Donald M. Payne: “I stand very proudly today to urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 436, commending a decade of democracy and…”

“I stand very proudly today to urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 436, commending a decade of democracy and majority rule in the Republic of South Africa. I did not believe when I visited South Africa in the 1970s that we would see a transformation of that apartheid-run racist government transformed by peaceful means. When the first elections were held 10 years ago, I recall the lines of people who waited for hours and hours in order to vote. Let me say that South Africa has transformed from an apartheid state to a nonracial, peaceful and democratic form of government. The country successfully held democratic elections in 1994 to elect its first democratically elected president. After being imprisoned for 27 years, Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected president. As the first democratically elected president, Mr. Mandela laid the foundation for more reliable government and an economically viable country and is seen not only as a leader in Africa, but as we all know, as a world leader. Before 1994, only 40 percent of the people in South Africa had electricity; now more than 70 percent of the households in South Africa have electricity.”