Hon Chairperson, hon members, hon members of the executive, Your Excellencies Ambassadors and High Commissioners and representatives of international organisations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, fellow South Africans, comrades and friends, a few days ago, President Zuma was in Addis Ababa with a delegation from South Africa for the historic 50th anniversary celebrations of the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, now the African Union, AU, our Pan-African organisation founded in 1963 for promoting our unity in diversity, our decolonisation, strengthening our solidarity and building on our common history and shared values.
Kwame Nkrumah captured this vision in his address to the inaugural meeting of the OAU when he said:
Our objective is African union now. There is no time to waste. We must unite or perish. Ke tshepa gore baetapele ba, ba be ba lemogile gore "Mphiri o tee ga o lle". [These leaders have noticed that two hands are better than one.]
Indeed, we have not perished. Today we are a continent on the rise. We pay tribute to our forbears for their foresight that gave our continent the OAU and its successor, the AU. Next year, in this country, we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary. As a nation, we began our journey, which started in 1994, for a better South Africa in a better Africa and a better world.
We also recall that during the negotiations, we spelled out our transformation agenda in our May 1992 document rightly entitled Ready to Govern: ANC policy guidelines for a democratic South Africa, which set four foreign policy goals for the postapartheid dispensation: firstly, the transformation of our foreign policy with a view to democratising our international political and economic relations for peace and friendship; secondly, our integration as a full member of the international community; thirdly, the development of a foreign policy that will promote regional co- operation, peace and security; and fourthly , the establishment of a professional foreign service in which training, employment equity and affirmative action will be important components of the attainment of high standards of service.
We are here today to say that, as we have elaborated on many other occasions, half, if not almost all, of what we meant to achieve and the goals we set for ourselves have been achieved. In just 19 years, we reset South Africa's international relations that were historically developed during the many years of exclusion, colonialism and apartheid. Today, most of the goals we have set for ourselves are out there for all to see. Our country is no longer a pariah state, but a valued and respected member of the international community. We have a dynamic, independent foreign policy that speaks to our domestic priorities, and which is supported by a professional foreign service. We expanded our global footprint from 34 to 126 missions across all continents and time zones.
Our international trade continues to surge. Even against the background of global economic doom and gloom, we continue to create millions of jobs. Tourist arrivals continue to grow year after year. As our President confirmed this morning during the press conference, for this past year, the year 2012, we actually received more than 13 million visitors in this country. Our African Agenda has placed our continent at the centre of our foreign policy. Our relations with countries of the South are firmly grounded in shared interests and common challenges. Our partnership with countries of the North is based on mutual respect and co-operation. We are active in the multilateral system for the transformation of the global governance architecture.
It is confirmed that we have also made history during our hosting of the Conference on Climate Change, Cop 17, where we have restored hope to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, by breathing new life into the negotiation process. Our economic diplomacy promotes South Africa's broad economic objectives globally. We are now counted among the voices that will change the global power relations. Our economic diplomacy promotes South Africa's broad economic objectives globally. We are now counted amongst the voices that will change the global power relations.
In the next year and beyond, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation will lead a co-ordinated campaign through the footprints we have established to diversify and consolidate our international relations. The budget we present to you today is about availing more resources so that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation can power ahead into new frontiers of co-operation, contributing towards the eradication of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The proposed figures are attributable to our reality of operating in an international environment. In 2009, this administration made a number of foreign policy commitments to the people of this country in the context of linking our international relations policies to our domestic priorities. This was done with an understanding that the cornerstone of our foreign policy lies in our domestic interests. We stand before you here today to affirm that the commitments we made in 2009 have broadly been fulfilled. We therefore wish to thank all who responded to our call that working together, we can do more.
Our relations with our neighbours are in good shape, thanks to our bilateral mechanisms, as well as the integration objectives of the Southern African Development Community, SADC, and South African Customs Union, Sacu. Bilaterally, we continue to work for strong diplomatic and economic ties with the countries in our region and through bi-national and joint commissions across the continent and throughout the world with the continuation of exchange of high-level visits, which have served to be instrumental in this regard.
We stand for a strong SADC, as an integrated community in various domains that is supported by an effective SADC secretariat. The SADC has taken the lead in working for peace and stability in our region. Our contribution in this regard has been through preventative diplomacy and mediation, our membership of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation and through regional peacekeeping efforts. We remain seized with the process of assisting and working together with all components and institutions of our region. We take this opportunity to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe on having successfully completed the process of their new constitution. We remain seized with the process of assisting the parties through the mediation efforts of our President to implement to the fullest the Global Political Agreement and the roadmap to elections in the context of the SADC mediation framework. [Applause.]
We welcome the proposal for an intervention brigade as a realistic option to bring security normalcy to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, by SADC, supported and working together with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, ICGLR. We have a responsibility, all of us, in this region and on this continent, to continue to protect the vulnerable citizens in that particular country. Our government condemns in no uncertain terms attacks on these vulnerable civilians, particularly women and children, humanitarian actors and the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Monusco, peacekeepers.
These excellent relations that I have referred to in terms of working together with other countries on the continent have extended to all parts as witnessed by His Excellency President Jonathan, who emphasised the value of working for a united Africa and the importance of a strong working relationship between South Africa and Nigeria.
We remain concerned, however, about the peace and security situation on our continent, albeit in fewer countries than in the past. Therefore, we will continue, as we did in the past, with all peace initiatives in full support of the process in the DRC, the Central African Republic, CAR, Mali, Guinea- Bissau, and Somalia. If it were not for the intervention of Africans themselves to lead and to bring about African solutions, Somalia would still be what it was for more than 20 years. It took Africans to provide leadership and be there first, before the international community came to join. Today the people of Somalia are celebrating a new dawn, which gives them a new opportunity to move on.
We will continue to stand by the people of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt as they strive to work together in their transition to a new socioeconomic and political dispensation. We firmly support the ongoing constitutional processes in these countries, and we are ready to share our experiences with all of them.
We will continue, as advised and informed by our foreign policy, with humanitarian assistance in all corners of the continent, where and when we are called upon to do so, and to act in solidarity with the sister countries in need. We have for so many years been seized with the issue of the status of Western Sahara. This is the only country on our continent that, as we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the OAU and AU, remains occupied. So, this is just one bit of unfinished business that needs all our attention. Self-determination of the people of Western Sahara is equally essential.
The primary objective of the OAU was to achieve a better life for all Africans, to eradicate all forms of colonialism and to defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. All of us sitting in this House, as we've joined all African nations in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the birth of our OAU and AU, should remember that the ANC had been there before. It had been part of the All African Peoples' Conference, which gave birth to the OAU - both conferences - because, at that time, South Africa had been a pariah state that could only be represented by liberation movements. Let me quote what the representative of South Africa then, through the ANC, which was based in Ghana, said in 1958, before hon Smuts Ngonyama was born:
We therefore welcome the convening of the conference and wholeheartedly congratulate its organisers. We should like particularly to place on record the deep appreciation of the oppressed people of South Africa of the fact that those who have already achieved their freedom and independence have not forgotten their duties and responsibilities to those who are still in chains, and to the sacred cause of African freedom and independence.
We were rightfully represented by a democratic, nonsexist government that respects human rights this time around, when we went for this celebration. We would want to appeal to all hon members to remember that, yes, the core objective of the decolonisation of the continent is almost complete, but the total emancipation of this continent is still a journey that we should all be focusing on. As such, the celebration started on 25 May 2013 and it will end on 25 May 2014 under the theme, "Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance", which was adopted at the golden jubilee of the OAU and the AU. I have been reliably informed that there will be a special sitting of this House to convene so that parliamentarians can also pronounce themselves through this august House on the importance of the Pan-African event.
We should also be focusing on what contribution we make to the strategic plan of the AU and also on what kind of contribution we make to Vision 2063. I am sure many of us will still be around in 2063, so we have to start investing in that now. Africa is different from what it was 50 years ago, not only because we have finished decolonisation, but because we have institutions that are there to capacitate us to discharge this responsibility. The African Peace and Security Architecture, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad, the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, and the Pan-African Parliament are amongst the many others that we have developed that also still need a lot of consolidation.
Building strong South-South relations is another leg on which our foreign policy stands. We do this by establishing good bilateral relations with countries of the South, developing a focused strategy and approach for engagement with the emerging powers of the South, and by participating in strategic multilateral bodies with countries of the South, including the historic Non-Aligned Movement. In this regard, our government was inspired, and continues to be, by the historic hosting of a very successful Brics summit. We are committing ourselves to full implementation of the eThekwini Declaration and eThekwini Action Plan.
The India, Brazil, South Africa, Ibsa, Dialogue Forum remains central with our relations to the countries of the South, as we move towards the celebration of the 10th anniversary of this formation. We will use this opportunity, when we do so, to reflect on the milestones and the long-term future of this formation. We continue building relations with other countries of the South through Brics and all other avenues where we find ourselves getting the opportunity to do so. We will fully discharge the commitment we have made with the co-chairship of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation, Focac, and we will host the 5th Summit of the Focac Beijing Action Plan 2013 to 2015 and fully implement its agenda.
The Gulf region remains equally important as a political player, as a source for Media for Development International, MFDI, and as a respectable destination for our exports. We remain seized with the peace initiatives in the Middle East, because we believe that peace will remain elusive to the global community until and unless we resolve the issues which constitute the Middle East peace challenges. In this regard, we believe the issue of Palestine and Israel remains the cornerstone of what needs to be resolved if peace or global peace is to be attained. For this reason, we will continue to direct our efforts in contributing to the peaceful resolution of the situation in Syria and other areas of conflict in that particular region.
In his state of the nation address, President Zuma said:
We stand with the people of Palestine as they strive to turn a new leaf in their struggle for their right to self-determination; hence we supported their bid for statehood. The expansion of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territories is a serious stumbling block to the resolution of the conflict.
Our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean Islands are also underpinned by our South-South goals. We will continue to discharge and focus on these relations, as we work together with the AU to implement the five Legacy Projects of the Global African Diaspora Summit that we hosted last year.
We have good bilateral relations with the countries of the North. We have strategic political dialogue with the United States of America, and these relations continue to impact positively on our five key priority areas in this country. President Zuma will be welcoming President Obama to our shores very soon to continue with this partnership. Europe remains South Africa's main trading partner, source of investment and valuable supplier of cutting-edge technology. Our partnership with the European Union serves as a platform for political dialogue and the expansion of our economic ties.
President Zuma announced this morning that he would be leading a delegation to participate in the Tokyo International Conference for African Development, Ticad, V in Japan from 1 to 3 June 2013, followed by a working visit in that country.
Our country attaches great importance to multilateralism. The cornerstone of the work we do would also be working together with all our African brothers and sisters for the reform of the global institutions of governance. We have, in the past 19 years, served two terms in the United Nations Security Council, continuing to champion the African agenda in that regard. As we exited our second term in the Security Council, we are now serving in the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission on global peace and security. We are also a very active member of the Economic and Social Council, Ecosoc. We will continue fighting for the cause, because we believe the reform of these global institutions of governance has to happen now and not later. South Africa continues to play an active role in numerous multilateral disarmament and nonproliferation meetings and will continue through the guidance of our foreign policy on multilateralism, whilst also keeping the eye on the critical post-2015 agenda of the International Partnership for Human Development.
This journey to freedom, as our icon Madiba taught us, is a long walk. Every step we take is just the beginning of a better one. [Applause.] Some priorities should therefore preoccupy our approach to the future. We also have to make a valuable contribution in the implementation of our National Development Plan. We will elaborate on our contribution in the coming weeks. We want to take the opportunity again to plead with hon members and the South African public at large that this is our African Union. Let us respond to the 50th anniversary of the AU and the declaration of Vision 2063, so that indeed we open up space for our children, for our youth, and for all to participate in the future of this continent. [Applause.]
We are glad to announce that the administrative requirements for the establishment of the South African Development Partnership Agency, Sadpa, have now been completed. The proclamation was signed by President Zuma, and the agency will soon become operational. We will come back to this House to table a Bill in Parliament on the creation of the partnership fund for development. I think we will be replacing the African Renaissance Fund with this very important development.
We have now also, in the final stages of the establishment of the South African Council on International Relations, filled in all the important key positions that were vacant, and we continue to look at the organisational development challenges that we have been facing.
Today, I am glad and honoured to say that through our cadet programme, we have three successful candidates who are now part of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation family: Ms Letlala, Ms Malekane and Ms Msimang, who are here as our special guests. [Applause.] They are also joined by 20 scholars from three schools in the Western Cape, namely Langa High School, Zonnebloem Nest Senior School and Beauvallon Secondary School, who are here as part of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation's Take a Girl or Boy Child to Work project. [Applause.]
We will continue with our public diplomacy, communicating the positive stories and messages of the good work that South Africa has done out there in the international community in the past 19 years. We are also glad to inform you that we have launched the Ubuntu radio station, which is our internet-based radio station and is broadcasting this interaction live.
One of the successes and historic decisions taken by our leaders at this 50th anniversary of our summit was that our leadership has unanimously adopted a decision that we will, as a continent, in line with providing African solutions for African problems, have a rapid response force with immediate effect. It will be done whilst waiting for the full implementation, led by our Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and our generals who are leading our armies, so that we don't wait for our relatives from somewhere else to intervene when we have a crisis on our continent. I really think this was historic, and we had more than 10 countries. After adopting this resolution, they also said that they were available and that they would be part of that. [Applause.]
In closing, let me say that we should unite. This is what the African Union's anthem says:
Let us all unite and toil together To give the best we have to Africa The cradle of mankind and fount of culture Our pride and hope at break of dawn.
Tau t?a hloka seboka di ?itwa ke nare e hlot?a. [United we stand, divided we fall.] [Applause.] [Time expired.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, members of the diplomatic corps present here, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, let me join the Minister, our government and our people in congratulating the African Union on reaching this milestone in its existence.
The people of our country and the continent will forever be grateful to the leadership for what you have achieved here in our country and in other parts of the continent. Our country remains committed to the regeneration of Africa. South Africa has established her credentials in making Africa the pillar in our relations and co-operation with the rest the world.
I am therefore deeply offended, hon members, as all of us indeed should be, when we are told by the hon members from this side of the House that South Africa had no business intervening in a poor African country like the Central African Republic. Let me set the record straight on this. Africa is our home. In fact, it is our only home, unlike others who have a second home outside the borders of this continent. Africa and our Africaness are all we have. It is the centre of our gravity, of our existence. We are bound together by blood, identity, geography, history, culture and tradition. [Applause.]
It is thus nave, if not outright racist, to create the perception here that we can insulate ourselves from what happens on one part of the continent. All you need to do, hon member, is to look at our towns and cities and count the number of refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants from the rest of the continent. Therefore, to us this is a national interest issue and gone are the days when South Africa's foreign policy outlook was Eurocentric. You had better get over it. [Interjections.]
Hon Minister, this committee has always been keen on following the progress made by the department on the establishment of a clear and tangible link in its spending and reporting on the conduct of our foreign policy and how that assists the country to deal with its domestic challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, as set out by the President in various state of the nation addresses.
We want to congratulate and acknowledge the enormous progress registered by your department on this score, as can be seen particularly through the flurry of activity relating to economic diplomacy.
Also, let me extend a word of congratulations for a successful fifth Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Brics, summit that was held. I particularly welcome the outcomes, as set out by you in previous engagements.
Fellow South Africans, we are about to celebrate 20 years of freedom and 102 years of struggle and sacrifice by the ANC. We must do so in cognisance of the fact that our liberation from apartheid was in part possible because the international community supported us, often at great cost to themselves. [Applause.]
Thus the freedom we enjoy today cannot and indeed must not be taken for granted, for it was bought at a price too high to contemplate. This price, amongst others, included the blood of non-South Africans - people who, if they had chosen to do so, could have stood apathetic to our plight. They could have said this had nothing to do with them and walked away. Many of them possibly would still have been alive today; people in countries so far away could, if they had elected to do so, have proverbially buried their heads in the sand and said, "Let those Africans deal with their own problems, we have enough of our own".
In giving perspective to our suffering, expressing our collective desires for liberation from subjugation and giving hope for a better future, Che Guevara said in 1960:
Humanity has said, "Enough!", and has set itself in motion. Its giant steps will not stop until they lead to true independence.
In an effort to set in motion these giant steps, men and women from distant lands came together in a spirit of progressive internationalism and human solidarity to share our pain and sorrow.
In Angola, they risked being bombed into oblivion, as indeed they were in Cassinga and elsewhere. In Maseru, Basotho lost their limbs and lives in defence of their humanism and in advancement of our collective humanity. In London, they faced arrest and incarceration, as they did in Stockholm, Brussels, Chicago and elsewhere. In Cuba, they mourned the death of about 2 016 soldiers.
Whilst most of them did not know any South African by name, they were united by their hatred for racism and injustice. They understood that their own humanity was confirmed through the humanity of others. They recognised the interdependence of the human species and the common threads of the yearning for human rights, justice, equality and peace that bind all of us together.
In summing up this spirit of solidarity and a shared destiny for all humankind, the former President of the Republic of Cuba, Comrade Fidel Castro, said the following, and I quote:
Some imperialists ask why we are helping Angola, what our interest is. They assume that countries only act out of a desire for petrol, copper, diamonds or some other resource. No, we have no material interest. Of course the imperialists don't understand this; they would only do it for jingoistic and selfish reasons. We are fulfilling an elementary internationalist duty in helping the people of Angola.
[Applause.]
In predicting the demise of the apartheid regime, he said the following:
The history of Africa is at a turning point. They will write about before Cuito Cuanavale and after Cuito Cuanavale. The power of South Africa, the whites, the superior race, has become unstuck in a little parcel of land defended by blacks and mulattoes. We do not seek a great military victory, but a reasonable and just solution. They might not only lose Namibia, but apartheid too. We want a solution now and I believe we are witnessing the beginning of the end of apartheid.
As we painfully and dedicatedly extricate our country from the dustbins of apartheid, we must do so always conscious of the internationalist duty bestowed upon us by history and posterity. Our country shall always stand up against injustice and racism and be counted. Our country shall shine as a beacon of hope in times of darkness. It shall always remind the world of the triumph of good over evil. South Africa shall forever stand tall as a monument of human solidarity and collective action. [Applause.]
This begs the question as to why there is an eerie silence when we condemn human rights violations by the Moroccan state against the people of Western Sahara, yet there is an outcry of indignation and claims that Israel is unfairly targeted by some lobby groups, notably the ACDP and the DA, when we condemn similar acts and in many instances much worse human rights violations perpetrated by the Israeli state against the defenceless and stateless Palestinian population. In this vein, I want to challenge the DA today to publicly state its party position on the Palestinian question so that all of us know. [Applause.] [Interjections.] It is coming.
While there are many instances of human rights violations, and we have consistently condemned them wherever they occur, I want to single out these two instances as they represent the last vestiges of colonial occupation, racism, and unquestionably exhibit elements of apartheid discrimination.
In this context, we remain resolute in our support for the right to self- determination and statehood of the Palestinian people, living side by side in peace and security with the state of Israel. The central irony, however, is that it is precisely that which the Israelis withhold which is their only hope for achieving a lasting peace with their neighbours in the region.
We remain concerned about the situation in Syria and we condemn the continued violence and loss of about 80 000 lives on both sides of the divide, while we particularly bemoan the loss of lives of innocent civilians. In this context, we want to lend our support for the US-Russia- led Geneva International Peace Conference, which in our view presents a real prospect for a Syrian-led political solution.
It has been clear from the start, and we have said so, that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis. Flooding Syria with weapons presents a real threat to the region and it will certainly have the same outcomes in the Middle East as we have seen happening in the Sahel and as an outcome in Mali.
Some expect the ANC-led government to bury its head in the sand when the Saharawi people remain stateless, their natural resources illegally plundered and sold to powerful countries in the West. We want to reiterate our commitment to continue to actively campaign for the right to self- determination of the Saharawi people. We are still numbed by the decision of the United Nations Security Council not to allow the United Nations Mission in Western Sahara, a human rights monitoring mechanism, and we call upon the United Nations Security Council, UNSC, to do the right thing.
Fellow South Africans, pro-Israeli lobby groups expect the ANC to look the other way when Palestinians remain stateless and brutalised, with no hope of an end to their decades and decades-long suffering. This, sadly, is to ask of the ANC to ignore its collective conscience and abdicate its internationalist responsibilities, and indeed it is asking of our country and our government to divorce themselves from the very values, ideals and principles that define who we are and that we hold so dear.
Furthermore, there is a mischievous attempt by some pro-Israeli lobby groups to portray the Palestinian question as a clash between religions, primarily a clash between Islam, in their view, on the one hand, and Christianity and Judaism on the other. At times it is portrayed as either anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish.
This is done in order to mobilise the support of South African Christians behind the Israeli government. To achieve this end, all sorts of religious insinuations and connections are made to an issue which is otherwise simple in definition.
I want to state categorically that this matter is about human rights; it is about the subjugation of a people to a brutal system of colonial occupation and discrimination that leaves them with no rights, no state, no land and no dignity. That is what this is about. Any attempt, therefore, to portray it as religious or anything else is a dangerous and reckless attempt to undermine the unity and national security of the Republic in the long term. This is indeed, in my view, aimed at dividing South Africans along religious/sectarian lines whose effects we have seen in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East. They can be devastating.
I want to draw your attention to the plight of the island nation of Cuba, which, because of their revolutionary spirit of internationalism and solidarity, made enormous sacrifices and paid a high price in the form of financial and material resources. Cuban soldiers lost their lives in battle with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, Unita, and the SA Defence Force, SADF, in what famously became known as the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. This intervention and the defeat of the regime was what led directly to the subsequent negotiations that led to the adoption of the UN Resolution 435, declaring the independence of Namibia and subsequently paving the way for our own freedom.
Once South Africans attained their liberation, and to this day, the Cubans continued to assist South Africa in the consolidation of her new-found freedom through providing a large contingent of Cuban medical doctors to our public hospitals, and training young South Africans to become medical doctors. They also continue to provide engineers and other technical expertise to our public sector. [Applause.] The government and the people of Cuba continue to be one of South Africa's most reliable partners. Cuba is indeed a true friend of South Africa and a reliable ally. [Applause.]
In this vein, I want to urge the international community to do what they did in respect of South Africa. They must continue to highlight the plight of the people of Cuba, who continue to experience untold suffering as a result of a unilateral trade and economic embargo imposed upon them by the government of the United States, making it difficult and near impossible for Cubans to acquire many of the basic amenities necessary to live normal lives. We remain steadfast behind government's call for the US to adhere to international law by lifting this embargo. We furthermore reiterate the call for the release of the remaining four of the Cuban Five languishing in US prisons. [Applause.] The only crime committed by these patriots was to collect information on hostile criminal and terrorist groups that have over many years inflicted horrible pain and suffering on the people of Cuba, leading to the deaths of over 3 478 people. These five Cubans did their national duty in defence of their country and its people. It is this same call to national service that all countries in the world today issue to their public servants to defend the territorial integrity of their various countries.
I wish to call upon our government to use the opportunity of the visit of President Obama to our country to impress upon him the urgent need to find a resolution to the matter.
In conclusion, let me express a special word of congratulations to all those who played a role in getting Dr Cyril Karabus back home, where he belongs, united with his loved ones. [Applause.] I want to extend a special word to the Ministry, and in particular Deputy Minister Fransman, who never wavered, or tired in his resolve to get Dr Karabus back. [Applause.]
We acknowledge the role played by various actors, including the family's attorney, Mr Bagraim, Dr Iqbal Surv, the Pan-African Business Council and many others who played a huge part, sometimes behind the scenes.
I finally want to acknowledge the role all South Africans played in various forms in supporting the call for the return of Dr Karabus and keeping the issue of Dr Karabus alive. South Africans have given new meaning to the slogan of "Together we can do more". The ANC supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]
Mr Chairman, the Minister this afternoon delivered a glowing report on her Ministry. I have been in Parliament for 14 years and, in respect of her officials, such a glowing report is really well deserved.
In respect of policy development and the positioning of South Africa in the geopolitical world, there is, however, another view. That is the view of the National Development Plan, NDP.
President Zuma, in the state of the nation address, unequivocally endorsed the NDP, indicating that it would be the country's roadmap and be front and centre of government policy going forward. He also indicated that all departments in their planning would have to align themselves with the NDP. The DA welcomed that.
Yet the Minister mentioned the NDP once, and that in the context of making a contribution towards the NDP at a future date. I searched the strategic plan for the years 2013 to 2018 for a mention of the NDP and there was not a mention of it.
It is little wonder, because in chapter 7 of the NDP the commission puts forward a very different view of our foreign policy, which I think the Minister needs to respond to. In the section reflecting on South Africa's status in the world, the report, in the context of South Africa as a middle- income country overstretching itself diplomatically, states that: Notwithstanding our drive to open up new embassies, "South Africa has experienced a relative decline in power and influence in world affairs." This is not my quote, but that of the NDP. The document goes on to say that:
South Africa lost a great deal of moral authority as a power resource that the country enjoyed in the period immediately after the 1994 elections.
After reflecting on the international fora which we are members of, particularly our once regular invitation to the G7, the report again states:
When all of these issues are considered, South Africa's foreign relations are becoming increasingly ineffective and the country is sliding down the scale of global competitiveness and overall moral standing.
This is not me, but the NDP. The Minister needs to interrogate why the report comes to these conclusions. Is it because most of the current constructs that theoretically underpin our foreign policy are either overblown, inconsistent or incoherent? Is it that they don't appropriately define, advance or prioritise South Africa's national interests abroad? Or is it that they do not at least acknowledge the tensions embedded in the clash between value-driven policies embedded in our Constitution and those driven by the country's national interests? Or is it because we raised expectations in the world when Nelson Mandela, on the eve of his Presidency, said, "Human rights will be the light which guides our foreign policy?"
This human rights base of the ANC's founding fathers has been undermined through several of the country's foreign policy decisions. Our voting record during the last two terms, as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has often been widely decried for sometimes siding with rogue regimes. [Interjections.]
Our position on the Arab Spring dashed expectations with contradictions and somersaults. And here is the real irony: We turned our backs on long- oppressed citizens under the heel of various fiefdoms and tyrannies when they began to demand and demonstrate for basic democratic and economic rights, just as their compatriots in South Africa had done two or three decades before. Democracy and freedom were what they were demanding and we walked away behind other resolutions.
Let me immediately acknowledge that human rights cannot be the sole determinant of international relations. South Africa's national interests are also of critical importance. The problem, as the NDP suggests, is that South Africa has yet to define appropriately what these national interests are. The White Paper, under the broad umbrella of Ubuntu, defined our national interests as:
... the development and upliftment of our people; stability of the Republic and constitutional order; growth and development of the South African economy; growth and development of Southern Africa; a stable and prosperous African continent; and a just and equitable world order.
This sounds like a combination of a summary of South Africa's constitutional premise and a normative pitch for a new world order. Nowhere in the Ministry's definition of national interest, the department's mission or in the Department of International Relations and Co-operation's six strategic priorities that flow from its vision do we get a clear understanding of goals, priorities or trade-offs that need to be made.
I think the commission of the NDP recognises this, as in its paragraph of Proposals to Reposition South Africa in the Region and the World, it states clearly that South Africa needs clarity on its national interests. They go so far as to recommend that there be an urgent convening of a high-level and high-impact task team to investigate South Africa's foreign relations. It says the task team should produce definitive studies on, firstly, South Africa's national interest; secondly, South Africa in the context of African geopolitics; and thirdly, South Africa's role in the world, especially in Brics and in multilateral relations.
In fact, what they are saying is that we need a whole revamp of our position as far as foreign affairs is concerned. What an indictment!
The problem is that when you abandon your human rights base, you abandon your moral compass ... [Interjections.] ... and when you have no clarity as to what your national interests are, you end up being perceived in international fora as inconsistent, incoherent, flip-flopping and even end up fighting battles in countries where we have no place. [Interjections.]
On a different note, I want to commend the department for of late placing great emphasis on economic diplomacy, even though it is not listed as one of the department's six priorities. Economic diplomacy encapsulates the broad international policy-making process, not to be confused with commercial diplomacy, which refers to the work of bilateral measures aimed at marketing the country and promoting trade and investment. But, here again, there is criticism from the commission. It notes in this context that:
South African diplomats have great skill in drafting memoranda of understanding, policy statements and agreements, but lose momentum when it comes to implementing agreement terms or following up on promises of benefits.
A further important note they make, echoed by business, is that there is a marked dislocation between the efforts of South African business leaders on the one hand and government leaders and officials on the other. Government, they correctly observe, may negotiate trade deals, but it is private companies that actually trade across borders. They make the point that the South African business community must be drawn more closely into our foreign policy-making process.
The National Planning Commission, NPC, observes that joining Brics is an important development in the history of South Africa's international relations. It is in this connection, in the run-up to the fifth Brics summit, that we were assailed with a great deal of hype as to the benefit of Brics, what its potential was and what was about to be achieved.
The outcome has been a lot more sober. One positive potential outcome, which we welcomed at the time, was the imminent creation of a development bank, possibly even sited in South Africa. Well, in this context, the summit was all bricks and no mortar. We still await an announcement, some three months later. But, it is clear from the statements made by the respective participants at the end of the plenary that in practice there are major hurdles in putting together a common vision for this organisation. Not only is there a lack of a common underlying value system, but there are also divergent national interests that inform its role in a changing global landscape. Clearly a lot more thought has to be given by each member as to where its country's self-interest begins and where the interest of Brics as a geopolitical bloc starts.
One of Dirco's six strategic priorities has been the strengthening of political and economic integration of the SA Development Community, SADC, region. This has always been unquestioned, believing that such an integration would clearly enhance South Africa's status in Africa, in Brics and in the greater geopolitical world.
Clear integration milestones were set for deepening integration. They included a preferential trade area by 2000; a free-trade area by 2008; a customs union by 2010; a common market by 2015; and a monetary union by 2018. Of course, nothing has been achieved, notwithstanding the priority. The NPC, in its paragraph on Co-operation and Integration in Africa, makes the point that:
South African policy-makers tend to have a weak grasp of African geopolitics. Because of this, foreign relations with African states are often tentative, with policy-makers vacillating between leading and muddling through on issues of integration and co-operation.
That's not me, but the NPC. More importantly, the NPC makes a very important shift of emphasis - which I don't think has been picked up by many - in respect of SADC integration, when it argues for a move from regionalisation to regionalism. Here the emphasis is on a free-trade area which has the potential to significantly increase South Africa's trade and investment, but where the country remains in full control of its political destiny.
It argues specifically against political integration. It says:
If as recommended earlier in its report, South Africa's national interests are well defined and there is a proper understanding of the geopolitics of Africa, South Africa will have clarity on the important difference between co-operation and integration, on the different types of institutions and organisations it wants to be part of, and how the country should position itself over the next two or three decades.
The NDP has many more interesting observations, some of which I know the Ministry will not enjoy. However, it is clear to me that before we come with glowing reports to this House, the department needs to go back, reread the NDP, engage itself with that NDP, do a bit of introspection, appoint the task team that the NDP actually said it should do and then come back with a glowing report. Only then will the Minister's department comply with President Zuma's injunction for all departments to align themselves to the