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Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - Web posted at 12:06:03 pm GMT

DURBAN (Sept 1) - Apartheid had been only the symptom of a larger disease that needed a comprehensive cure, former president Nelson Mandela told the Durban World Conference Against Racism on Saturday.

In a pre-recorded message to delegates from 153 countries, he said they were carrying the hopes of millions of people on their shoulders as they tackled the "ongoing tragedy" of racism.

"Racism is an ailment of the mind and the soul," he said. "It kills many more than any contagion" it dehumanises anyone it touches.

"The tragedy is that a cure is within our reach, yet we have not siezed it." He said the defeat of apartheid was a victory, but that apartheid was only a symptom of the disease.

"To conquer racism, we must administer a treatment that is comprehenisve and holisitc," he said.

"That is why we are here today in Durban: to look for a global response to a problem afflicitng all our countries."

He said the conference should be remembered as the one in which peoples from around the world undertook to cherish and value diversity, and to understand that to deny the humanity of "the other" was to deny oneself.

"Let this be a time for healing old wounds. Let this be a time to reach out to each other across the real or imaginary divides. Let this be a time to build a true spirit of solidarity in support of human dignity." Nampa-Sapa

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