Chairperson, Minister and Deputy Ministers and other Ministers who have joined us here, I rise on behalf of the ANC to support Budget Vote No 5 of the Department of International Relations and Co- operation, Dirco. I must start off by congratulating the ANC on its centenary celebration. It is indeed, as all of us know, the oldest liberation movement on the continent, maybe even beyond.
As the ANC, we have committed ourselves, since our 1994 election manifesto, to create a safe and secure environment for all South Africans. It is just about two months from now that South Africa will be celebrating the 57th anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter, signed in Kliptown, which coincidentally is also my constituency.
In celebrating this anniversary of the Freedom Charter, I think it is fitting to pay tribute to all those brave and unsung heroes and heroines who made it possible. We are fortunate to have some of them among us: Comrade Nelson Mandela, Comrade Andrew Mlangeni and Comrade Ben Turok, among others. A large number of our colleagues had not even been born yet, including me and I think the hon Davidson on my left as well. [Laughter.] If it hadn't been for those men and women, led of course by the volunteer in chief, our former President, Comrade Nelson Mandela, South Africa would not be where it is today. We salute them for their brave vision and foresight, which guide us today and hopefully will continue to guide us for generations to come.
I wish to quote from the speech delivered on 24 May 1994 by our first President in a democratic South Africa, Comrade Nelson Mandela:
The time will come when our nation will honour the memory of all the sons, the daughters, the mothers, the fathers, the youth and the children who, by their thoughts and deeds, gave us the right to assert with pride that we are South Africans, that we are Africans and that we are citizens of the world. I won't even mention the famous "I am an African" speech by former President Thabo Mbeki. The Freedom Charter declares the following, among other things, and I quote: "There shall be peace and friendship. South Africa belongs to all who live in it." My humble contribution to this debate will therefore focus on these themes.
As we are aware, there can be no peace, friendship and stability in an insecure political, social and economic environment, both locally, in the region and on the continent, and beyond. South Africa's efforts are therefore directed at creating a peaceful and stable environment so that we, the region and the continent, can achieve our full potential. I therefore want to draw the attention of the House to the important role played by Dirco in the promotion of peace, stability and democracy, both here at home, on the continent and indeed in the world.
I quote our President, Comrade Jacob Zuma, in his state of the nation address in February 2012:
The year 2012 is also special because it marks the 16th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic, which gives full expression to our democratic ideals. The Constitution is South Africa's fundamental vision statement, which guides our policies and actions. We reaffirm our commitment to advance the ideals of our country's Constitution at all times.
The government, as the chief custodian of our Constitution, has the responsibility of ensuring that the people of South Africa can live in peace and friendship and that their security, including human security, is not threatened or compromised in any way.
This responsibility also stretches beyond the borders of the Republic of South Africa. We should therefore commend Dirco for placing the debate on poverty and underdevelopment at the centre of the debate on peace and stability. There can be no peace and stability if sections of our population and the continent live in conditions of poverty and squalor. To this end, I want to quote from the ANC Today of 17 September 2004, with reference to the people of Africa:
They know the reality of civil wars, genocide and the conflicts that brought untold suffering to the innocent, the economic decay, social disintegration and cultural alienation that have defined the lives of many Africans. They know what others have done, which imposed on them the curse of poverty, hunger, famine, disease and underdevelopment.
Conflict and war breed poverty, and poverty creates the necessary conditions for instability and conflict. Chair, I want you to protect me as this is my maiden speech since 2009. [Laughter.]
Again, I am quoting from the ANC Today, 18-24 June 2004: The national vision of building a united nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous society is also relevant to our vision for Africa. Coupled with this is the understanding that socioeconomic development cannot take place without political peace and stability. South Africa's efforts are therefore directed at creating an environment in which all states on the continent will achieve their full potential.
The importance of the role of South Africa in the promotion of peace, stability and democracy in Africa and the world is therefore re-emphasised. Looking at peace in the region and on the continent, it is significant that we have this debate on the budget of Dirco when we celebrate Africa and its rebirth. The New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad, and the African Union, AU, have placed added capacity demands on Dirco due to our prominent role in these and other international bodies. Our understanding, as the ANC, has always been that there can never be peace and stability if there is hunger, famine, poverty and inequality - that fact can also not be overemphasised.
Regarding the peaceful resolution of conflicts, as the ANC we have always believed in the peaceful resolution of conflicts - in other words, that might is not always right. When you want to obtain sustainable peace and stability, you have to utilise what is called soft power - the power of negotiation and dialogue - instead of the power of might to obtain lasting and sustainable peace, stability and development.
The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, also hinges on the achievement of political peace and stability on the continent. It is in this vein that I want to commend Dirco, again, on its efforts in the promotion of negotiations and dialogue as a means of obtaining peace in the troubled and war-torn areas of our continent - which the two Deputy Ministers, and including the Minister, have spoken about.
Following on this, one cannot ignore and undermine the role of women in the maintenance of lasting peace and stability. In this regard I have to recognise and commend the role played by the President and, by extension, Dirco. As a South African woman, I had the privilege of interacting with women on the continent on matters relating to, among other things, conflict resolution, democratisation and power-sharing. I personally have had the privilege of being party to some of these conventions. Not only have we as South African women imparted some of our South African experiences, but we have also learnt a lot from our fellow African mothers and sisters.
The forging of partnerships for peace and stability can never be overemphasised. I think it is even more significant in the year that we celebrate the 57th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, in which the majority of South Africans declared that there shall be peace and friendship and that South Africa shall belong to all who live in it. It is therefore the duty and responsibility of each and every South African to build a safe and secure South Africa and continent for all who live in it.
To conclude, I want to borrow from the words of one of the founding members of the ANC, the late Comrade Pixley ka Seme, who as early as 1906 said:
The brighter day is rising upon Africa, already. I seem to see her chains dissolved, her desert plain red with harvest, her Abyssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising son from the spires of their churches and universities, her Congo and her Gambia whitened with commerce, her crowded cities sending forth the hum of business, and all her sons employed in advancing the victories of peace - greater and more abiding than the spoils of war.
This is an illustration of our consistent history as the ANC of peaceful resolution of conflict in our struggle to achieve a better life for all, free from poverty and want. The Congress of the People - and I'm not talking about you, hon member Ngonyama - echoed these words in 1955 at Kliptown, when they declared, and I quote, "There shall be peace and friendship and South Africa belongs to all who live in it". Let us all strive for peace on the continent and indeed the world. We shall, Minister, be led by Dirco, and once again, the ANC supports Budget Vote No 5. [Applause.]