Chairperson, globalisation has had many positive impacts on the world. It has brought together various economies, trade regimes and different geographical regions. In addition, it has brought about technological development, communication networks and the creation of the global economic village. It has also had a positive impact in the fight against organised crime through the use of technology and information systems and the working together of the international community.
On the downside, globalisation has led to an increase in organised crime, drug trafficking and cross-border terrorism. The many advances in technology and other areas meant to have a positive impact on the global village are used by organised crime to further their own causes, which have many negative results.
With the advent of globalisation, organised crime cannot be dealt with on a single-country basis. It requires both global and regional responses. It requires closer collaboration of law-enforcement agencies throughout the world and region.
Organised crime threatens the national security of countries and has no respect for national borders. It is transitional in nature. Organised crime includes areas such as illegal immigration and human trafficking, the trafficking of illegal firearms, cross-border smuggling, drug trafficking, and economic crimes, amongst other crimes.
Organised criminal elements often focus their attention on weaknesses in the public sector as it cannot sustain itself without collaboration from authorities. The South African government takes this seriously and is taking strong steps to root out corruption within society, the state and the private sector.
In its election manifesto, the ANC identified the fight against crime and corruption as one of its priorities for the coming five years. The establishment of the Hawks will play a major role in the fight against organised crime.
In the SADC region, the Southern African Development Community Police Chiefs Co-ordinating Organisation has started to play a more important role in the fight against crime. It recognises that there is an interrelationship between the different forms of organised crime. This body has become more integrated within the SADC processes.
Interpol plays an important role within both South Africa and the region. It has representation both within our country and in the rest of the region. Together with Interpol and the use of their databases and information systems, many breakthroughs have been made in the fight against crime. In fact, just this week, the National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele, has been attending an Interpol meeting. This clearly indicates South Africa's commitment to global co-operation in the fight against crime. South Africa has become an important area in terms of drug trafficking, both as an end user and a transport hub as a final destination to other countries. This is becoming increasingly evident as we see the arrest of South Africans abroad in possession of drugs either destined for South Africa or en route to other countries.
It is becoming more evident that there are links between drug trafficking and the elicit trade in motor vehicles, which requires a stronger focus on the links between drugs and other criminal activities. There are other countries within the region that are also regarded as important areas for drugs by those who are involved in drug trafficking.
Regional protocols are important in the fight against drug trafficking and other forms of organised crime, but so too are joint operations between the law-enforcement agencies of the region. There are challenges around the implementation of the various protocols which exist. In particular, there are varying levels of capacity, and this calls for greater co-operation across the region.
At an operational level there have been a number of successful operations. For example, there has been Operation Rachel, which was a joint initiative between South Africa and Mozambique to recover weapons left behind after the war. There is recognition that each country within SADC needs to address the availability of illicit weapons in their countries and put in place processes to deal with this. A further joint operation between South Africa and Mozambique led to the closing down of methopholine factories - this is the product that is used to produce Mandrax.
On the international front, a recent joint operation between South Africa and the United Kingdom led to the seizure of around R500 million worth of drugs as well as to the arrest of a number of suspects. These examples highlight the importance of working together in the fight against crime. They further stress the importance of regional and international co- operation by law-enforcement agencies.
There is also a strong need for co-operation in terms of training and the sharing of specialised knowledge on how to detect the movement of drugs. Drug trafficking is also dependent on money-laundering. This requires a comprehensive regional approach to curb money-laundering.
There is a body of information which links some drug trafficking to international terrorism. It suggests that it uses drugs to fund its activities.
Countries which are not affected by international terrorism can be susceptible to becoming havens for international terrorists. However, we must be careful that we do not allow this to throw countries into states of paranoia. It is important that these are treated on a case-by-case basis.
The nature of our borders is also a challenge. In addition, the porous nature of borders within the region poses a further challenge.
There must be a focus on securing borders within both our own country and the region as a whole. By this, one does not mean that we should retreat into a laager mentality. Our borders must allow for legitimate movement between countries. However, attention has to be paid to curbing the illicit movement of organised criminal elements through the borders of the region. The steps which are being taken by our government to redeploy the SA National Defence Force to patrol our borders and the setting up of a single border agency form part of this strategy.
There is a need for greater co-operation between government departments within our own country and with those of other countries in the region to combat organised crime, transnational crime, human trafficking, illegal arms sales, terrorism, and money-laundering.
The use of technology in border areas can play a positive role in the fight against crime. This has been proved at O R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg where the use of scanners and CCTV cameras has led to breakthroughs in curbing criminal activity. There is also a need to roll out the use of such technology to our land border areas. The region also needs to look at how such technology can be used.
The use of intelligence by South Africa has been prioritised. Because of the nature of intelligence, it is a sensitive area for joint co-operation. This is an area which needs strengthening in the region as a whole.
There are a few challenges which do need to be addressed: There is no comprehensive definition of organised crime in the region; there are varying degrees of capacity in the countries of the region; co-operation needs to be strengthened to enhance operations in the SADC region; organised criminals are not limited in their activities by natural borders are the police as; there is a need to strengthen the sharing of information owing to the highly sophisticated networks and technology used in organised crime; there is a need to focus on tackling the priority crimes in the SADC region which may differ from those affecting countries elsewhere in the world; and the Palermo Convention and its protocols require universal ratification and implementation.
Greater emphasis needs to be placed on the effective use of declarations, conventions and protocols of regional governments and international organisations or institutions. South Africa is committed to the creation of a better country, a better region, a better Africa and a better world through co-operation and the sharing of responsibility in the global fight against organised crime, in particular drug trafficking, illegal arms sales, human trafficking and cross-border terrorism. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, one of the most celebrated heroes in English history is William Wilberforce. Largely through his efforts, the British Parliament enacted the Slave Trade Act in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, which cumulatively ended the slave trade in Britain and its colonies.
Despite William Wilberforce's deservedly heroic status in England, these Acts did not stop slavery or the slave trade. It persisted in the southern American states until the conclusion of the American Civil War. It flourished in the Middle East, Arabic Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America well into the 20th century.
Slavery was only abolished in law in Nepal in 1924, in Northern Nigeria in 1936, and in Ethiopia in 1942. As recently as the mid-1950s, Saudi Arabia had an estimated slave population of 450 000, while slavery was only criminalised in Mauritania in 2007.
Even those countries that had formally outlawed slavery, reintroduced it during wars and dictatorships. Much of the military capacity of Nazi Germany was built on slave labour. The Soviet Gulags provided slave labour for mines and factories. During World War II, an estimated 200 000 women from Korea and China were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese.
In its traditional form, slavery involves the capture, usually through conquest, and the involuntary abduction and sale of human beings into involuntary and uncompensated labour. But there are other, and equally insidious, forms of modern slavery. Here I refer to human trafficking, and especially the trafficking of women and children.
With globalisation, and as international travel has become cheaper and less regulated, so the number of people who fall prey to trafficking increases. According to the US state department, between 600 000 and 820 000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year. It has been described as the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.
Approximately half of this number are children, and 70% are women or girls. The most common countries of origin of the trafficking of people are Thailand, China, Nigeria, Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and the Ukraine. The most common destination countries are Japan, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the United States.
Women and children are particularly at risk of trafficking. Parents may sell off their children to pay off debts or to gain income, especially in areas ravaged by conflict or devastated by climate change. Other forms of trafficking include forced marriage or domestic servitude, but the most important cause of the trafficking of women and girls is commercial sexual exploitation - in other words, they are sold into prostitution.
Trafficking is also fuelled by the growing global demand for sex tourism, in which individuals combine a holiday or business trip to a foreign destination with commercial sex. This has obvious and very serious consequences for South Africa in relation to the Fifa World Cup next year, as women are frequently trafficked around the world to cater precisely for these sorts of events.
To counteract the menace of trafficking, the UN adopted the Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, which entered into force in September 2003. This convention is supplemented by the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. South Africa is a signatory to, and has ratified, both the convention and the protocol.
The protocol obliges all signatory countries, at the very least, to criminalise all forms of trafficking, including both trafficking and attempted trafficking of persons. The protocol further calls on signatory states to recognise in their criminal law that trafficking is as serious an offence as the smuggling of drugs and weapons, and to provide for similar penalties. The Philippines and the Dominican Republic, for example, both provide for 20-year sentences for trafficking plus substantial fines.
But it is not enough simply to outlaw and criminalise human trafficking. Victims of trafficking are often traumatised, displaced, undereducated and vulnerable to further exploitation. They frequently don't speak the language of the country in which they find themselves. Many have sexually transmitted diseases and many are drug addicts. For this reason, each signatory state to the protocol undertakes to provide protection, care and repatriation of victims.
In addition, most trafficking is committed by sophisticated, well-resourced and ruthless criminal syndicates. Successful prosecution of perpetrators of trafficking requires states to provide effective witness protection programmes for all those that will testify in their trials.
This is what is contained in the protocol to which South Africa is a signatory. The question that needs to be asked is how well we are countering this crime and how we are dealing with its victims. In answering these questions, there is both good news and bad news.
There is still much to be done before South Africa can live up to its obligations under the protocol. The key to stopping human trafficking is effective border control and successful detection and prosecution of offenders. We all know that our borders are unacceptably porous, and that every day thousands of illegal immigrants enter our country in search of work, food and a better life. Most are desperate refugees fleeing oppression and starvation, but this influx makes it easier to conceal the trafficking of humans.
Last year, South Africa was placed on the Tier 2 Watch List by the United States state department for the fourth year in a row, for what the state department regards as the failure to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The state department cites difficulties with prosecutions, inadequate witness protection programmes and lack of improvement in prevention as reasons for this.
We must turn this around. We must, in the first instance, radically improve border security so as to ensure that those who enter the country are here legally. In South Africa, border control is a multidepartmental responsibility, and the main role-players are represented on the Border Control Co-ordinating Committee.
But in the eight years of its existence, the committee still has no overall strategic plan relating to borderline policing and operations. In addition, there is a huge shortage of staff allocated to borderline security - as many as 71% of the SAPS posts are vacant in this crucial area. Sea borderline operations have a 96% undercapacity rate, while air borderline operations have no permanent staff at all.
Moreover, Adv Amanda Ledwaba, the Director of Investigations in the Department of Home Affairs, last year revealed that 90% of illegal border crossings into South Africa took place with the connivance of officials or police.
Because of our porous borders, South Africa has become a transit country for trafficked women and children, and a destination in its own right. We must reverse this situation, and reverse it rapidly.
There is a degree of good news. This Parliament has passed the Children's Act and the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act which specifically address the trafficking of women. But these are interim measures. The SA Law Reform Commission has proposed comprehensive legislation to address all aspects of the trafficking of persons. We must, as a matter of urgency, process the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill through Parliament.
Moreover, the International Office for Migration has established the Southern African Counter-Trafficking Assistance Programme, which supports and develops the capacity of SADC governments to deal with the problem of trafficking. It also assists with victim support and awareness-raising and had, by 2006, established 12 shelters in South Africa for trafficked women and children. The Organised Crime Unit of the SAPS has established a trafficking desk, and the National Prosecuting Authority has established a specialised unit to deal with this crime.
So, we are making progress, but I can't help feeling that not enough is being done. Only a handful of trafficked persons are detected, and no prosecutions have taken place against traffickers. We need to raise awareness of the incidence of this crime, we need to put resources behind improving border control, and we must prosecute offenders ruthlessly. If we don't, we will be letting down the thousands of victims of modern slavery in our own country. I thank you. [Applause.]
House Chair, Cope welcomes the debate on this topic. Our view is that South Africans inside and outside Parliament must unite in action against drug trafficking, human trafficking, the proliferation of illegal guns and cross-border terrorism, as well as poaching in the Kruger National Park and abalone poaching in exchange for drugs.
Today, we have 238 days and nine hours left until the most important sporting event in the world, the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, takes place. This event will put a huge strain on our public resources and on our society. Our nation has a collective responsibility to ensure that organised crime syndicates are stopped before, during and after the games. Let us remind ourselves of what nations in the world are faced with today. If the world, our continent and the frontline states fail to stop human trafficking, our future will be bleak.
We need a strong police force that maintains effective and professional co- operation with Interpol. We must establish regular vetting of police and justice employees working on this front.
If the world's nations, our continent's nations and the SADC frontline states and their people fail to co-operate in closing their borders and their ports of entry to druglords, then our collective future will perish. We will fail our future generations in that our countries will be semi- owned by the world's drug syndicates.
Let us briefly remind ourselves about what is happening around the world. There are three interrelated challenges that stand out in the drug problem: the cultivation or the production of drugs; the consumption of drugs; and the trafficking of drugs in which people become the slaves of and jailbirds for druglords.
It is in handling all of these challenges that we need the full co- operation of the nations of the world. In cultivation, the report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime suggests that, in 2006, cultivation increased by 33%, with the top three leading countries being Columbia, Afghanistan and Peru. In consumption, about 200 million people of the global population between the ages of 15 and 64 years use drugs. With cannabis leading the consumption, close to 160 million people, or 3,8% of the population between the ages of 15 and 64, are involved.
In 2003, the money that exchanged hands amounted to US$321 billion in retail, US$94 billion in wholesale and US$12,8 billion in production. The regions leading the pack are North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa and South America.
In trafficking there is a huge problem and there are six special drugs that are high on the agenda. What we require is an intelligence-driven operation.
We must understand that drug cultivation thrives on instability, corruption and poor governance. There is thus a need to strengthen the rule of law. Drug production thrives on demand. Drug control needs international commitment.
The concept of shared responsibility should be accepted universally and be implemented internationally between the producing and consuming states, regionally among neighbouring states and nationally among sectors of society.
For this to succeed, all of us will have to assume our share of that responsibility to improve the public health and public security across the world. I thank you.
Chairperson, will you kindly allow me to say to the hon Selfe that I thought he made an excellent speech which showed that he did a lot of research. I want to thank him for that.
The theme of today's debate is indeed of crucial international importance. Most countries in the world suffer from the atrocities of murder, rape, robbery, drugs, human trafficking and others.
South Africa, in particular - and very sadly - ranks somewhere at the top of the list of countries affected by these evils. There can be no doubt that all countries in the world must unite in the war against this international cancer.
I have been fortunate to attend practically all IPU meetings for the past 15 years. I can assure you that all countries in the world are as concerned about organised crime as we are. Some of these issues have been debated at length on several occasions where I was present, in countries such as China, Cuba, Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere.
Organised crime was not only openly debated, but was also discussed specifically amongst members sitting in committees in restaurants and privately. The message is clear: The whole world is concerned about organised crime and something constructive should be done to win that war in the shortest possible time.
The international crime cancer will, however, not be healed unless there is concrete co-operation and shared responsibility by all countries in the world in the global fight against organised crime. That does not mean a country can escape its own duties.
What is to be done is for the IPU, firstly, to formally resolve that co- operation and shared responsibility in the global fight against organised crime is an urgent and international priority.
Secondly, the IPU must, in co-operation with all its member states - and there are almost 150 of them - urgently devise specific strategies on how to deal with this international war against organised crime.
Once these IPU strategies are on the table, all countries in the world could join to execute them in order to win the international war against this cancer of organised crime. Thank you.
Chairperson, hon members and colleagues, I would like to join Mr Koos van der Merwe in complimenting the hon Selfe. We are not selfish in the ANC, so when credit is due, we give it accordingly. Some of the matters that you addressed are indeed demonstrative in that at least the DA, once in a while, does acknowledge some of the positive work that is being done by this country in achieving its national priorities.
In his speech, addressing a meeting of the Speakers of the G8 Plus 5 and Egypt held in Rome, Italy, on 12 September to 13 September 2009, under the theme The contribution of parliaments in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime, the Speaker of our Parliament, the hon Sisulu, had, by way of introduction, the following to say:
One of the most worrisome issues that faces South Africa in the wake of a representative and democratically elected government has been the rise of organised crime. Countries such as the Eastern bloc countries that have had periods of political transition have also battled with the effects of organised crime and criminal activity. South Africa has undergone similar increases in levels of crime subsequent to democratic political change.
This candid and open acknowledgement from the outset of his speech of the challenges facing our country today, especially from a member of the ruling party, was hailed by his peers as a reflection of the level of maturity of our democracy and a significant factor in the course of fighting one of the biggest enemies of democracy, namely violent and organised crime.
Another important aspect of our Speaker's speech, which attracted acknowledgement from his peers at the forum I have just referred to - as a unique contribution by South Africa to that discussion - is the introduction of the social context in which crime and substance abuse in particular have found room to expand and flourish, as well as their impact on the social fibre of our society.
In this regard, he alluded to the following:
It is also important to apprise the members about the social impact of drug abuse in South Africa. The abuse of drugs or substance abuse is a growing phenomenon in South Africa and has become a major concern both to the state, especially the law-enforcement agencies, and society in general.
This is particularly so because of the strong link between violent crime, organised crime, and abuse of drugs. The youth are especially vulnerable, owing to high levels of poverty and unemployment amongst them. They become a target, both as potential users and as an effective conduit for the distribution or peddling of drugs.
Some the key issues highlighted by the other speakers and heads of relevant United Nations bodies represented at this meeting, which was the G8 Speakers' eighth session, but the first to include G5 parliaments and which was an exploratory session to include the G5 in future meetings, were the following. The meeting indicated that it was critical that some emphasis be placed on border control and security because this matter was becoming much more challenging, making it more difficult to pursue criminals if there wasn't enough collaboration between neighbours. In addition, the session also highlighted the need for countries to tighten legislation to ensure compliance and minimise any potential threats; the importance of promoting universal ratification of the Palermo Convention, its protocols and implementation thereof; the need to ensure that domestic legislation was in line with international standards in crime prevention and criminal justice; the role of parliaments in mandating governments to improve data collection and analysis of crime; the importance of building capacity to improve criminal justice and law enforcement; the imperative to strengthen government through the implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption; and the initiative to mobilise civil society to strengthen regional co-operation.
These were amongst the measures that were considered critical in the fight against crime, especially given the transnational character of organised crime in particular. South Africa was hailed for the progress we have already made in most of these areas, despite the enormous challenges that we continue to battle with.
Among the statutes passed by this Parliament since 1994 to fight drug trafficking and organised crime is the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, Act 74 of 1996. The principal objective of this Act was to provide a mechanism through which allegations of serious corruption, maladministration or misappropriation of state funds and assets could be comprehensively and swiftly investigated, and remedial steps taken expeditiously and cost-effectively.
We passed the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act, Act 75 of 1996, which provides, amongst other things, for international co-operation in criminal matters with foreign states in respect of the provision of evidence, the execution of sentences and compensatory orders, and the enforcement of confiscation and restraint orders.
We have also passed the Proceeds of Crime Act, Act 76 of 1996, which provides for the restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, and established a number of money-laundering offences. This Act was subsequently repealed and substituted by the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. That Act, Act 121 of 1998, is now the principal Act through which syndicated criminal activity is prosecuted.
The Act, amongst other things, creates a new offence of participating in affairs of any criminal organisation. In defining the crime, we drew on the common elements of most other countries which had traversed this path and introduced such a crime to our Statute Book. The Act further creates an asset forfeiture regime which allows the state, through civil action, to seize assets that are the proceeds of crime used in the commission of an offence or used to commit or facilitate crime.
This provision was made to apply retrospectively. In other words, it applied to the confiscation of property used in crime that occurred before the existence of the Act, the idea being to hit organised crime syndicates where it hurts the most.
The law also criminalises certain activities of street gangs, such as the recruitment of members of a gang. The Prevention of Organised Crime Second Amendment Act, Act 38 of 1999, in particular, extended the application of the principal Act to proceeds of crime and property used in the commission of an offence where such crime or offence occurred before the commencement of the principal Act. The enactment of this legislation was required as a consequence of conflicting High Court judgments with regard to the retrospectivity of the application of the Act.
Let me conclude by stating that crime is a challenge that faces us all. As the ANC has said in its manifesto, together we can do more. It is a challenge that we must confront, irrespective of our political persuasions, and irrespective of our convictions or beliefs. The ANC supports the delegation in its envisaged trip to the IPU. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, the topic we are debating this afternoon calls on all of us to co-operate and share responsibility in the global fight against human trafficking, among other things.
The United Nations definition of human trafficking basically equates with prostitution. Prostitution is harmful to the prostitutes themselves, their clients, and their families and society. In order to endure the multiple invasions of their bodies, prostitutes use alcohol and drugs to numb the assault on their consciences, dignity and bodily integrity.
They ACDP agrees with Doctors for Life, who said that the decriminalisation of prostitution only allows criminals and members of organised crime rings to become legitimate businessmen and to work hand in hand with the state in marketing women's bodies.
Prostitution is ultimately sexual slavery. And, like all forms of slavery, the goal should be to eliminate it, and not to make it legal. It is a fact that the legalisation of prostitution does not end abuse; it only makes abuse legal. It would be hypocritical for members of this House to talk about fighting against human trafficking, while they support calls from individuals and advocacy groups for prostitution to be decriminalised.
We oppose the decriminalisation of prostitution and support the care and restoration of prostitutes to a safe, decent and dignified life. There is ample scientific evidence that prostitution is an inherently harmful practice, and that the vast majority of people who are involved in it would leave if they could find alternatives. The emotional trauma of prostitution is the same, whether high class or low class, legal or illegal, in a brothel or a massage parlour, in a street club or in the street.
For these reasons, the ACDP urges members of this Parliament to co-operate and share the responsibility to fight against organised crime and, in particular, human trafficking that includes prostitution.
Chairperson, the context of this debate is that our Parliament is playing its role in debating subjects that are for discussion at an international level as we speak. In our case, we are on the way to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, on your behalf, to debate matters of domestic concern, such as organised crime, to ensure a parliamentary dimension of response to this global challenge.
This debate is therefore an example of how we as a nation can link with others to solve global problems. In my case, I shall deal more with the need of our Parliament to respond to organised crime in the form of the proliferation of illegal arms, in particular small arms, and the inhumane problem of human trafficking which previous speakers have dealt with. As the topic indicates, this is a global problem that needs a global response. We, in the ANC, have always believed and practised the principle of international human solidarity in our practice of international relations. An international response is paramount, because globalisation has not only integrated economies through technology, but it has also opened the door for the cross-border distribution of social ills like organised crime.
Therefore, the solution is a global response by all nations, in our case our parliaments. We can do this through the domestication of relevant international conventions and oversight over the implementation of both domestic laws and international agreements.
Our Parliament should also look into hosting, as an independent institution, meetings of parliamentarians from abroad on specific pertinent issues. In the ANC when we engage in debates about organised crime, we do so not only from the selfish perspective of the need to protect our property, as important as it is, but also in pursuance of a global economic developmental agenda of all underdeveloped nations. The ANC has long recognised and stated that violence in all its forms, be it war or crime, is inimical to the developmental interests of society here and the world over.
This was the ANC rationale behind agreeing to successive ANC-led governments in the past sending troops in peacekeeping missions on the continent. The ANC has an indefatigable desire to pursue shared economic growth and prosperity for all nations, especially in Africa.
The ANC also states in its strategy and tactics document that in its execution of the national democratic revolution it proceeds from the understanding that it is the task of revolutionary democrats and humanists everywhere to recognise the dangers and opportunities in search of a just, human and equitable world order, a world with greater security, peace and dialogue among the nations of the world - rich and poor, big and small.
Therefore, organised crime is one such danger that must be taken seriously because this scourge has the potential to be an obstacle to the advancement of the national democratic revolution. President Zuma, in his introduction to the manifesto of the ANC, said that the fight against crime would be a key priority to ensure safer and more secure communities.
As we stated in the ANC's current election manifesto, the ANC approach to crime is to deal with both crime and its causes. It is not a willy-nilly shoot-to-kill policy as some have distorted it. We must deal with both the kingpins and the foot soldiers in crime-fighting. We must deal with both the corruptor and the corruptee against crime. We must deal with both white- collar and public-sector crime.
As the strategy and thesis of the ANC document says, we must deal with both the big and the small guy in fighting crime. As we shoot to kill a dangerous armed criminal, we must also hunt and arrest the kingpin who hired the criminal.
The proliferation of illegal arms is a major inhibiting factor in the continent's development and prosperity. There is a saying that a problem well defined is a problem well solved. It is common cause that most illicit arms originate from the Eastern European countries that have joined the European Union. The EU has a policy that when these countries join the EU and Nato, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, they are required to conform to the standardised criteria of the arms of the EU. In this process of compliance, these countries then illicitly sell their undesirable arms, small and big, to the developing countries of the South.
States that are characterised as failed states, that are weak in government institutions, like Somalia, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic and others, become the destination of such arms. Also, countries that are undemocratic, that breed rebels and those with weak immigration laws or borders, become the destination of illicit weapons.
This is why the ANC calls for an African solution to these African problems in the form of harmonised economic refugee regimes, regional uniform laws on peace and security, and an effective African standby force in each region. We also call for the implementation of existing relevant laws between us and our neighbouring nations.
Our Parliament needs to do an audit of all relevant international agreements with a view to ensuring implementation and strengthening of the same. In those states where there are conflicts, which have resulted in ongoing wars, we in the ANC, informed by our successful political settlement here at home, call for inclusive political negotiations and settlements. We call for political solutions to all political problems, instead of war.
We in the ANC also believe that there can be no settlement of wars where some parties are closed out of political negotiations, regardless of how radical they are. the former President of the United States, George Bush's strategy of unilateral solutions to global problems has manifestly failed - dismally.
Similarly, human trafficking emanates from socially and economically deprived communities. It is simply the exploitation of the vulnerable who are turned into sexual commodities for the pleasure of the economically strong in society. Our government and country must move with speed to finalise the anti-human trafficking laws that will completely discourage the sale of people for cheap labour or sexual exploitation.
In conclusion, we in the ANC say that organised crime is repugnant to the struggle for the global economic development of nations of the South and those who are weak in the developed nations. We support the IPU in its deliberations on these subjects and call on our Parliament to play its part in the implementation of relevant laws. Working together here at home and abroad, we can do more to eradicate organised crime.
Lastly, in response to Mr Koos van der Merwe - who has since disappeared - who stated that South Africa was one of the leading nations in the levels of crime, I would like to say that I find it interesting and strange that we, as South Africans, find it necessary to always mention this self- lacerating fact that we have high rates of crime. I believe that we should leave this matter to those who are doing surveys and to academics, and promote what we know is good about our country. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.