Mandela’s PAFMECSA Address February 1962
On 3 February 1962, Nelson Mandela addressed the Heads of Delegates session at the meeting of the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East, Central and Southern Africa (PAFMECSA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The session had begun the previous day, 2 February, with His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I opening the proceedings, speaking in Ahmaric on the theme of African Unity, where he specifically mentioned South Africa, saying he felt the need for new methods.
PAFMECSA, which later became the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), aimed to draw together the independent states of Africa and promote the liberation movement on the continent. Nelson Mandela was scheduled to speak after the Emperor, the first speaker the following morning.
The conference would furnish important connections for the African National Congress (ANC) and be the first and best chance for the leadership to enlist support, money and training for Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). In accordance with the National Executive Committee decision in January 1962, Mandela was present to read the ANC address.
In his speech Mandela reviewed the history of the freedom struggle in South Africa and listed the brutal massacres that had been committed against the African people, from Bulhoek in 1921, when the army and police killed 183 unarmed peasants, to Sharpeville forty years later. Mandela thanked the assembled nations for exerting pressure on South Africa, citing in par
