Chairperson, this year's Africa Day on Sunday is the 45th anniversary of the inauguration of the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, in 1963, representing the institutionalization of Pan-African ideals. Nearly a half a century later, there are reasons to celebrate as Africans but there is also a need to be realistic about the enormous challenges facing our continent.
First, the fact of Africa Day is itself a cause for celebration. The OAU's successor organisation, the African Union, AU, was born nearly six years ago on South African soil and this is a timely reminder that all South Africans and indeed all Africans have a lot to be proud of.
Firstly we have made great strides towards Pan-Africanism through the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament, again an establishment which resides on South African soil. While there are problems with resourcing and this is still just a consultative body it is a step forward.
Secondly, the fact that the AU has adopted a much more interventionist stance through its legal framework and institutions is a sign of growing maturity. For example, the AU's Peace and Security Council established in 2004 has facilitated the AU's ability to manage and resolve conflicts on the continent and there is certainly a plethora of those - but that belongs to the bad news that I will get to later on. Peace-building interventions include Burundi and Dafur and Somalia.
That the AU has introduced a mechanism for Africa to set standards of governance for itself through the African Peer Review Mechanism is a further sign of our increasing maturity. More and more African states are embracing the notion that accountability and transparency are essential features of democratic government. It is still early days to declare these achievements as a watershed for Africa's ability to adhere to good governance but these are good signs. We can only hope that there will be growing support and participation for the ARPM.
On the economic front there is much to celebrate in terms of a number of economic and political developments of importance to the economic wellbeing of Africa. For example, last year, the World Bank committed US$34,3 billion to 620 projects in African countries designed to overcome poverty and enhance growth. On average, African countries experienced a growth rate of 5,4% last year. According to the World Bank, this will have a significant impact on poverty reduction on the continent.
The growth is likely to extend for the next two years and the African Development Bank notes that "the rate of GDP growth is expected to strengthen to about 6% during this year. However African countries still need massively more investment to improve the lot of the 40% of the sub- Saharan population who still lives on US$ 1 a day. President Thabo Mbeki's positive role in trying to persuade the G2O countries to make the policies of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and World Bank more pro-poor and Africa-friendly should not go unnoticed.
In central Africa, the relaunched Burundi/Rwanda/DRC economic bloc should be a key step in restoring peace and stability to this region. This spirit of economic unity must be sustained to help Africa overcome the economic and social hardships that are still prominent in so many African countries.
With the first ever Fifa Soccer World Cup to be hosted on African soil within reach, it is expected that the continent will register greater levels of economic prosperity in the years to come. We all have a duty to ensure that the image of our country and our continent improves and, unfortunately, this is where the bad news comes in.
This debate is being held against a backdrop of an international media- feeding frenzy over the xenophobic attacks which started in Alexandra township and are now taking place around the country, though mostly in Gauteng. To see our own country erupt into the bloodiest violence against humanity that was last seen during apartheid is a shaming experience. It is embarrassing that, as we celebrate Africa Day, there are people out there killing our brothers and sisters from neighbouring countries.
From the start, the DA advocated that the SA National Defence Force, SANDF, be called in to assist the police to quell the violence and distribute humanitarian aid to victims, and we are glad that the President has at last listened. We can only hope that the violence can be smothered in a security blanket to give us time to return to normality and introduce much-needed measures to combat xenophobia.
Despite economic progress, on the political front in Africa things are not well. Within the past five months, the continent has had two elections which have resulted in bloodshed and violence and torture for those who voted against the government in power. In Kenya, more than 1 000 people were killed in post-election violence. In Zimbabwe, up to 300 people are believed to have been killed while hundreds have been injured in violent attacks for voting for the party of their choice.
The Mugabe government's shenanigans around both the election and the release of the results has done nothing for Africa's image, let alone our own as we have been seen to have failed to take a tough line against a rogue regime. At last, however, the Zuma faction in the ANC seems to have found its voice with Dr Pallo Jordan saying:
If Zanu-PF has lost the confidence of a substantial number of the citizens of that country, such that the only means by which it can win elections is either by intimidating the people or otherwise rigging them, it has only itself to blame.
And no one should sympathise or support its mischievous tricks.
The problems that destabilize the continent are entrenched by the failure of fellow African countries to take a strong stance against the injustices of autocratic regimes like Mugabe's government. SADC did not act in "Unity in Pursuit of Peace, Development and Social Justice" as the title of today's debate suggests, and particularly in the case of Zimbabwe.
We must combat the disillusionment that has long been associated with our continent and show by example that there is more to Africa than internecine wars, high child mortality rates, high rape and HIV rates, low longevity and high unemployment. Allowing violent xenophobic attacks and tolerating violent despotic regimes like Mugabe's are certainly not helpful in this connection. Thank you.