🎙 Welcoming remarks by Russian Ambassador to South Africa Roman Ambarov at the opening of the exhibition "Solidarity in Struggle against Colonialism and Apartheid: USSR/Russia and the African Liberation"

📍 UNISA | 23 July 2026

Excellencies, professors and esteemed guests,

It is my particular pleasure to be here at the opening ceremony of this wonderful exhibition dedicated to the solidarity in a struggle against apartheid and colonialism as a whole.

For decades the Soviet Union just like the Russian Federation nowadays stood firm in waging a never-ending war against all forms of racism and prejudice. We worked tirelessly and still do today in all the international fora especially in the United Nations to unify the nations across the world to put an end to the barbaric practice of dividing and disseminating the peoples by the colour of their skin. For we believe that the motto “All people are equal” is not just words, but action.

For the Southern part of the African continent this battle took a particular heavy toll. As we are all aware the just right for the oppressed in South Africa to be educated in their own language was mercilessly subjugated. The result is well-known – the Uprising in SOWETO, the 50th anniversary of which we celebrated last month.

This struggle led by the ANC was totally supported from our side. Let me remind you that Moscow’s relations with the ANC have a history of almost 100 years. Its president Josiah Gumede came to USSR in November 1927 when the 10th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution was celebrated. Since then, it was a story of unwavering friendship. These bonds got especially strong during the dark years of apartheid, when the Soviet people extended a helping hand to the South African brothers and sisters.

However, it was not our help that ultimately brought peace and justice to this land. It was the selflessness and dedication of hundreds of thousands of South Africans, Angolans, Mozambicans, Namibians, Tanzanians, Zimbabweans and Cubans, many of whom had to pay with their lives. The least that we can do now to honour those heroes is to remember them and tell future generations of their deeds by carving their names into monuments, movies, plays, history books and exhibitions, such as this one.

As our President Vladimir Putin has said on many occasions, preserving historical memory is more than just a tribute to the sacrifices of our peoples – it is a guarantee of our sovereignty and independence. Because if we stop reminding our children and ourselves of what our fathers and mothers achieved, someone else with insidious motives will rewrite history according to their interests.

Thank you!

#RussiaSouthAfrica #PagesOfCommonHistory