Chairperson, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Co- operation, hon members of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Co-operation, Your Excellencies, ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of international organisations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, fellow South Africans, comrades and friends:
We are standing in an incredibly privileged position today, where we can witness Africa's epic comeback. We are all aware of Africa's history. Many of us have even been closely intertwined with Africa's struggles, pain and suffering. But today we can stand here and proudly watch Africa finally rising. There is no doubt that these are only the first rays of light, glorious Africa is yet to reveal itself.
These are the words of President Jacob Zuma at an Africa Dialogue event organised by the DTI recently in Sun City.
Hon members, today we stand before you to say - and proudly so - that South Africa is one of the rays of light of this glorious Africa that is revealing itself. We are on course towards creating a better South Africa, contributing to a better and safer Africa and world.
We have been building on our achievements and lessons learnt on the foreign policy front since 1994 through an approach based on both continuity and change. We continued to consolidate our strategic advances and areas of strength in our foreign policy and, at the same time, found novel and innovative approaches in improving on our work by tackling new challenges. Eighteen years on, since 1994, our country is standing tall in the global family of nations.
This is the task of the Department of International Relations and Co- operation. We execute this task by enhancing continental development and integration, with a focus on South Africa's role in consolidating the African agenda. This includes Southern African Development Community, SADC, integration; the promotion of peace and security in Africa; the advancement of South Africa's national interests through the enhancement of South-South and North-South co-operation; as well as the advancement of South Africa's national interests through participation in institutions of global governance.
In the past year, the department managed to achieve milestones with the budget allocation passed by this House. We do our work within the constraints imposed on us by limited financial and human resources, as well as conditions prevailing in the world, including the international balance of forces, which are not always favourable with regard to the pursuit of our vision of a better South Africa, Africa and world. The period we live in today is fraught with significant challenges that affect the entire human race.
When our forebears formed the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, almost 50 years ago, they gave the people of this continent hope in their struggle against colonial rule and the pursuit of the right to self-determination. When our leaders transformed the OAU 10 years ago into the African Union, AU, they gave our people more hope in their quest for democracy, development and a continent free of war, poverty, ignorance and disease. South Africa was there when the OAU was formed, represented by the leadership of our national liberation movement. The AU was formed in this country in the city of Durban, with South Africa as a full member. Africa is the centrepiece of our foreign policy today and will continue to be so.
It is our considered view, based on the experience of the first 10 years, that the AU must do more in focusing on the development of the continent. Furthermore, the AU must do more to eradicate conflict on our continent by providing African solutions to African problems; build sustainable economies and enhance continental interconnectivity through infrastructure, in particular; consolidate democracy in our respective countries; provide a better life for all our people; accelerate our integration in all spheres; advance and defend the interests of Africa in global affairs; and, with 2010 to 2020 being declared by the AU as the Decade of Women, develop and implement clear programmes to ensure the emancipation - true emancipation - of this sector of our population. You emancipate the women, you emancipate the people of Africa.
It is with these noble ideals in mind that we accepted with humility the request by the southern region of the AU, particularly the SADC, to field Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the position of chairperson of the AU Commission. If Dr Dlamini-Zuma is elected to this position, the southern region will be given an opportunity for the first time in the five decades since the formation of the OAU and AU to contribute at the highest level of the AU. This will also affirm the principle of rotation and regional representation, which is entrenched in the internal democratic processes of the AU.
Together with the southern region and the SADC, we are working with the government of Malawi for the successful hosting of the July summit of the AU in our region. We are in solidarity with the people of Malawi on the passing of their president, His Excellency Prof Bingu wa Mutharika, and, once again, congratulate Her Excellency Madame Joyce Banda on her elevation to being the first female president in our region and the second in Africa.
The last summit of the AU that took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January this year, focused on what we must do to promote intra-African trade and infrastructure development on our continent. Our President continues to chair the AU-Nepad Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative and is responsible for championing the North-South Road and Rail Corridor project. Addressing the infrastructure backlog on our continent will be a giant step towards guaranteeing a better life for all Africans and future generations yet unborn.
The SADC-East African Community-Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, SADC-EAC-Comesa, tripartite formation is testimony to how regional economic communities, RECs, can serve as building blocks for the unity and integration of our continent. Recent events in Mali and Guinea-Bissau remind us of the challenges still before us, as well as the fragility of democracy, peace and stability on our continent. In this regard, we are at one with the Economic Community of West African States, Ecowas, and the AU in rejecting unconstitutional changes of government and secessionist tendencies. We have availed ourselves to the government of Mali to provide the necessary support for their transition. We support the ongoing Ecowas and AU mediation efforts in Guinea-Bissau to resolve the situation there. We urge the Bissauan military to allow its people to continue with the electoral processes of electing a new a president.
In the past year, South Africa continued to contribute to peace and security in Africa, utilising, in particular, our second tenure as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council and our membership of the AU Peace and Security Council and the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security.
Nepad has been our flagship programme on the development front and the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, provides us with a concrete example of how we can help each other, in a constructive way, to build and consolidate democratic institutions in our respective countries. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our former Deputy President and the national chairperson of the ANC on her appointment to the Africa Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons for a four-year period. Over the past year, Nepad has been celebrating its first decade of existence. Today Nepad has been fully integrated into the AU structures, processes and programmes. Looking forward, besides focusing on infrastructure in attaining regional integration and opening up intra- African trade, Nepad is emphasising the importance of self-reliance and of mobilising the domestic resources that are available.
South Africa remains committed to supporting the implementation of Nepad and we will continue to provide a home for both the Nepad Planning and Co- ordinating Agency, NPCA, and the APRM Secretariat. We will also ensure that we meet all our commitments in this regard.
Similarly, the draft protocol of the Pan-African Parliament, PAP, which seeks to make this institution more effective, is in the process of being validated. It will then be submitted to the Heads of State Summit in 2012. South Africa will continue to discharge its host country responsibilities to the PAP. However, we should all remain concerned with the possible but difficult attainment by African states of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, as our continent is the region of the world least likely to meet these basic targets.
The SADC region is progressing well in the areas of peace and security. We have proudly and successfully held elections in the Seychelles, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC. These are signs pointing in the right direction for the political future of the SADC. In our relations with our neighbours, we continue to engage at the level of heads of state through diplomatic consultation. We also continue to consolidate our relations through binational commissions.
As member states of the SADC, we remain seized with finding a lasting solution to some of the challenges in our region. Deputy Minister Fransman, as our special envoy in Madagascar, will elaborate on the progress we are making there on a roadmap to return Madagascar to constitutional normalcy. We continue to work with the leadership and people of Zimbabwe for the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement in that country. In this regard, we work together through the framework determined by the SADC.
We take this opportunity to wish the people of Lesotho all the best as they prepare for national elections on 26 May and we trust that this democratic process will usher in new hope for them. In the context of the Joint Bilateral Commission, JBC, we continue to engage with the authorities in Swaziland to address their domestic challenges.
As predicted, the war in Libya has brought about the undermining of peace and security in that region. However, we continue to engage with the leadership of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya with a view to sharing our experiences - we are always ready to do that - as they continue to build their democratic processes. We will share our experiences in transitional justice and constitution-making, among others.
As I have said earlier, the fallout in Libya has compromised security in the Sahel region, in particular in countries such as Chad, Niger, Mauritania and Mali. These countries are at the receiving end of the impact of the disappearance of arms from Libyan military depots and the return of migrants from Libya into those countries. South Africa has heeded the call by these countries for humanitarian relief and interventions in areas where we would be able to work with them for the consolidation of peace, democracy and justice in those countries.
We remain seized with the issue of the status of the people of Western Sahara. We will continue to support the peace efforts of the AU and the United Nations in that area.
Our relations with sister countries of Central Africa are another top priority on our agenda. The same goes for our relations with the countries of West Africa. In this regard, we pledge our solidarity in particular with our strategic ally and partner, Nigeria. We pledge solidarity with the government and people of Nigeria in their struggle to defeat the menace of terrorism.
We must also use this opportunity to once again congratulate the people of Senegal on a very successful election, as well as His Excellency Macky Sall on his election as the new president of Senegal.
In the Horn of Africa, we remain concerned about the tension between Sudan and South Sudan. South Africa participated as a special invitee in the meeting concluded at midnight on 23 April 2012, which was presided over by the AU Peace and Security Council. We remain confidant and hopeful that the mediation processes of the AU through the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council will yield positive results towards restoring normalcy in that part of our continent. South Sudan, the smallest and newest state on our continent, needs to be given space to develop.
In Somalia we worked closely with our SADC neighbours to intervene at a time when that part of our continent experienced famine. We have also had the opportunity to interact with the president of the Transitional Federal Government, TFG. I recently hosted my counterpart, the Foreign Minister of Somalia, under the TFG. South Africa pledged R100 million towards capacity- building and skills development, particularly in the recently liberated areas. We believe that this pledge will help rebuild the country, support efforts of the TFG and complement the noble security contribution made by the forces of African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom, and Ethiopian and Kenyan troops.
Another result of the instability in Somalia has been the growing scourge of piracy. In this regard, I wish to pay homage to our compatriots held captive in Mali and Somalia. I want to say to Steven McGowan, Bruno Pelizzari, Deborah Calitz and their respective families: "We are with you and we are following the situation you are in." Furthermore, finding and returning the remains of our late compatriot, Anton Hammerl, in Libya remains our priority.
The growing importance of Asia and the Middle East in the global economy cannot be overemphasised, especially in the context of the current global financial crisis. The Middle East is also on the global peace and security agenda, at the centre of which is the Israel-Palestine conflict. The South African government supports a two-state solution, with Palestine and Israel existing side by side peacefully.
We regard to Syria, we welcomed the announcement by the Syrian government to accept the proposals of the United Nations and the Arab League, particularly those of the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, for the restoration of peace in that particular country. Deputy Minister Ebrahim will elaborate on what we are doing there. South Africa continues to support the monitors that are sent there by the former UN Secretary- General. South Africa continues to encourage the peaceful resolution of disputes surrounding the nuclear programme of Iran and encourages further discussion and negotiation in that regard.
The India, Brazil, South Africa dialogue forum continues to play its unique role as a body bringing together three democracies of the South from three different continents. The Brazil, Russia, China, and India, Bric, partnership mechanism is another good example of South-South co-operation. President Zuma and his delegation have just returned from a very successful summit in India. South Africa will be hosting the fifth Brics summit in 2013.
Our membership of Brics has three objectives in mind, namely to advance our national interests as outlined in the President's recent state of the nation address, to promote our regional integration programme and related continental infrastructure programmes, and to partner with key players of the South on issues related to global governance and its reform. As hosts of the next Brics summit, we have a contribution to make - a historic contribution, for that matter - to the realisation of the objective of establishing the Brics Development Bank.
Equally, we remain committed, as part of our South-South agenda, to our relations with countries of South and Central America, as well as those in the Caribbean. Furthermore, we continue to support the international call for the lifting of the US-imposed economic embargo on Cuba.
South Africa has been given the distinct honour of hosting the historic African Diaspora Summit, which will take place next month, on 25 May. This summit will help create sustainable partnerships between the African Diaspora and the African continent through a realisable programme of action; create sustainable dialogue and partnerships with Africa and the people in the diaspora; and promote South-South co-operation for the betterment of the African continent.
Ties with the United States of America are one building block of our partnership with the countries of the North. We will continue with our strategic dialogue through the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. We will be hosting the next dialogue forum with her here in South Africa. Canada is another North American partner whose contribution to our economy and national priorities we continue to appreciate.
Europe remains South Africa's partner in terms of trade, investment, tourism, technical co-operation and development partnerships. Despite the economic challenges experienced in that part of the world, we continue to consolidate relations with all the member countries, in particular the European Union as a bloc, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and the Nordic countries. Increasingly, the Central and Eastern European countries are also contributing in this regard.