Dinner for Nelson Mandela

Commonwealth House, London, Britain

3 July 1990

Let me begin by saying how honoured and delighted I am that you have all been able to come here this evening. In saying this, I do not intend my words in any pro forma sense. As many of you will probably know, I formally assumed office as Commonwealth Secretary-General only two days ago. This dinner in honour of Mr Nelson Mandela is therefore literally my first public act. And it is particularly right and fitting that it should be so.

If the Commonwealth has a leitmotif; if, as it were, the Commonwealth has a peculiarity which sets it apart, it is surely its inevitable stand on the racial question, wherever and however it may rear its head. The Commonwealth, as this gathering needs no reminding, has fought racism, especially in Southern Africa, with a tenacity and resolve unparalleled by any other comparable international organisation. And if there is one man who by the example of his life, has drawn out the poetry and dignity inherent in the cause of multiracialism, that man is Nelson Mandela. And to begin my Secretary-Generalship with an opportunity to honour this man in however small a token, is, for me, a singular pleasure.