Rubicon speech

Last updated
Rubicon speech
Date15 August 1985;39 years ago (1985-08-15)
Location Durban, South Africa
Participants P. W. Botha

The Rubicon speech was delivered by South African President P. W. Botha on the evening of 15 August 1985 in Durban. The world was expecting Botha to announce major reforms in his government, including abolishing the apartheid system and the release of Nelson Mandela. [1] However, the speech Botha actually delivered at the time did none of this.

Contents

The speech is known as the 'Rubicon speech' because in its second-last paragraph Botha used the phrase, "I believe that we are today crossing the Rubicon. There can be no turning back." [2] alluding to the historical reference of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon River.

Background

After a long period of isolation and strained diplomatic relations between South Africa and the international community, the National Party decided to hold a meeting to bring about reforms in the government. However, the meeting was shrouded in secrecy and mystery, and Botha was reported to have kept quiet and to have not participated even though he was present. This was taken as a sign that he was approving of the proposed changes. There were also reports that Botha did not participate due to his doctor's orders to avoid emotional outburst and not to engage in discussions that might upset him. [3] At the final draft of the original agreed speech, which would be named the "Prog speech" ("Prog" being short for the Progressive Federal Party, then in opposition), and which would have recognized black human dignity, eradicated all forms of discrimination, and created equal opportunities, the nature of the speech, in conjunction with the news that a US bank was threatening to call in its loan, made Botha feel that he was being forced to capitulate to the revolutionary movements. Botha, whose fierce will had earned him the name "Die Groot Krokodil" (The Big Crocodile), simply refused and said he was not going to make that speech but was going to draft his own. [3]

The speech

Due to its anticipation and publicity by different international media houses, the speech was delivered live to a worldwide audience of over 200 million. [3] Botha declared that he would not support majority rule or the participation of black South Africans in the national government, stating there were alternatives offered through the "devolution of power" on the local level, a reference to the bantustans. [2] However, he also conceded that his government had yet to find a political solution for the country's large urban black population, which resided outside the bantustans. [2] Botha refused to release Nelson Mandela from prison, although he claimed that if the latter renounced violent tactics he would, "in principle, be prepared to consider his release." [2] He blamed recent political unrest in South Africa on communist agitators financed by external actors. [2]

In referring to the decisions the speech references as "crossing the Rubicon", Botha accepted that South Africa was passing a point of no return and that his government would maintain the apartheid system regardless of the internal or international consequences. [4]

Aftermath

The speech had serious ripple effects to the economy of South Africa and it also caused South Africa to be even more isolated by the international community. The rand fell drastically against major currencies and the economy continued to shrink rapidly in growth until after the democratic handover of power a decade later. [5] [6] The speech played an important role in creating the conditions for the government defaulting on part of South Africa national debt obligations in 1985. [7] [8] This is the first and so far only time South Africa experienced a sovereign default. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. W. de Klerk</span> State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994

Frederik Willem de Klerk was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a social conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party (NP) from 1989 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantustan</span> Territory created by the Apartheid regime of South Africa

A Bantustan was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa, as a part of its policy of apartheid.

The South African rand, or simply the rand, is the official currency of South Africa. It is subdivided into 100 cents, and a comma separates the rand and cents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. W. Botha</span> Leader of South Africa from 1978 to 1989

Pieter Willem Botha, was a South African politician. He was the head of government of South Africa from 1978 to 1989, serving as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president of South Africa from 1984 to 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Party (South Africa)</span> 1914–1997 political party known for implementing apartheid

The National Party, also known as the Nationalist Party, was a political party in South Africa from 1914 to 1997, which was responsible for the implementation of apartheid rule. The party was an Afrikaner ethnic nationalist party, which initially promoted the interests of Afrikaners but later became a stalwart promoter and enactor of white supremacy, for which it is best known. It first became the governing party of the country in 1924. It merged with its rival, the South African Party (SAP), during the 1929-1939 Great Depression, and a splinter faction, the Re-United National Party became the official opposition during World War II and won power in 1948. With the National Party governing South Africa from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994, the country for the bulk of this time was only a de jure or partial democracy, as from 1958 onwards non-white people were barred from voting. In 1990, it began to style itself as simply a South African civic nationalist party, and after the fall of apartheid in 1994, attempted to become a moderate conservative one. The party's reputation was damaged irreparably by perpetrating apartheid, and it rebranded itself as the New National Party in 1997 before eventually dissolving in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 South African general election</span> First South African election held under nonracial, universal suffrage

General elections were held in South Africa between 26 and 29 April 1994. The elections were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and marked the culmination of the four-year process that ended apartheid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangosuthu Buthelezi</span> South African politician (1928–2023)

Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi was a South African politician and Zulu prince who served as the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family from 1954 until his death in 2023. He was appointed to this post by King Bhekuzulu, the son of King Solomon kaDinuzulu, a brother to Buthelezi's mother Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaiser Matanzima</span> South African politician (1915–2003)

Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima, often misspelled as Mathanzima, was the long-term leader of Transkei. In 1950, when South Africa was offered to establish the Bantu Authorities Act, Matanzima convinced the Bhunga to accept the Act. The Bhunga were the council of Transkei chiefs, who at first rejected the act until 1955 when Matanzima persuaded them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pik Botha</span> South African politician (1932–2018)

Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a liberal within the party, Botha served to present a friendly, conciliatory face on the regime, while criticised internally. He was a leading contender for the leadership of the National Party upon John Vorster's resignation in 1978, but was ultimately not chosen. Staying in the government after the first non-racial general election in 1994, he served under Mandela as Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs from 1994 to 1996.

The following lists events that happened during 1985 in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartheid</span> South African system of racial separation

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. Under this minoritarian system, white citizens held the highest status, followed by Indians, Coloureds and black Africans, in that order. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.

Lukas Daniel Barnard, known as Niël Barnard, is a former head of South Africa's National Intelligence Service and was notable for his behind-the-scenes role in preparing former president Nelson Mandela and former South African presidents P.W. Botha and F. W. de Klerk for Mandela's eventual and, as he saw it, inevitable, release from prison and rise to political power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Tutu</span> South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist (1931–2021)

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first Black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from Black theology with African theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson Mandela</span> President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

Racism in South Africa can be traced back to the earliest historical accounts of interactions between African, Asian, and European peoples along the coast of Southern Africa. It has existed throughout several centuries of the history of South Africa, dating back to the Dutch colonization of Southern Africa, which started in 1652. Before universal suffrage was achieved in 1994, White South Africans, especially Afrikaners during the period of Apartheid, enjoyed various legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights that were denied to the indigenous African peoples. Examples of systematic racism over the course of South Africa's history include forced removals, racial inequality and segregation, uneven resource distribution, and disenfranchisement. Racial controversies and politics remain major phenomena in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech at the Opening of the Parliament of South Africa, 1990</span> 1990 speech by South African president F. W. de Klerk

On 2 February 1990, the State President of South Africa F. W. de Klerk delivered a speech at the opening of the 1990 session of the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town in which he announced sweeping reforms that marked the beginning of the negotiated transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy. The reforms promised in the speech included the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other anti-apartheid organisations, the release of political prisoners including Nelson Mandela, the end of the state of emergency, and a moratorium on the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Benjamin Moloise</span> 1985 execution in South Africa

Malesela Benjamin Moloise was a South African poet and political activist who came to international attention following his arrest and subsequent execution by the government of South Africa. From Soweto, Moloise worked as an upholsterer before turning to poetry during his time on death row. In 1983, Moloise was arrested for the 1982 murder of Phillipus Selepe, a black security policeman who assisted in capturing three African National Congress (ANC) members. Although he initially confessed to the murder, he later retracted the statement during his trial. Moloise's death sentence sparked national and international outrage and was seen as emblematic of South Africa's brutal crackdown on anti-apartheid activists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zindzi Mandela</span> South African diplomat and poet (1960–2020)

Zindziswa "Zindzi" Mandela, also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African diplomat and poet, and the daughter of anti-apartheid activists and politicians Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Zindzi was the youngest and third of Nelson Mandela's three daughters, including sister Zenani Mandela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomlinson Report (South Africa)</span> Commission on the economic viability of the bantustans

The Tomlinson Report was a 1954 report released by the Commission for the Socioeconomic Development of the Bantu Areas, known as the Tomlinson Commission, that was commissioned by the South African government to study the economic viability of the native reserves. These reserves were intended to serve as the homelands for the black population. The report is named for Frederick R. Tomlinson, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Pretoria. Tomlinson chaired the ten-person commission, which was established in 1950. The Tomlinson Report found that the reserves were incapable of containing South Africa's black population without significant state investment. However, Hendrik Verwoerd, Minister of Native Affairs, rejected several recommendations in the report. While both Verwoerd and the Tomlinson Commission believed in "separate development" for the reserves, Verwoerd did not want to end economic interdependence between the reserves and industries in white-controlled areas. The government would go on to pass legislation to restrict the movement of blacks who lived in the reserves to white-controlled areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Africa national debt</span>

The national debt of South Africa is the total quantity of money borrowed by the Government of South Africa at any time through the issue of securities by the South African Treasury and other government agencies.

References

  1. ↑ "PW Botha gives the 'Rubicon' Speech in Durban". South African History Online. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Address by State President P. W. Botha, August 15, 1985". The O'Malley Archives. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  3. 1 2 3 Hermann Giliomee (2012-10-26). "The day apartheid started dying". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  4. ↑ Cowell, Alan (16 August 1985). "Botha Rules Out Wide Concessions to Black Demands". The New York Times. Vol. 134, no. 46503. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019.
  5. ↑ P.E. Louw (2004). The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of Apartheid. Praeger. p. 72. ISBN   9780275983116 . Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  6. ↑ "A history of South Africa's currency". businesstech.co.za. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  7. ↑ Rossouw, Jannie (15 January 2016). "South Africa is on a cliff edge – just as it was in 1985". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  8. 1 2 Bradlow, Daniel (2016-12-18). "Don't Waste a Serious Crisis: Lessons from South Africa's Debt Crisis". Rochester, NY. SSRN   2901456.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.