19 May 1997
The SACP salutes the stunning victory of the democratic forces in the newly renamed democratic republic of the Congo (DRC) under the leadership of Laurent Kabila.
The coming weeks and months will be critical if the victory secured by a combinationa of military advances and popular uprisings is to bear its full fruit. Clearly, many dangers and complex challenges still lie ahead.
We fully concur with deputy President thabo Mbeki that the holding of multi-party elections, while being an essential component of the consolidation of democracy in the DRC, must not be seen as the first or only priority.
The new government in the DRC must not be stampeded by external pressures to move into hastliy conceived elections, without effective transitional arrangements and the consolidation of a climate conducive to free and fair elections. We condem therefore, the unreasonable pressure emanating, in particular, from the French government in this respect.
The liberation of the DRC opens up many promising opportunities for our whole contintent. Is argurs well stability of new arrangements in place in Angola. The potential over the new coming decade for forging a massive sub-saharan economic community is now much greater. The routing of Mobutu also marks a major blow to reactionary French African Politics, and it may in our contintent, including sovereignty for occupied Western Sahara, and democratisation in the Sudan.
Wea are proud of the active role that the OAU and our own government has played in the unfolding Zaire/DRC situation. The precedent of African countries settling African problems without the heavy -handed interference of external powers is greatly welcomed.
Issued by: SACP HQ