How Mulroney rallied nations against apartheid in South Africa

Three months after becoming prime minister in 1984, Brian Mulroney hosted Desmond Tutu, the bishop of Johannesburg and a powerful South African anti-apartheid leader, in his office in Ottawa.

That meeting not only solidified Mulroney's long-standing opposition to apartheid — the racist policy that imposed white-minority rule over South Africa's majority Black population — it also galvanized Canada's 18th prime minister into action.

"I sought [Tutu's] advice on what role Canada might play in the seemingly stalled efforts to free Nelson Mandela and end apartheid in South Africa. 'Do you think a middle power like Canada could have an effective impact on the situation?' I asked him," Mulroney recalled in a 2015 Globe and Mail opinion piece.

"Bishop Tutu was vigorous in his response: 'I think Canada can have an important, even a lead role in translating morality into political action.'"

Mulroney's subsequent public denunciations of apartheid and efforts to marshal Western opposition against it were never forgotten by the nation. Current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his sadness Friday at the "passing of a leader who holds a special place in South Africa's history."

"For us, his passing is made profound by the fact that we have lost this friend and ally in the year in which we are marking 30 years of freedom and in which we pay tribute to all those around the world who supported our struggle for freedom and democracy.

"May his soul rest in peace."

While academics and critics continue to debate the overall effectiveness of Canadian actions under the Mulroney government, South Africa awarded Mulroney in 2015 the Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo for "his exceptional contribution to the liberation of South Africa."

'An extraordinary moment'

A year after his meeting with Tutu in Ottawa, and fresh off securing an initial agreement among Commonwealth leaders to impose limited economic sanctions against South Africa, Mulroney warned the government in Pretoria that Canada was prepared to go further.

"Only one country has established colour as the hallmark of systemic inequality and repression. Only South Africa determines the fundamental human rights of individuals and groups within its society by this heinous method of classification," Mulroney said in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

"My government has said to Canadians that if there are not fundamental changes in South Africa, we are prepared to invoke total sanctions against that country and its repressive regime. If there is no progress in the dismantling of apartheid, Canada's relations with South Africa may have to be severed absolutely."

Stephen Lewis, Mulroney's ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988, described the prime minister's warning to South Africa as a pivotal moment in the General Assembly.

"You have to have been in the General Assembly to appreciate what happened when those words were uttered," Lewis reportedly said in 2014. "I was at the UN for four glorious years. I had never seen anything like it before, and I never saw anything like it afterwards. It was an extraordinary moment. It was, for all the African delegations, a moment of hope."

Commonwealth leaders were not unanimous in their support for sanctions against South Africa. Mulroney publicly clashed with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in July of 1986.

Thatcher opposed imposing economic penalties on South Africa, describing sanctions as "immoral" and "utterly repugnant." She argued, at a press conference in Montreal, that the best way to end apartheid was through negotiation.

"It's all about dealing with a regime that is rooted in evil, when an entire generation of people have been suppressed, deprived of their fundamental rights, their liberty and dignity as human beings," Mulroney told reporters after Thatcher departed. "It ought to be unacceptable to all of us of the Commonwealth and all prime ministers."

A month later, Thatcher agreed to limited sanctions against South Africa.

Mulroney's push for economic sanctions also bumped up against opposition in the White House.

While U.S. President Ronald Reagan described apartheid as an "affront to human rights and human dignity," he vetoed legislation in 1986 that would impose new economic sanctions against Pretoria. Congress subsequently voted to override Reagan's veto.

Reflecting on his conversations with the U.S. president in the 1980s, Mulroney wrote in his 2007 memoir that Reagan "saw the whole South African issue strictly in East-West Cold War terms."

"Over the years, he and [Thatcher] continually raised with me their fears that Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders were communists," wrote Mulroney.

By 1988, South Africa's economy was being squeezed by sanctions and corporate disinvestment.

"The movement in favour of human dignity is now irreversible," Mulroney said in a speech that year before the UN General Assembly. "There can be no doubt that fundamental change will come to South Africa. The only questions are when and how and at what cost in human life.

"We must make sure the answers come soon, and peacefully — and that a framework is preserved that will give rise to a non-racial democratic South Africa. Only then will the children of Mandela know the gifts that freedom brings."

'A true friend'

After 27 years in prison, Mandela was released unconditionally on Feb. 11, 1990. Mandela called Mulroney a day later to thank the prime minister and Canada for advocating the end of apartheid.

Four months later, Mandela travelled to Ottawa and delivered a speech to a joint session of the House of Commons and the Senate.

"I would like to take this opportunity to salute the great Canadian people whom you represent, and with whom we believe you are in full accord on the question of South Africa. They have proved themselves not only to be steadfast friends of our struggling people but great defenders of human rights and the idea of democracy itself," said Mandela.

"Mr. Prime Minister, our people and organization respect and admire you as a true friend. We have been greatly strengthened by your personal involvement in the struggle against apartheid and the leadership you have provided within the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Group of Seven and the Francophone summits.

"We are certain that you will, together with the rest of the Canadian people, stay the course with us, not only as we battle on to end the apartheid system but also as we work to build a happy, peaceful and prosperous future for all the people of South and Southern Africa."

Four years later, Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected president.