By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — The Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose two presidential campaigns in the 1980s brought together a wide range of oppressed minorities, workers and the disadvantaged into a Rainbow Coalition, is in South Africa to observe this country's first democratic elections.
Jackson was appointed by US President Bill Clinton to head a high-level official delegation to report on the election's "openness, fairness and inclusiveness", Jackson told a press conference in the offices of the United States Information Service here on April 25. He was flanked by, among others, assistant secretary of state for African affairs Dr George Moose and the director of African affairs at the National Security Council, Colonel MacArthur DeShazer. The room was lined with tall Danny Glover look-alikes in sunglasses, walkie-talkies at the ready.
"The US played a big role in ending apartheid with sanctions; now it is positioning itself to support and be a part of the rebuilding of a new, democratic South Africa", said Jackson.
He said the US would mobilise resources for development and the expansion of trade with South Africa and the region. He added that the ending of apartheid and the resulting stability in South Africa "will take a lot of pressure from the front-line states. Years of destabilising those countries will end ... The southern African region has the potential to become one of the great forces for economic growth and good in the world."
Asked why the US had not provided substantial aid or encouraged trade with the front-line states after their independence, Jackson said that US governments "supported the counter-movements to freedom. But things have changed ... The government's attitude to Africa now reflects the diversity of our government. That is what makes democracy great: it is diverse, many voices can be heard. So what was a US government position 20 years ago is a different one now."
The US government would concentrate on encouraging "aid for humanitarian purposes, trade, and corporate investment. South Africa is very attractive for investment", Jackson enthused.
Colonel DeShazer nodded vigorously in agreement. "It has the infrastructure, the raw material base, the ocean outlets."
Jackson agreed that the election was not the end of change in South Africa. There is a large gap between the "haves and have-nots".
What advice did he have for the new government? "There must be some commitment to lift those at the bottom up without traumatising those who are at the top. There must be some sense of stability. There are many ways of bringing those who are down up, without declaring war on those who are up. Things like tax policies and lending policies that can be used for some sense of stability and growth."
Jackson praised the system of proportional representation under which the election was conducted, the use of pictures and symbols on the ballot paper and the amount of resources devoted to voter education and preparation. The ban on opinion polls two weeks before the vote, and on exit polls on the three election days, also met with his approval, as it "minimises the media's ability to interfere with, and manipulate, the election process".
He dismissed the view that the rash of bombings would derail the election: "In our country there were terrorist acts, the bombing of churches and the killing of babies. There were innocent people assassinated in the south during the '60s, yet our will for democracy, for participation, outdistanced the cynics, the saboteurs and the sceptics. All the elements for a new and free and open South Africa are irreversibly in motion."