Freedom Charter - 50 Years Old

As the struggle for freedom reached a new intensity in the early fifties, the ANC saw the need for a Freedom Charter - a vision for a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa.

"The determination made by the Freedom Charter, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, now also reflected in our Constitution, decisively repudiated the dismal future for our country that those who had superior weapons had sought to impose," said South African President Thabo Mbeki.

"As we engage in these celebrations [Ed: 50th anniversary], we will also reaffirm that the victory of the perspective advanced by the Freedom Charter means that there will never again be the kind of conflict exemplified by the skirmish at Mossel Bay in 1488. Instead, our people will continue to strive to work together in the true partnership of which Chief Luthuli spoke, together to eradicate the legacy of centuries of colonialism and apartheid and build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it, united in their diversity," Mbeki said.