Congress Moves to Erase U.S. 'Terrorist' Label from the ANC

All Africa News (Harare)

May 09, 2008

Washington, DC-- The United States House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to erase from government records the designation of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its leaders as terrorists.

The legislation, which enjoys bipartisan backing and is supported by the State Department now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it is expected to win easy passage.

The ANC led a decades-long struggle against apartheid in South Africa. During the 1980s, the ANC was included on the Reagan administration's list of "terrorist" organizations, which led to travel restrictions on visits to the United States. As a result, a special waiver is still required each time a U.S. visa is issued to any ANC member and several ANC applications have been rejected.

"This is a country with which we now have excellent relations, South Africa," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in recent Congressional testimony. "It's frankly a rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela," she said, referring to South Africa's former president who remains on the United States government terrorism watch list.

The bill's sponsor, House Foreign Affairs Chairperson Howard L. Berman (Democrat-California), welcome today's House action. "Despite recognizing two decades ago that America's place was on the side of those oppressed by apartheid, Congress has never resolved the inconsistency in our immigration code that treats many of those who actively opposed Apartheid in South Africa as terrorists and criminals," Berman said.

On Tuesday, John Kerry (Democrat-Massachusetts) introduced parallel legislation in the U.S. Senate. In a press statement, Kerry called the notation "deplorable" and said that "no bureaucratic snafu can excuse this international embarrassment."

Supporters hope that the bill will be signed into law before Mandela's 90th birthday on July 18.