his contribution to the advancement of athletics in South Africa.
Mulaudzi's first global medal was a silver at the 2000 African Championships in Athletics. He later won a bronze at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, which came a year after his victory at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Mulaudzi was the gold medallist at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships and won two further silver medals at the competition in 2006 and 2008. He was runner-up at continental level on three occasions, taking the 800m silver at the African Championships in Athletics in 2000, and at the All-Africa Games in 2003 and 2007. He carried the flag for his native country at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he became an Olympic silver medalist
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Darius Mfana Dhlomo: For his excellent talent in various professional sporting codes. His tenacity, sheer talent, and triumph in sport inspired generations of aspiring footballers and boxers who saw in him the epitome of excellence.
Born in Durban, Darius Mfana Dlomo was the son of Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo, a pioneer in black South African writing. He began competing in non-white boxing contests in apartheid-era South Africa. A victory in Durban in 1956 over Gilbert Petros brought him the (then) Natal non-white middleweight title and then, by defeating Ezrom Ngcobo, he became the non-white South African cruiser-weight champion.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Winnie Mahlangu: For her excellent contribution to the field of broadcasting and for keeping the listeners of the largest radio station in the country informed and entertained.
Whilst women were discriminated against because of their gender at the SABC they were given only temporary employment. Winnie was the first woman to be employed permanently by SABC for Radio Bantu in 1962. She specialised in women's programs and has traveled extensively. As a linguist, Mahlangu discovered the rich talent of the late Thetha Masombuka, the popular radio sports commentator and radio announcer.She is now retired.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Ramakgobotla John Mekoa: For his excellent contribution to the development of jazz music in South Africa. He established a jazz music centre that contributed to the growth of the careers of many South African jazz musicians.
A few highlights of Mekoa illustrious musical career include his founding in 1967 of the famous Jazz Ministers Band, whose musical director, the late Victor Ndlazilwane, gave it its unique Afro-jazz identity by introducing a number of IsiXhosa songs such as "Ndize Bonono". The Jazz Ministers Band became the first African jazz band to perform at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival in New York in 1976. He founded the PWV Music Academy, later called the Music Academy of Gauteng (MAG). Together with his wife, Ma-Tozi, he tirelessly raised funds to buy second-hand musical instruments for a school that was housed in a derelict and dilapidated building at the Emajudeni section of Daveyton.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane (Posthumous): For his excellent contribution to the development of African literature and the upliftment of African languages on the global stage.
Mzamane held various academic positions in Lesotho, Botswana, England, Nigeria, USA, Germany, Australia and South Africa. In 1976 he was the first recipient of the Mofolo-Plomer Prize for Literature. In 2012, he was the recipient of the African Literature Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, The Fonlon-Nicholls Award, for creative writing, scholarship, and human rights advocacy. He is also widely known as a writer of fiction and poetry, and his collections of short stories are especially noteworthy. Much of his fiction work was written whilst in exile and subsequently banned in Apartheid South Africa.He spent many years in exile in Nigeria and the USA and spread South African literature there.
THE ORDER OF THE BAOBAB
The Order will be bestowed in Bronze on:
Yvonne Mokgoro: For her outstanding contribution to the field of Law and the administration of justice in a democratic South Africa.
After completion of the LLB she was appointed maintenance officer and public prosecutor in the then Mmabatho Magistrate's Court.In 1984, she was appointed lecturer in law in the Department of Jurisprudence, University of Bophuthatswana, where she rose through the ranks to Associate Professor and served there until 1991.
Mokgoro is a recipient of a number of other honours and awards, including the Educational Opportunities Council scholarship to study in the USA (1989-1990) the Women's Law and Public Law Fellowship, by Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington DC (1990), the Human Rights Award by the Black Lawyers Association, (1995) the Oude Molen Reserve Order of Merit (1995/1996), the Legal Profession’s Woman Achiever Award by the Centre for Human Rights, and the University of Pretoria (2001), University of the North School of Law Excellence Award (2003), the Kate Stoneman Democracy Award (Albany Law School, New York, U.S.A (2003), the Tshwane Outstanding Service Award (TOSA) in 2006 and the James Wilson Award by the University of Pennsylvania Law School [(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2008).
She is also been appointed in 2013 to chair a Tribunal which will investigate the ethical conduct of the President of the Lesotho Court of Appeal. The investigation is currently on-going.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Douglas John Anderson: For his excellent contribution to the upliftment of the lives of children and people with disabilities.
In 2011 Anderson set up social network called The Making A Difference Network, whereby individuals and various charities could interact, and charities could benefit financially. Anderson has also been at the forefront of bringing relief to communities that have been devastated by natural disasters.
His philanthropic work has gone beyond only helping the disabled. Anderson has also participated in charity drives aimed at benefiting the orphaned, a section of society which often finds it nearly impossible to subsist on a daily basis. Anderson has worked hard to lobby for stadiums to adapt their building so that they become accessible to wheelchair-bound people. A man of action, Anderson continues to work for the betterment of South African society and the world at large.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Dr Mary Susan Makobatjatji Malahlela (Posthumous): For her excellent contribution towards provision of medical services to the oppressed majority of South Africans during apartheid tyranny. She was the first African woman to qualify as a medical practitioner in South Africa.
Malahlela studied and became one of the first African women medical doctors in South Africa. After finishing her medical studies, Malahlela worked as a house doctor at the McCord Hospital from 1947 until 1949. She went on to establish a medical practice in Kliptown, Soweto; it was the first medical practice to be established in the town.
The Group Areas Act shattered Malahlela as she was forced to close her medical practices because her family was forcefully uprooted from Kliptown to Dobsonville. In 1981 Malahlela collapsed at the rural Opperheimer Witkoppen clinic where she was offering voluntary work and was rushed to Parklane Hospital in Johannesburg where she passed on.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Andrew Ross: For his excellent contribution to the training of young rural medics. His work has provided hope to communities that utilise rural hospitals.
He is a principal specialist in Family Medicine at the University of KwaZulu Natal and previously worked as a Medical Superintendent at Mosvold Hospital in deep rural northern KZN between 1990 and 2003.
In the early 1990's he organised a full complement of doctors from Britain to come and work at his hospital. Critical shortages of qualified health care professionals working in this rural community continued to have a negative impact on the provision of health care services. Concurrently the community was also burdened by a high disease burden related to poverty, inadequate water, sanitation and a lack of basic infrastructure.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Otto Stehlik: For his excellent contribution towards economic and social development is South Africa. His business skills have benefited South Africa significantly.
He is a successful businessman who has contributed immensely to development in South Africa. Stehlik grew up in Austria and trained at the Hotel and Tourism College in Vienna as a young man. He entered the hospitality industry at an early age, working for the Intercontinental in Vienna. After some time with Intercontinental, he moved to London where he worked for the Hyde Park Hotel and Royal Garden Hotel respectively. He immigrated to South Africa in 1970 and began work as a receptionist at the 5 Star Heerengracht Hotels. Due to a principled work ethic, Stehlik rose through the ranks to become Managing Director of the 5 Star Heerengacht Hotels by 1977.
When he started the business Stehlik did not have enough capital. But he has managed to grow the business into a successful company that dominates the hospitality industry on the African continent. Stehlik's biggest contribution, it can be said, has been his establishing of the Institute for Professional Development, which provides training to the South African and continental (African) workforce in the hospitality industry, proving his determination to live a legacy for the people of South Africa and the African continent overall.
The Order will be bestowed in Gold on:
Professor Emeritus James David Lewis-Williams: For his exceptional and distinguished contribution to the scientific field of Archaeology. His research on the rock art of ancient people in Southern Africa has contributed valuable information about the life of San people in the region.
He developed methods intended for the interpretation of sophisticated San rock art. San rock art is a remarkable art that the San people of Southern Africa engaged in in ages gone by and has become a very significant part of South Africa's heritage.
His rock art work is very influential within archaeology and its influence extends worldwide. He has delivered over a hundred lectures and seminars that focus on the subject of rock art worldwide. He curated San rock art exhibitions in major galleries across the world, including the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
In 2006 he became the only archaeologist in South Africa to receive an Honorary DLitt degree from the University of Cape Town and an Honorary DSc from the Witwatersrand University.
THE ORDER OF LUTHULI
The Order will be bestowed in Bronze on:
Kay Moonsamy :For his outstanding contribution towards the fight for democracy and freedom in South Africa. As a trade unionist during the heydays of apartheid,he was among the leading people who actively fought the apartheid system.
Moonsamy's union activism gained political undertones; he left the presidency of the union in 1945 to join the mainstream anti-apartheid movement. He was part of the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign organised by the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress. Moonsamy was arrested and spent some time in prison as a result of his involvement in the protest against the Ghetto Act, a very controversial apartheid act that controlled the movement of black people. After his release from prison he doubled his anti-apartheid efforts, becoming deeply involved in the ANC’s military wing, uMkhontoWesizwe (MK).
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
William Henry Frankel (OBE): For his excellent contribution in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. He has played a significant role in ensuring that funds were made available and secretly transmitted into South Africa for the legal costs of Apartheid era political detainees and for the welfare of their families.
In the beginning of 1966 Frankel and others were approached by Canon John Collins, the founder of the International Defence and Aid Fund for South Africa (IDAF), to assist with developing a strategy that would ensure that the government-banished IDAF continue its work of assisting political detainees with legal costs and welfare for their families. Frankel, known only as "Mr X", spent twenty five years as IDAF's secret legal adviser centrally involved in overseeing and secretly channelling funds into Southern Africa to pay the legal costs of the trials of anti apartheid political activists.
The IDAF funded the legal costs of virtually every trial of anti apartheid political activists, something that indicates quite clearly the organisation's commitment to the principle of human rights and freedom.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Johnson Malcomess Mgabela (posthumous): For his exceptional contribution in the fight against oppression. He understood that human beings are naturally equal, and that the subjugation one race by another must be opposed at all costs.
Mgabela was amongst the leading mobilisers for the Defiance Campaign in East London and encouraged blacks to go anywhere without their dompas, something that resulted in his arrest. For over 10 years in the second half of the 20th century, Mgabela was the ANC's Volunteer-in-Chief, responsible for recruiting volunteers and dissemination of the party’s directives. The formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) saw Mgabela become a commander of the Border Region. His involvement in the activities of MK meant that he became a target for state security forces.
He spent 9 years in Robben Island and was released in 1982. In prison Mgabela ensured that the initiation rites for prisoners were observed right under the noses of the apartheid prison warders ensuring that cultural practices of prisoners continued.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Jabulile Nyawose (Posthumous): For his excellent contribution to the fight against apartheid. He paid the ultimate price for their involvement in the liberation struggle in South Africa.
Jabulile Nyawose died in the year 1982 when a bomb planted on her family car exploded in Manzini, Swaziland. She was a member of the African National Congress and several other liberation struggle-aligned trade unions. She married Petros Nyawose and together they raised three children. The Nyawoses were extensively involved in the liberation struggle. Their anti-apartheid activism saw them escape to Swaziland after intensified pursuit by state security agents.
Jabulile Nyawose died in the year 1982 when a bomb planted on her family car exploded in Manzini, Swaziland. She was a member of the African National Congress and several other liberation struggle-aligned trade unions. She married Petros Nyawose and together they raised three children. The Nyawoses were extensively involved in the liberation struggle. Their anti-apartheid activism saw them escape to Swaziland after intensified pursuit by state security agents.
Together they organised campaigns and mass worker meetings where they educated people about their rights as workers. They were also key figures, along with Rick Turner, Eddie Webster and Alec Erwin, in the rising of legally unrecognised labour unions. They formed these labour unions with a view to not only representing workers, but also the pursuit of the liberation ideals as well.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Mohammed Tikly: For his excellent contribution to the fight against the apartheid regime. His leadership groomed many young freedom fighters under his directorship of the ANC's influential school, SOMAFCO.
Mohammed Tikly was born on the 7th of July 1939 in Polokwane. He was involved in political activism at the age of 14. He spent many years in exile where he continued to contribute towards the liberation struggle in South Africa. He spent many years at the ANC's Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO) in Tanzania where he performed different roles.
Tikly became increasingly involved in the anti-apartheid activities organised by the Transvaal Indian Congress and the ANC. He left for overseas to pursue his studies as the repressive social conditions in South Africa were disturbing. While in Europe Tikly participated in the 1963 Hunger Strike, going for 7 days without food, which was meant to draw attention to apartheid injustices as epitomised by the Rivonia Trial.
COMPANIONS OF O.R. TAMBO IN SILVER
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Gareth Evans: For his contribution and support of the Anti-Apartheid movement. His exceptional leadership influenced the Australian public to provide scholarships for underprivileged South African students at home and in exile.
He provided humanitarian support for the first time to victims of Apartheid under a program called Special Assistance Program for South Africa (SAPSA). The program provided scholarships to students both inside and outside South Africa, support for the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO), and many other forms of humanitarian support. As foreign minister he had the responsibility of overseeing the development agency and almost all the humanitarian assistance to the victims of apartheid was provided during his period in office.
Having been one of the first foreign officials to meet with Nelson Mandela after his release from prison, in Lusaka in 1990, he went on a tour of the major cities in South Africa in 1991 to meet with liberation movements and nongovernmental organizations to acquaint himself with the situation on the ground.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Amb. Vladimir Kazimirov : For his excellent contribution in recording the plight of the majority in Southern African countries including South Africa during the period of minority rule. His work remains a testimony to the vast disparities during apartheid.
His positions in the USSR Foreign Ministry, in addition to those held in the Department of Policy Planning (1966-71), include Head of the Latin American Department (1980-87) and Head of the Africa Department (1990-92). During this period Kazimirov served the people of Southern Africa and their fight for liberation with total commitment and conviction. As USSR Ambassador to Angola, he participated in the Joint Commission on South West Africa and the conflict resolution in Angola and Namibia. During this time he proved to be a friend of the liberation movement.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Professor Gay McDougall: For her excellent contribution in the fight against apartheid and injustices meted out one the black majority.
McDougall saw to it that the aggression of the South African government towards Namibia was thwarted. She founded a new group called the Commission on Independence for Namibia that consisted of 31 distinguished policy makers. She supervised the commission's monitoring of the UN-mandated system instituted to ensure ethical voting in the 1989 Namibian elections.
Following the country's liberation in 1994, McDougall spent considerable time inside South Africa, helping to dismantle apartheid laws and assisted in overseeing the first democratic election in 1994. She assisted thousands of Political prisoners in South Africa and Namibia. In recognition of her tireless opposition to apartheid, McDougall was invited to stand next to Nelson Mandela as he cast his ballot in the historical election that made him President.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Lars Nordbo: For his excellent contribution to the struggle for liberation and architectural skills that saw built dormitory blocks in Mazimbu, Tanzania, which housed ANC exiles, and which later was converted into a Tanzanian university.
Nordbo was not pleased with the condition under which the ANC exiles lived. He along with ANC leadership in Lusaka, Zambia initiated fundraising campaign to help secure funding for the construction of a proper habitable dormitory blocks. The project was led by ANC great Dennis Oswald. Through his hard work and that of ANC exiles, the project was completed in 1979 and the lives of the exiles were markedly changed by the improvement in their residences. There was an array of dormitory blocks, a nursery, pig farm and a chicken farm.
Nordbo understood very well that while people need shelter they also needed food for survival, hence the establishment of the farms. Before his recall back to Denmark, Nordbo took great care to ensure that the Mazimbu project, was maintained by overseeing the deployment of caretaker for the Mazimbu complex. When South Africa eventually saw the dawn of democracy in the early 1990s, the Mazimbu complex was turned into Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College, SOMAFCO. Nordbo remains a genuine friend of South Africa and subscribe to the vision of friendship as embodied by Oliver Reginald Tambo.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Amb Andrey Yurievich Urnov : For his excellent contribution in the fight for the liberation of the people of South Africa.
Andrey Yurievich Urnov was born on 10 November 1937. He is a Russian diplomat and politician with close ties to South Africa and its struggle for liberation. His interest for South Africa saw him become heavily involved in critiquing South African policy during oppression. He authored and published a book titled South African policy in Africa in 1982. He also co-authored White House and the Black Continent, Moscow in 1984 (co-author); and authored a New Phase in the Liberation War in 1977.
Urnov holds a Doctorate in Historical Sciences. He graduated in 1961 from Moscow State Institute of International Relations MFA USSR. He was a Deputy Head of the International Department of the Communist Party Central Committee. From 1990 he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union and was also an Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the USSR/Russia in Namibia.
The Order will be bestowed in Silver on:
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Paduka Dr Lim Kok Wing: For his excellent contribution to education internationally with special focus to the Southern African Continent is commendable.
His relationship with South Africa and other Southern African countries like Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland has proved to be valuable. Already the Limkokwing University has campuses in Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland where young people are learning world-class technological skills. His perseverance, talent and skills within a short time, catapulted his business into the top rung. He was wooed by an international network and his enterprise grew to become a global business through a merger with the third largest communication network in the world.
The Order will be bestowed in Gold on:
General Hashim Mbita: For his exceptional and gallant support of African Liberation Movements and tireless efforts in ensuring that the struggle for freedom in all of the African continent bears fruits of freedom.
In 1970 he was appointed Party National Executive Secretary. In 1972 he was appointed Executive Secretary of the OAU Liberation Committee. He focused on expediting support for the armed struggle resulting in cracks appearing in Lisbon which would eventually see a coup against the Caetano fascist regime leading to the liberation of Mozambique, Angola and Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde in 1975. But his greatest challenge was over Zimbabwe. At the Final Meeting of the OAU Liberation Committee in Arusha in August 1994 Mwalimu praised Gen Mbita for "his contribution to the liberation of the continent." Mbita faced many challenges.
Mbita's work and commitment to liberation is known in all the African countries that went through the armed struggle.
The Order will be bestowed in Gold on:
His Excellency Mr Brian Mulroney: For his exceptional contribution to the liberation movement of South Africa, his steadfast support for the release of Nelson Mandela and posing sanctions on South Africa's apartheid regime led to a free, democratic, non-sexist and non-racial South Africa.
Brian Mulroney's role in the fight against apartheid while in office as Prime Minister of Canada immensely contributing to South Africa's liberation struggle. His leadership on the international stage against South African apartheid had been impressive. Starting in 1985, Mulroney spearheaded an aggressive Canadian push within the Commonwealth for sanctions to pressure the white South African government to end apartheid and release Mandela from the prison where he had been locked up for a quarter century.
In 2004, Mandela sent Mulroney a letter in which he said Mulroney had provided strong and principled leadership in the battle against apartheid. He also said this was not a popular position in all quarters, but South Africans today acknowledge the importance of his contribution to South Africa's eventual liberation and success.
