Albie Sachs E-Mail Exchange: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

Albie Sachs's E-Mail Chat with High School Students

E-mail exchange with Doug Woodbrowns's world history course at Marin Academy in San Rafael, California

April, 2000

LOOKING BACK

"...we achieved a country in which people of different color and origins could live together in a dignified manner..."

If you could relive your past, what would you most want to change (if anything)?

Dan and Michelle

Are you proud of your role as an activist? If a student has a cause about which they are particularly passionate, do you suggest that they pursue an activist role (no matter the consequences)?

Greer

Do you regret any actions that you've taken in your life, particularly in the anti-Apartheid movement? Do you regret any actions that others took against Apartheid at the same or different times (for instance, do you think that the Truth and Justice Commission had mistakes in it)?

Julia and Eva

Now that you have experienced the process of uniting several races in South Africa, what techniques could you offer to other countries that are in similar predicaments?

J.P. Dobrin

What was the largest obstacle you had to overcome to achieve your greatest accomplishment?

Talia and Sophie

What do you feel has been your greatest success in your life?

Jenna and Erin

Looking back, I feel proud of the years of endeavor. Many of the particular ideas that I supported quite passionately turned out to be difficult to realize in practice and far too often were imposed in draconian and even brutal ways. This became a warning not to allow idealism to be manipulated in malign ways. But the core of belief in humanity and the need to affirm yourself in the face of poverty and oppression was never lost.

When I look at South Africa today I see the materialization of much of the things we dreamt of. I sometimes feel that we are good at doing the impossible, but not so smart at doing the ordinary. What matters, though, is that we achieved a country in which people of different color and origins could live together in a dignified manner, even after centuries of conflict. This is our biggest contribution to the world.

I think we have some unique experiences in negotiation and reconciliation. We rejected the idea of making sordid deals between the elites of the different factions, as we did the notion of buying peace at any price. We had to agree on certain foundational principles. On this we were absolutely firm. No apartheid or even traces of apartheid. It had to be a clean, open society based on non-racism (and as our constitution points, on non-sexism as well). Once this was acknowledged, we could be extremely accommodating. In other words, unwaivering principles were coupled with extremely flexible methods of putting them into practice.

A second thing we learned was the importance of dialogue, of looking into each other's eyes. We had to see human beings at the other side of the table and they had to see us as human beings. The talking went on for a long time, and at times became acrimonious. But in the end we got a constitution that had the support of more than ninety per cent of the members of the elected Constitutional Assembly that drafted it.

The third special feature of our process was the extent to which broad sections of the nation were drawn into the debate. People are deeply mistrustful of deals done behind closed doors. The negotiating group that I belonged to spent as much time reporting back as it did at the negotiating table. When we explained the issues and the dilemmas, people could understand the accommodations we made. In recent years, I have been to many countries suffering from communal or sectarian or political strife -- Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Guyana, and Angola. I have also had an interesting discussion with the new president of Nigeria. In all cases, I tried to capture as best I could the way in which we had proceeded in South Africa. The process was transferable even if the outcome will vary depending on the circumstances of each country. I have also spoken widely on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We borrowed a lot from Chile, but developed the process in the light of our own reality and needs. I have no doubt that other countries will borrow from our experience and that they, too, will create processes that correspond to their needs and possibilities.

I am asked if a student has a cause, should he or she pursue it as an activist no matter the consequences? I don't know. I know that in my case I felt I had no choice. Apartheid was so overwhelmingly unjust, and so pervasive in the way in which it reached into every area of life that I just had to take a stand. And as it defended itself, it became increasingly ruthless so that ordinary peaceful methods of opposition became impossible. Whether I would have been the same person in another country with other possibilites, I simply cannot say. What I am sure of is that people should engage with life to the full, enjoy opportunities it gives us, press it to its limits, explore, have fun, sense its mystery and wonder. If that makes you an activist, so be it.