Modulasetulo, ke a leboha. Ke dumedisa maloko a hlomphehileng a Ntlo ena e kgabane ya Ketsamolao ya Afrika Borwa. Thapameng ena ya kajeno re tlo buisana hanyenyane feela ka mekete e tla tshwarwa hosasa ka letsatsi la Afrika. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Ms K R MAGAU: Thank you, Chairperson. I greet all the hon members of the National Assembly. We will be discussing briefly this afternoon the celebrations that are to be held tomorrow, on Africa Day.]
Chairperson, firstly, I would like to welcome all the delegates who have arrived in South Africa to attend the Global African Diaspora Summit currently under way. This is an important and significant event for us as Africans, as Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said in her address to the ministerial meeting of the Global African Diaspora Summit on 23 May 2012, in that it symbolises a victory over colonialism and in our quest for Pan- African unity.
An important value within South African foreign policy is the concept of ubuntu, which is about humanity and the commitment to the establishment of mutually beneficial international partnerships. Premised on this principle of ubuntu, South Africa recognises itself as an integral part of the African continent and therefore understands its national interests as being intrinsically linked to Africa's stability, unity and prosperity. It is as a result of these values that South Africa focuses its resources on the continent's relations and missions in order to achieve peace and security on the continent through dialogue.
The strategic focus of South Africa's engagement on the African continent is to promote development, contribute to the resolution of conflicts and build an environment in which socioeconomic development can take place. In other words, the political circumstances of the continent should favour and be attractive to investment and development. It is for this reason, amongst other reasons, that we reject colonialism and other forms of oppression.
In this regard, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, commonly known as Nepad, has proven itself as a crucial African Union development tool for Africa's advancement. The New Partnership for Africa's Development is a pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction, that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development, as well as to participate effectively in the world economy and body politic.
This initiative is premised on African states making commitments to good governance, democracy and respect for human rights, while endeavouring to prevent and resolve situations of conflict and instability on the continent.
South Africa has always been at the forefront of this move to take on the developmental challenges of the continent from the conceptualisation of Nepad to its launch and, even now, at its revitalisation.
In spite of the fact that Africa ... Chairperson, the people on my left are conversing too loudly and they are disturbing me.