Shannon Ebrahim
It is not every day you converse with someone who knew Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Rajiv Gandhi on a first name basis. This week I had the honour of dining with the former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney who was in South Africa to receive one of South Africa’s highest National Orders from President Jacob Zuma.
Not only was Mulroney one of the most admired prime ministers in Canadian history, but he has also been hailed for championing the anti-apartheid cause at the UN, in the Commonwealth, at the G7, in La Francophonie and at the Organisation of American States when it was particularly unpopular to do so. This week South Africa showed its highest appreciation for Mulroney’s efforts by awarding him the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo in Gold.
In the 1980s when Madiba needed friends abroad, Mulroney led the way, and Mandela never forgot it. The day after his release from prison in February 1990, Madiba spoke to Mulroney on the phone saying: “We regard you as one of our great friends because of the solid support we have received from you and Canada over the years... When I was in jail, having friends like you in Canada gave me more joy and support than I can say.”
As a young student Mulroney was influenced by Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker who, in 1961, led the Commonwealth in expelling South Africa, saying: “Apartheid is inconsistent and incompatible with the values of a democratic institution.”
Twenty-three years later Mulroney entered office in 1984 telling his cabinet that it would be a priority of his government to press the case for Nelson Mandela’s liberation, the destruction of the apartheid system, and the unbanning of the ANC. His vociferous determination to carry out this policy led to famous run-ins with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher over his almost nine years in office.
Mulroney recalled his major disagreements with Thatcher over South Africa this week. “She took the position that the Commonwealth was wrong, and I said the Commonwealth was right and she was wrong, and as you know she never felt she was wrong at anything.
“To say that Thatcher and Reagan were reticent on the issue of sanctions would be putting it mildly,” Mulroney recalled, “but I told Margaret, in this great moral cause, I am going to place Canada clearly on the right side of history.”
“Margaret insisted that Mandela was a communist, but I retorted asking how she knew that when Mandela has been in prison for decades, and I asked if she had spoken with him. When she confirmed that she hadn’t spoken to him but knew he was a communist because Castro supported him, I responded by saying – that’s because you wouldn’t support him.”
Mulroney feels that Thatcher’s interests in South Africa were mercantile, although he tried to convince her that South Africa was not a balance sheet. Eventually Thatcher lost the battle of public opinion.
“You’ve got to take the long view, and not worry about making unpopular decisions. Sometimes you have to tell your cabinet – this is what we’re going to do and I expect you to support me.” Mulroney said this week.
Mulroney forged alliances with other international leaders on the issue of South Africa, finding like-minded allies in the then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, and Australian prime minister Bob Hawke.
He also pushed the issue of sanctions against South Africa with US senator Ted Kennedy and senator Paul Simon who was the Head of the African Affairs Sub-Committee of the US Congress. US president Ronald Reagan was much harder to win over on the issue, despite years of Mulroney trying to convince him.
Mulroney recalled this week what has become a famous anecdote of a meeting he had with Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki in the SADC region in 1992. Mandela asked Mulroney for financial assistance, which initially made Mulroney hesitate given that Canada was in a recession at the time and he was under fire for the amount of aid being spent abroad.
When he asked Mandela how much he was talking about, Mandela responded by saying US$10 million. Much to his credit, Mulroney promised to make a plan.
Mulroney left office a year before South Africa’s democratic elections, but continued to meet Mandela on a regular basis as he was appointed to the board of Independent Media from 1995 to 2005.
It is clear that one of Mulroney’s greatest disappointments was not being able to attend Mandela’s inauguration in 1994. Mulroney did, however, attend Mandela’s memorial service two years ago with a contingent of former Canadian prime ministers, one of the largest high level foreign delegations to arrive in South Africa.
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