Hon House Chairperson and hon members, let me start by welcoming and saluting Mesdames Nonceba Molwelwe and Mahlomola Mabote, Chief Whips from Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, and their delegations. [Applause.]
We are sharing insights on co-operative governance in the legislative arm of the state and the doctrine of the separation of powers at municipal level and we are looking forward to further interactions, which should contribute to the turnaround strategy that the hon Sicelo Shiceka, the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, is developing.
Twenty-three years ago, on 21 October 1986, the African continent witnessed the coming into force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which was adopted on 27 June 1981 by member states of the Organisation of African Unity as a solemn undertaking to promote and safeguard freedom, justice and equality and human dignity in Africa.
The creation of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights will strengthen the hand and complement the mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights established in terms of the charter. Moreover, the anticipated synergy and collaboration between the court and the commission should enhance the promotion and protection of peoples' rights and freedoms as enshrined in the charter. Today, as the peoples and nations of Africa celebrate African Human Rights Day, we must remember that everyone's human rights in the modern world were born out of selfless and protracted struggles for the recovery of human dignity and its inherent values of freedom, equality and justice for all. These human rights did not come to us like manna from heaven.
Our failure and/or neglect to recall the heroic struggles waged by the founding mothers and fathers of our democracy for the recovery of our human and peoples' rights opens the door for narrow and sometimes ridiculous interpretations of the concepts of law, justice and human rights.
The African concept of the rule of law cannot be divorced from the Pan- African ideal that gave birth to it. The African quest for freedom and justice manifested itself in the resistance of Africans and native Indians to slavery and in the slave rebellion which led to the liberation and creation of the state of Haiti and the defeat of the fascist Italian army by the Ethiopian forces at Aduwa in 1896. This quest for freedom led to the first Pan-African Conference in London from 23 July to 26 July 1900.
In his address to the nations of the world, W E B du Bois, the African American revolutionary intellectual, observed that:
In the metropolis of the modern world, in this the closing year of the nineteenth century, there has been assembled a congress of men and women of African blood, to deliberate solemnly upon the present situation and outlook of the darker races of mankind. The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line, the question as to how far differences of race - which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair - will hereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing to utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization. To be sure, the darker races are today the least advanced in culture according to European standards. This has not, however, always been the case in the past. And certainly the world's history, both ancient and modern, has given many instances of no despicable ability and capacity among the blackest races of men.
It is this glorious African past that inspired Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme to call for the regeneration of Africa and the creation of a unique civilisation for Africans.
The Pan-African Conference in London had been attended by people of African descent from three continents. At this conference, strong attacks were made on the desire of the English capitalist to re-enslave the black man, especially in South Africa, and on the Boer atrocities against Africans in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902, also known as the South African War. In this war, Africans fought on both sides hoping that, in the event of victory, civil and political rights would be granted to them.
Instead, the racial ideology of Cecil John Rhodes and capitalist interests brought the Boers and Britons together to conclude the Treaty of Vereeniging in 1902, which legalised the colour bar foreseen by Du Bois in 1900. This colour bar found definite and emphatic expression in the South African Act of 1909 which established the racist and white supremacist Union of South Africa.
At the end of the first Pan-African Conference in 1900, delegates from this conference arrived and settled amongst coloured people here in Cape Town, strengthening the settlement of officials of the African Methodist Episcopal Church led by Bishop Coppin. The delegates from this conference, notably the Ghanaian-born journalist F Z S Peregrino and Henry Sylvester Williams took the message of Pan-African pride and political awareness into the interior of Southern Africa.
The Ethiopian Church of South Africa and the AME Church - the African Methodist Episcopal Church - also became the vehicle for Pan-Africanism, also known as Ethiopianism in Africa. Ethiopianism was the first national movement which linked African colonies and interior republics even before South Africa was united by British conquest.
This Pan-African or Ethiopian ideal inspired the formation of the African People's Organisation, APO, here in Cape Town, as well as native congresses which came together in 1912 to form the African National Congress for the defence of civil and political rights of African people.
The fundamental tenets of the Pan-African and Ethiopian movement were self- worth, self-reliance and freedom.
According to our icon, Nelson Mandela, the Ethiopian movement culminated in the formation of the ANC in 1912. "It is in this sense," said our icon, "that in the ANC we trace the seeds of the formation of our organisation to the Ethiopian movement of the 1890s."
The influence of the Pan-African ideal on the ANC found expression in the description of this glorious movement as a Pan-African organisation in its 1919 constitution.
The teachings of Marcus Garvey during the interwar years and the 1935 invasion of Ethiopia by fascist Italy gave impetus to the spirit of Pan- Africanism. Pan-African leaders Sol Tshekisho Plaatje, Kwame Nkrumah and Mnandi Azikiwe - the first President of Nigeria - were profoundly influenced by Marcus Garvey, the author of the slogan "Africa for Africans" - "Mayibuye iAfrica".
More specifically, these leaders were impacted upon by the Harlem Renaissance, which was inspired by the teachings of Marcus Garvey. The Harlem Renaissance drew attention to the glories of ancient Africa to validate African achievements.
Under the influence of the Harlem Renaissance, Azikiwe wrote a book in 1937 entitled Renascent Africa, which was another landmark in the gradual recovery of a history that had been forcibly denied and therefore forgotten during the same period when massive exploitation of the continent's human and natural resources went hand in hand with a refusal to honour and respect its cultural achievements.
Azikiwe, who had studied in the United States of America when the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing, and who later became the Federal Republic of Nigeria's first President, refused to accept that Africa's future had been blighted forever by the impact of European colonialism. According to him, the wellbeing of Africa depended firstly on reactivating a spiritual balance through respect for others; secondly, on the achievement of social regeneration through the triumph of democracy; thirdly, on mental emancipation through a rejection of racism; and fourthly, on striving for economic prosperity through self-determination.
William Nkomo, one of the founders of the ANC Youth League, told a women's conference in the 1930s that Africans are not a subhuman race and that they too desire the right to self-determination. During World War II, the defence of the right to self-determination and human rights of peoples and nations became the grounds upon which the war by the Allied forces was justified. However, the Atlantic Charter that guaranteed these rights in the event of victory denied Africans these rights, despite the fact that they fought on the side of the Allied forces. This act of naked racism forced Kwame Nkrumah to declare that, after the war, Africans would demand nothing less that the right to self- determination and human rights.
Even before the end of the war, the ANC national conference held on 16 December 1943 adopted the Africans' Claims in South Africa in response to the Atlantic Charter. This was the first home-grown human and people's rights charter on the African continent.
The African Claims document preceded the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human and Peoples' rights in Africa received impetus from the Freedom Charter and the Bandung Conference resolutions of 1955.
At the 1958 Pan-African Conference held in Akra, Ghana, the right to self- determination and human rights of African peoples and nations became the principal driving force. African jurists realised that the Bill of Rights incorporated in the constitutions of newly independent African countries sought to preserve minority rights to land, natural resources and privileges. Thus, in 1961, the African Commission of Jurists developed the concept of the rule of law in the African context. The adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights stemmed from the home-grown African concept of law and justice. It represents a movement away from liberal concepts of human rights which place the individual above collective or people's rights. In the African context, with its legacy of apartheid, colonialism and exploitation, the liberal concept of human rights entrenches class, gender and racial divides and impedes social and economic transformation.
As we celebrate this Africa Human Rights Day, we must recall the words of President Jacob Zuma who told us in the state of the nation address that we could only recover the humanity of all South Africans through the creation of decent jobs and the provision of quality education and health care services.
Here, the President made it abundantly clear that the realisation of the socioeconomic rights of the historically disadvantaged black communities who lived in shacks and other degrading and dehumanising conditions was extremely urgent.
In his address to the judges, the President also called for the Africanisation of the law to embody the philosophy of ubuntu and its underlying values of human, social and international solidarity. Many of the English and Roman Dutch common laws and their underlying legal philosophies negate the humanity of black people and need urgent transformation.
It is hoped that this Parliament will develop a transformation agenda in line with the 10 strategic priorities of President Jacob Zuma's administration which have been adopted by this Parliament.
Let us take this opportunity to congratulate Justice Ngcobo on his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court and to call on him to lead the Africanisation of the law and transformation of our criminal justice system to make it accessible to the poor and downtrodden.
We have the fullest confidence in Chief Justice Ngcobo and his colleagues and have no doubt that they will move our courts away from the liberal interpretations of the concepts of law, justice and human rights which negate the humanity of the majority of South Africans, impede the realisation of the socioeconomic rights of black people and seek to make South Africa an outpost of Europe on the southern tip of the continent. Thank you. [Applause.]
House Chairperson, hon members, the Organisation of African Unity's Assembly of heads of African states and of governments met in July 1979 in Monrovia, Liberia, to discuss a preliminary draft on the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Two years later, in July 1981, they adopted the draft document and exactly 23 years ago today, on 21 October 1986, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights came into force.
This noble idea of a charter came with the promise of hope for the promotion of human dignity for the peoples of Africa. It was supposed to be the onset of a new dawn for the protection of human rights, freedom, justice and equality on a continent that had experienced some of the most deplorable and atrocious violations of human rights the world had ever seen.
Ironically, the host country for those preliminary discussions of the charter, Liberia, several years later, was to be the scene of one of the most brutal civil wars ever seen in Africa, which claimed the lives of thousands of people and maimed and displaced several thousand others within and outside the borders of that country. Today, as we all know, the instigator and architect of that atrocity, Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, is facing various charges for crimes committed against humanity at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
In article 2, the charter of the then OAU promises to eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa, to co-ordinate and intensify co-operation and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa and to promote international co-operation, having due regard to the UN charter.
Two decades later, can we rightly say that the charter has changed the lives of the people of Africa? In my view, the answer is a resounding "no". This is because very few of the countries on this continent can claim to have lived up to the promise to uphold the rule of law and to respect people's rights. If anything, in my view, the charter was a false promise to the millions of Africans who have perished over the years and for those who today continue to suffer at the hands of those who profess to be their leaders.
In a number of cases, human rights violations arise because of the failure of the state to provide adequate security and protection to its own citizens, which results in these violations. However, in most cases, it is actually the state itself that is the perpetrator of serious human rights abuses and violations.
In 2003, the UN Commission on Human Security observed that the state remains the fundamental purveyor of security, but often fails to fulfil its security obligations and at times has even become a source of threat to its own people.
Ultimately, such a state has characteristics that define it as a "failed state". A "failed state" is one that has failed to provide some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign state.
Noam Chomsky, in his book of 2006 called Failed States: The Abuses of Power and Assault on Democracy, identifies four characteristics that define a failed state, namely: One, the loss of control over its territory; two, erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions; three, the inability to provide reasonable public services such as education, health care and other public amenities; and four, the inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community. Other conditions include widespread corruption, criminality, refugees or displaced persons and involuntary movement of people and a sharp economic decline.
In 2007, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation recognised that there is a connection between good governance and sustainable development and introduced an index which ranks the performance of sub-Saharan countries. These are graded on factors such as security, levels of corruption and respect for human rights. This view is supported by the former Prime Minister of Portugal and current President of the European Commission, who says that "Sustainable development requires states to be legitimate in the eyes of their citizens and to deliver the core functions of states."
According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, in 2009, seven of the 10 failed states of the world were found in Africa. These include Somalia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Guinea. On the other hand the foundation listed Mauritius, the Seychelles and Botswana as the best governed countries in Africa. [Time expired.]
Hon Chair, I am who I am because of each one of you. Today, as we focus on Africa Human Rights Day, let us put the spotlight on the importance of the humanity of each of us so as not to diminish our own humanity or reduce our own ability to enjoy unfettered fundamental human rights. How often, as human beings, have we trampled on our fellow beings on account of race, religion, gender, economic competition or blind pursuit of political power? Umntu ngumntu ngabantu. [No man is an island.]
The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights underscores the point that every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person, and that no one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right. Albert Einstein bemoaned the fact that unfortunately our technology has exceeded our humanity. Thus today we can oppress and kill brutally on a massive scale, and despoil our environment to the extent of endangering all human life.
Speaking of technology, geneticists tell us that we are the descendents of one mitochondrial Eve who lived in Southern Africa. Our skin colours may be different, but our mitochondrial genes are the same. Under the skin, we are the children of one common mother. This is an astounding revelation with major implications for the cohesiveness of humanity. That is why Cope advocates the realisation of one common national identity to overcome all manner of prejudices, bigotry and discrimination. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. [No man is an island.]
On this Africa Human Rights Day, let us also recognise South Africa as the cradle of humanity. This places on us a great responsibility for ensuring that human rights flourish everywhere in Africa and the world. Thus we will pay fitting homage to that great ancestral mother who gave life to all of us.
We have a steep challenge. After the exciting years of Mandela and then of former President Mbeki, who famously pronounced on what being an African meant, we demeaned ourselves through pockets of infamous xenophobic attacks and intolerance. These took away the gloss of that historic declaration, "I am an African", and stigmatised us after the first years of our early democracy. It also took much from the credibility of our struggle.
On this day we humbly apologise for the loss of life and for the harm that befell the victims. It was then that we failed as South Africans to be our brothers' keepers. We say, "Motho ke motho ka batho." [No man is an island.]
Just last week Cope's president, Mosiuoa Lekota, was prevented from addressing a party meeting in Humansdorp, which was his constitutional right. How would our struggle heroes have reacted to this? The gain of the mob was short-lived, but the loss to the country is incalculable. Does government condone this?
On this Africa Human Rights Day, we must also share the anguish of our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. When we were in chains, they were enjoying their new-found liberty. Today we are free, whilst they are languishing. Let us give them encouragement and support so that they can reclaim their lost rights and freedom. The need to extend the frontiers of human freedom is always a task that we must take on collectively as fellow Africans.
On account of practising ubuntu, leaders such as Nyerere, Lumumba, Mandela, Nkrumah and Machel, among others, strode over Africa like giants sowing seeds of humanity. 'n Mens is 'n mens deur ander mense. [No man is an island.]
For ubuntu to manifest in every walk of life, we need to see an activist state with an agenda supporting citizen democracy. From this honourable podium we say, muthu ndimuthu nghavhato. [No man is an island.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon House Chair, hon members, the 21st day of October, Africa Human Rights Day, is an important date in the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa.
On this particular day we remember the year 1986 when the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights came into effect. The charter is more than a statement of rights; it is a signpost for what Africa aspires towards. It entrenches the right to life, liberty, protection from slavery and degrading punishment; the right to trial by impartial courts and freedom of conscience; and the right to receive information; and the right to participate freely in government business.
In our view as the IFP, the charter remains a leading document that guarantees the virtues of ubuntu. The challenge is always to ensure that the commitments on paper are matched in practice. The premise of this input is that there are more debilitating challenges than success stories. Africa remains poverty-stricken and beset with disease in spite of the hot air coming from African leaders in the G8 promising poverty reduction.
Millions of Africans live as refugees or internally displaced persons, often without the bare necessities of life and without hope. It's impossible to accurately quantify routine patterns of abuse. All this happens despite African Union member states having ratified the charter.
The recent tragic outbreak of xenophobic killings on our own soil and the continued ill-treatment of African foreigners remain a mammoth challenge for the South African government in this regard. Respect for human rights goes deeper than free and fair elections. It is directly linked to the question of good governance.
A human rights culture cannot flourish on a continent that is beleaguered by improper governance, corruption and lack of service delivery. More importantly, if Africa is to succeed, the attitude towards corruption has to change - stripped from partisan politics - and presented to society not only as a moral illness but as an infringement of the right to development of the African people.
We therefore call on civil societies and activists across Africa, including those who are raising their voices - whether in calls for a new constitution for Zimbabwe, a firmer response to HIV and Aids, service delivery in South Africa or the violation of human rights in Kenya - to celebrate Africa Human Rights Day with honour and dignity. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Africa Human Rights Day is an opportunity to take stock of the progress we have made since the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in 1986. If we are honest with ourselves today in terms of the charter's guarantees of civil, political and socioeconomic rights, we must be sufficiently bold to admit that we have not done enough for the people of our continent.
But the ID believes that today we must also reflect on the poor treatment meted out in public to some of our continent's greatest sons and daughters by international bodies like the International Association of Athletics Federations, the IAAF. The ID would like to reiterate that until we stand united against racism, fellow Africans like Caster Semenya will continue to have their rights violated. I thank you.
House Chairperson, hon Ministers - I see two of them are still here - Deputy Ministers present, hon members, I greet you. I am humbled but at the same time it gives me great pleasure to participate in this important debate today as we celebrate Africa Human Rights Day, which was a recommendation by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in April 1986. The Chief Whip of our party, the ANC, spoke ably about the historical background.
But I must indicate that as far back as 1943, the ANC played a leading role in the development of the African Charter and the drawing up of a bill of rights for the African continent which promoted democracy; development; respect for human rights; fundamental freedoms, including the rights of women and children; and the elimination of conflicts which have a negative effect on both sexes, particularly women.
In South Africa, being an integral part of Africa, it is like the saying goes: "Charity begins at home." We at the southern tip celebrate Human Rights Day on 21 March annually. To reflect on that day, which has a long history of apartheid, is of critical importance to all South Africans. That day is associated with atrocities; massacres; oppression; and the banning of the liberation movements, including the ANC and the consequent devastation of the lives of all South Africans.
Women's rights are human rights. Black women in South Africa, regardless of their status in life, experienced triple oppression. They faced oppression not only because of their race, but also because of their gender. Women received lower wages than their male counterparts and they were always the first to be retrenched. As opposed to men who played a productive role, heading households and determining the status of women, the traditional role of women was that of being a reproductive being, rearing children and working in the homestead.
With the dawn of the new democracy in 1994, the interim Constitution of South Africa made the discriminatory roles and some of the legacies of patriarchy a thing of the past. A legal framework was put into place. The Bill of Rights of South Africa's Constitution to me is but an extension of the Freedom Charter which was adopted at the true congress of the people on 26 June 1955. The Bill of Rights is in line with the objectives as spelt out in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights was adopted on 27 June 1981 by member states of the Organisation of African Unity. It is in line with the ANC's quest for a better Africa and a better world, namely, that there shall be peace and friendship.
Looking at postcolonial Africa, it has always been subjected to dictatorships, armed conflict, ethnic wars and genocide resulting in the displacement of our people. Wars and armed conflict in Africa continue to make women vulnerable to rape and violence, HIV and Aids, starvation and slavery. Furthermore, because of cultural practices like Sharia law, women are sometimes perceived to bring dishonour to their families and can be murdered. This happens in spite of the fact that there is a protocol in place on the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
This protocol recognises socioeconomic and cultural rights for both men and women since it speaks to peoples' rights. This includes the right to freedom from discrimination, equality of persons, freedom from slavery, the right to a fair trial and freedom of religion. However, these rights are considered by learned scholars to be inadequate since, among other things, the right to privacy and the right to freedom from forced labour are not explicitly recognised. This protocol was adopted in 2003 and enforced in 2005. It is in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Cedaw.
The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development of 2007 is a ground-breaking instrument of member states to elevate the Declaration on Gender and Development as legally binding on member states. Activists both in our country and in the region hail this protocol as an important step towards the full empowerment of women.
Timelines attached to its goals include gender equality and equity in all national institutions; the repeal of discriminatory laws; and 50% female representation in political and decision-making bodies by 2015.
Although gender-based violence is identified in the protocol, it does not address marital rape which is a common feature of domestic violence. I think it will be important for all members to read these protocols, know and understand them.
I would like to recount something that happened not so long ago. The Sharia law in Nigeria sentenced a woman to death by stoning for having sex out of wedlock. There was a loud outcry from the outside world because Sharia law codified unjust and unequal treatment for men and women in such cases.
The ANC Women's League ran a campaign to withdraw the death sentence and appealed for the acquittal of Amina Lawal of any wrongdoing. The campaign was successful and she was acquitted, thanks to the contribution of the ANC Women's League which was proactive with the human rights activists that regarded the punishment not only as barbaric but severely discriminatory against women.
Similarly, I wish to remind the House about the execution of a South African citizen in Botswana by hanging a couple of years ago. Clearly these executions are contrary to the spirit of Africa Human Rights Day, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the Constitution of South Africa and cannot be condoned. We commend the ANC Women's League for being so proactive on issues regarding human rights in Africa. But as the ANC government we have our own role to play with regard to Chapter 9 institutions as enshrined in our Constitution.
Let me conclude by saying that as the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities we were privy to an input that would advance the struggle of women on the African continent in particular, and the global village in general, to deepen human rights and to entrench democracy. Both the Commission on Gender Equality and the SA Human Rights Commission have shortcomings in relation to their constitutional mandates, and as Parliament we should engage them. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, when one looks at the human rights record on the African continent in general, one has to look down with shame because it is appalling. There is sufficient evidence to prove that most African leaders pay lip service to human rights and that they are allowed to get away with it.
The African Union and SADC have failed our people, particularly the people of Zimbabwe, by protecting and defending dictators such as President Mugabe and President al-Bashir, rather than demanding that they respect the rule of law, justice, democracy and human rights in their countries.
As Zimbabwe is on the verge of sliding back into chaos, the ACDP urges SADC leaders to show some political muscle and will by calling for an urgent regional summit to help save the fragile Zimbabwean coalition. We agree with leading political analyst and University of Zimbabwe lecturer Eldred Masunungure who said: "... if SADC has any conscience still left, it should move swiftly to salvage what is left of the unity government."
We call on African leaders to stop paying lip service to human rights and start setting a good example for their people to follow. Thank you.
Hon Chair, we should acknowledge the fact that powerful countries in the past have been known to violate the human rights of citizens of poorer countries. We, in South Africa, should not fall into that moral dilemma through greed, war and a lack of value for other people's human rights.
There is a long way to go before we can have a just society because of the unfair application of human rights. The rights of some people should not impinge on those of others. We should be tolerant of one another.
The youth must be aware of human rights, but should not take advantage of them by losing respect, dignity and discipline. They should bear in mind that their rights as human beings have no colour or creed and are nonpolitical, and that they should not be used as a political platform.
We may quote dates, times, reasons when it comes to human rights, but it is meaningless if we do not check our own internal individual values for the rights of our fellow human beings. I thank you. [Applause.]
House Chairperson, the role of the state in the protection of human rights is to foster the rule of law and provide security for its citizens; maintain an independent judiciary; adopt stable economic policy; hold regular, free and fair elections; invest in social service infrastructure; protect the environment; and most importantly, protect human rights. These are the fundamental roles of a functional democratic state in ensuring that civil liberties are observed and promoted.
The Vienna Declaration stipulates that all human rights are universal, interdependent and interrelated. It also reaffirms the important and constructive role played by national human rights institutions.
The World Conference on Human Rights recommended that each state consider the desirability of drawing up a national action plan, identifying steps in terms of which that state would improve the promotion and protection of human rights. The state should, furthermore, strengthen and support the work done by human rights institutions by providing public education and training in human rights, by offering technical assistance programmes and by drafting legislation in conformity with international standards. These institutions should be independent and effective so that they can hold the state to account on human rights issues.
The declaration of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in 1981 led to a new way of thinking as this charter was laid down by Africans themselves recognising their traditions and cultures. There is no excuse not to follow the charter as it was crafted by Africans.
This African treaty emphasised the need for equality before the law; the inviolability of the human being; freedom for all from exploitation and degradation, especially torture and inhumane punishment; and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention - things that are happening in some African countries as we speak. For lasting political stability on the continent of Africa, measures are needed to strengthen the protection of individual rights.
According to the report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, the basic principle of the responsibility to protect is grounded in the assumption that state sovereignty implies primary responsibility for the protection of people's lives within a state itself. Where a state fails to protect its citizens, then the people and the principle of international interference is valid.
In Guinea, for example, the military government is brutalising human rights groups. Zimbabwe is a classic example. The Gambian president has now also declared war on the human rights commission. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, rape is being used to instil fear.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan, principally for the violation of human rights. The list goes on and on in Africa, with daily violations of the human rights this charter was supposed to prevent. Regional bodies should be more active in protecting citizens and intervene where necessary.
Africa should grow to realise the importance of human rights bodies and not just demonise and sabotage them. As we celebrate Africa Human Rights Day, we should embrace these bodies because Africa needs strong institutions. These bodies should ensure harmonisation between domestic legislation and international treaties, encourage the involvement of various sectors of society in the formulation, implementation and review of relevant policies and contribute to reports submitted to regional, international and intergovernmental bodies. It is their duty to be visible and raise public awareness in so far as human rights violations occur.
As we observe Africa Human Rights Day, we want to be able to say today that we are really proud of Africa, but we are not. We need to start by popularising this charter and reverting to the noble principles that formed the cornerstone of this document, for there is interdependence between peace, development, respect for and observance of the rule of law and human rights and a state's function to ensure that each and every citizen enjoys civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
The charter of the Gaborone Declaration on democracy, elections and governance also highlighted the fact that democracy in Africa is threatened by a lack of respect for human rights, intolerance, unconstitutional changes of government, the re-emergence of one-man rule and the deployment of unconstitutional means to stay in power.
What is a cause for concern is that this charter has only been ratified by two African countries. South Africa has not ratified this charter. And the question is: Why has South Africa not ratified the charter on democracy, elections and governance?
Democracies must express solidarity with democratic governments and nonstate actors that work for democracy and human rights and must extend solidarity to those who are victims of human rights violations at the hands of undemocratic regimes. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Chairperson, colleagues and comrades, it is special occasions such as this one that afford us an opportunity to pause and reflect on the long road we have traversed as a nation - reflect on where we are and the road ahead.
It is especially those amongst us who are most vulnerable - women, particularly girl-children and children in general, the disabled, the elderly, people affected and infected by HIV and Aids - on whom we should focus, owing to the particular and peculiar circumstances that confront them, the challenges that they have to overcome and the need for us as a people to ensure that human rights give meaning to their everyday lives. The ANC has been, and continues to be, committed to the principles and values of human rights. Way back in 1955, in Kliptown, we led our people in the adoption of the Freedom Charter. Even today the principles enshrined in the Freedom Charter are still valid and, in fact, many of them can still be found in the founding principles of our Constitution.
In nearly a century of leading the struggle against oppression, the ANC challenged apartheid laws such as the Group Areas Act, which limited where a person could live, and many other similar laws that restricted people's ability to live their lives to their fullest potential. Our people were restricted from accessing equal and quality education because of race. They were even limited in whom they could marry or fall in love with. That's how absurd the apartheid regime or system was in seeking to take social, political and economic engineering to the very extreme.
Today we enjoy liberty. Many amongst our people are now experiencing a better quality of life. But it is important not to forget those amongst us for whom the African sun has not yet shone. The challenge is upon all of us to ensure that in everything we do, we do not lose sight of the primary goal, which is the vision that we should be sharing irrespective of political affiliation or bias - and that is to ensure that all amongst our people eventually get to enjoy a better life.
As the ANC, in our manifesto with regard to this year's elections, we particularly emphasised three key priorities, namely, promoting access to education and health care; protecting our people from crime, especially violent crime; placing particular emphasis on rural communities and ensuring that economic prosperity reaches them as well. All of this was because we were inspired by our unwavering commitment to ensuring that our people enjoy the same rights and the same quality of life irrespective of where they live, irrespective of the colour of their skin or their gender.
We still have a long road ahead. It is important to recall the words of some of our forebears like O R Tambo who reminded us that a nation that does not give particular attention to its children has no future. That is where I would want to suggest we focus as a point of departure: The quality of life of our children - ensuring that their survival is promoted, that their nutritional needs are taken care of, that they have access to education, that they have access to health care and that their general wellbeing is improved.
We have to ensure that in all our endeavours we promote a culture of tolerance amongst our people, recognising cultural and social differences and not allowing them to be the basis of division but rather the basis for promoting what we call a rainbow nation. We need to celebrate our diversity rather than see it as a weakness.
The challenges in our country remain, amongst other things, domestic violence in which women and those that are considered weak are subjected to unfair and unjust humiliation through violence, whether psychological, physical or otherwise.
As we approach our commitment to the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, we must take all the necessary steps, both in government and civil society, to mobilise our resources and our energies to ensure that, especially in this period, women and children live lives that are free from violence.
Our society is particularly endowed with resources of different kinds, but it is especially our cultural heritage of ubuntu that should guide us and that should give us strength in addressing issues of equality and equity and ensuring that all of us have access to all that we most treasure, namely, economic prosperity, social equality and a better life in general. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.