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Nobel Square

2009.04.03

Nelson Mandela
“Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.”
Nobel lecture, 1993.
Nelson Mandela, as President of the African National Congress, served as the first democratically elected President of a free South Africa in May 1994.
In 1993, Mandela, together with De Klerk, received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in promoting a democratic South Africa. Reconciliation characterises his leadership since his release from 27 years incarceration.
Despite officially retiring from public life in 1999, he has continued his compassionate, humanitarian work, taking his tireless fight for justice, peace and human understanding beyond the borders of South Africa.

Desmond Tutu
“There is no peace in Southern Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace and security until there is first justice enjoyed by all the inhabitants of this beautiful land.”
Nobel lecture, 11 December 1984.
Desmond Tutu was born in Klerksdorp in 1931 and is the son of a schoolteacher and a domestic worker. The year 1958 was to prove a watershed year for Tutu when he decided to leave his teaching career and enter the ministry. He attended St Peter's Theological College in Rosettenville where he received his Licentiate in Theology.

F.W. de Klerk
"Our goal is a new South Africa: a South Africa which has rid itself of the antagonism of the past; a South Africa free of domination or oppression in whatever form.”
F.W. de Klerk, 8 February 1989
On 2 February 1990 State President De Klerk made announcements in Parliament that would drastically change South Africa and accelerate the abolition of apartheid. His decision to release political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, and to lift the ban on the African National Congress, the Pan-African Congress, and the SA Communist Party was met with strong right-wing opposition. But it was this bold approach and his leadership role in the constitutional transformation of South Africa that earned him the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, as co-recipient, with Mandela.

Nkosi Albert Luthuli
“The task is not finished. South Africa is not yet a home for all her sons and daughters. Such a home we wish to ensure. From the beginning our history has been one of ascending unities, the breaking of tribal, racial and credal barriers. The past cannot hope to have a life sustained by itself, wrenched from the whole. There remains before us the building of a new land, a home for men who are black, white, brown, from the ruins of the old narrow groups, a synthesis of the rich cultural strains which we have inherited.”
Excerpt from "Let My People Go" by Albert Luthuli, MacGraw-Hill, New York, 1962
Nkosi Albert Luthuli joined the ANC in 1945, and was appointed Provincial President of the ANC in Natal in 1951. As chief, the government would not allow him to participate in active politics and gave him an ultimatum either to continue his chieftainship or remain within the ANC. He chose the latter and in the same year was elected ANC President-General.

February 11, 2009 in Cape Town
Nobel Square
A planned South African peace conference involving Nobel laureates has been postponed over Pretoria's refusal to grant a visa to Tibet's Dalai Lama, organisers said Tuesday.   "The convenors have therefore decided in the spirit of peace to postpone the South African peace conference to ensure it is held under conducive conditions," said Irvin Khoza, a top official for the South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup which was sponsoring the conference.   Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former South African president FW de Klerk withdrew from the peace conference on Monday after the Tibetan spiritual leader was denied a visa.   The laureates were meant to discuss how soccer can help fight racism and xenophobia, as South Africa gears up for next year's World Cup.   "In processing of the visa application by the Dalai Lama the South African government persuaded the Dalai Lama to postpone his visit to South Africa at this stage," Khoza told reporters at a press conference in Johannesburg.   "Given that the purpose of the conference is peace the convenors do not wish to put the Nobel peace committee under circumstances that would create conflict between the committee and its laureates."   The Nobel peace prize committee also said it would boycott the conference unless South Africa reconsidered its decision to deny the Dalai Lama a visa.

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