Groups celebrate Mandela's release with a rally

With African music playing under sunny skies, demonstrators gathered yesterday on the steps of Pattee to celebrate last week's release of political prisoner Nelson Mandela and show support for the African National Congress.

"Change is sweeping South Africa," said Monica Somocurio, president of Students and Youth Against Racism, which co-sponsored the event. She received applause and cheers from the crowd of about 100 as she praised Mandela and the ANC's struggle for recent reforms.

"The South African people, with the African National Congress as a tool for liberation, were the ones who made these changes. Not because of de Klerk, but despite him," she said. South African President F.W. de Klerk will not dismantle the apartheid system unless pressure on him continues, she warned.

One man disagreed.

Correction: When this article was originally published in the print version it incorrectly identified and quoted Roman Cakon. Cakon is a graduate student in political science. At Wednesday's rally, Cakon said if the communist party gains power in the African National Congress, then its power could lead to the death of both white and black South Africans who oppose it.

Roman Cakon, a graduate student in political science, interrupted the opening speech, proclaiming Mandela and the ANC communist, and warning that their power would lead to the death of both white and black South Africans who oppose them.

"Marxism, fascism. It's a hatred," he shouted.

Somocurio went on with her statements despite the interruption. Crowd members attempted to quiet Cakon, who eventually stopped speaking.

She went on to draw similarities between racism in South Africa and oppression in this country.

"We have apartheid right here at home," she said. "In fact, while Mandela spent the last 27 years in the jails of South Africa, black leaders in this country don't even last 27 years. Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party -- these leaders weren't jailed by the state, they were murdered by the state."

Sizwe Mabizela, a South African student who recently visited that country, said Mandela's release "closed a very sad chapter in the history of the struggle against apartheid." But he echoed concerns that removing sanctions against South Africa would be premature until apartheid is destroyed.

The rally ended with a statement from the ANC in New York City, read by Committee for Justice in South Africa President Andrew McInerney and the Black African National Anthem. Some crowd members listened silently as demonstrators sang the anthem with raised fists. Others filed quietly away.

A few demonstrators, including some South African students, spoke with Cakon, who continued to call Mandela, the ANC and the rally's organizers communist.

"These people here stand for 100 million exterminated people," he said.

CJSA, which also co-sponsored the rally, is not a communist group, McInerney said.

Despite the interruption, both he and Somocurio called the rally a success. Members of the University community need to be educated about oppression, Somocurio said, and the large crowd was a positive sign that they want to learn.