Column: Open Letter To President Of South Africa

[Opinion column written by Glenn Fubler]

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to offer you and your team best wishes, following your recent mandate for a new term, as a result of the just-completed General Elections in South Africa. I do so, on behalf of a group of Bermudians, listed below.

The group of us are only a small representation of the many Bermudians who actively supported the global movement which helped leverage the historic changes in your country in the early ‘90’s.

Let me remind you of your visit to Bermuda during Easter week of 1990. At that time, you and your colleagues had little chance to fully appreciate our Island, being deeply involved in key cross-party talks, regarding ending the Apartheid regime.

On the eve of that Good Friday, I picked you up from the Lantana Hotel and took you to the Bermuda Industrial Union where you met others involved in the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition. We had that opportunity to meet you because of our close collaboration with the British Anti-Apartheid Movement.

You may recall that this happened during the same week that George Bush and Margaret Thatcher held a summit in Bermuda.

In congratulating you on leading your Party’s success at the Polls, we should note that we support your post-election public commitment to address any and all corruption within your Government. South Africa remains a ‘beacon’ for not only the continent of Africa, but Globally. That said, it goes without saying that ensuring systems that protect the assets of the people of any country, are essential.

The legacy of the founding leadership the new South Africa, provided an important example; we wish you well in ensuring that your generation can build on that foundation in the new challenges of these times.

Signed:

• Arlene Brock – former Bermuda Ombudsman [recently Director of the African Ombudsman Research Centre – University of KwaZulu Natal Law School]
• W. Alex Scott – former Premier of Bermuda
• Canon Thomas Nesbitt – former Honoury Chairman of Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition
• Ottiwell Simmons – former President of the Bermuda Industrial Union
• Alvin Williams – Local author who was directly involved in the founding of the anti-apartheid movement in Bermuda

- Glenn Fubler, former Coordinator of the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition

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