Hon Speaker Xhamela, hon Chairperson of the NCOP Ndzuza, hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP Gambu, hon members, as the dust settles after last week's local government elections, it is good to be brought together again in this House in a joint sitting to celebrate an event that emphasises our unity.
Africa Day reminds us to lift up our eyes from local issues to regain a wider perspective. It encourages us to look beyond our differences, which have been so keenly focused on in the past few weeks, to see our commonality or shared identity as sons and daughters of Africa.
I wish to thank the honourable Secretary of this Assembly, Mr Z A Dingani, for driving a dialogue on Africa Day which is focused on democratisation and political renewal in Africa, and on rethinking development and climate change. It is right and fitting for our national Parliament to lead the debate on what unites us on this continent, and what role, we as South Africans can play in the success of Africa. In fact, I think we should congratulate Mr Mandela's Cabinet and congratulate ourselves, because we were pointed in this direction of being Afro-centric by Sontonga. In 1994, we could easily have said our national anthem should be "Nkosi sikelel' iSouth Africa". We didn't do that; we said, "Sikelel' iAfrika".
Success in Africa relies on our ability to create peace, to foster sustainable development and to enable true democracy to flourish. South Africa's position as the economic powerhouse of our continent places on us the unique responsibility of supporting the success of our neighbours, both near and far, and of ensuring that our policies are never detrimental to the peace and prosperity of others.
I have spoken in this House before about the damage we are doing through our government's policy of quiet diplomacy which, in fact, should be called diplomatic silence! Our continued silence on Zimbabwe has made us somehow complicit in our neighbour's woes. I think that Inkosi Albert Luthuli set up the ANC mission in exile to campaign for our liberation abroad. If the mind-set was that one should not interfere in the domestic affairs of others, I don't think Inkosi Luthuli would have sent Oliver Tambo abroad. So it's really a very weak pretext to say it is interfering in the domestic affairs of others. I would also say that Mr Vorster himself brought pressure to bear on Ian Smith. Ian Smith didn't just move without the pressure that Mr Vorster brought to bear on him.
Likewise, our government was slow to speak out on the crisis in Libya, while the international world was swift to react and engage with the problem. I struggle to accept the anomaly of the international response to Libya, as compared to the enduring inertia towards Zimbabwe.
We know that there are debts to pay, some of which remain from our troubled past and some of which are more recent. Some question the ruling party's choice of friends. But the real issue is the responsibility that rests on friends to step in and get involved when a wrong course of action is taken.
I do not think South Africa could be seen as interfering when we on this continent have a long and shared history of struggle for freedom. It does not enhance solidarity to remain silent when one of us falls. Indeed, it breaks solidarity to say that a government can rule our fellow Africans in whatever way it pleases, while we all turn and look the other way.
I am prepared to acknowledge that there is a sense among our neighbours that South Africa could easily move from being ``big brother'' to being a bully, and even the role of big brother, in fact, resented to some extent. But that does not absolve us from our responsibility of offering leadership. Indeed, it compounds our responsibility, demanding our vigilance against our own arrogance and self-interest.
South Africa is part of Africa. Our borders are porous and the dynamics that move people into and out of the country are many and complex. At any one time, we host millions of Africans of other nationalities, benefiting from their presence, their skills and their culture, yet seeing them as foreigners rather than friends. When I was Minister of Home Affairs during the first 10 years of our democracy, my department was confronted with the inadequacies of migration legislation that was forged in the crucible of apartheid. Our migration policy reflected our isolationism, referring to foreign nationals as ``aliens'' and ``illegal aliens''. This captures the mind-set that we were mandated to change.
But a legislative transformation, although ponderous, is faster by far than a transformation of mind-set. Even now, 17 years into democracy and recognising our shared "Africanness", South Africa still struggles with xenophobia.
I am pleased that part of this year's celebration of Africa Day is a campaign to redress xenophobia within our communities. It is a campaign I launched more than a decade ago as Minister of Home Affairs, and one that must still be pursued with vigour. [Laughter.] Well, you can have your derisive fun, but the truth is that I did.
On behalf of the IFP, I am proud to support Africa Day. Our country is uniquely positioned to be a leader on our continent. The time has never been riper for a national debate on the quality of our leadership. I thank you, Sir. [Applause.]