Hon Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers, Members of Parliament, the ANC supports the Vote of the Presidency as it is an enabler for the Presidency to provide political leadership of this country domestically and in international community engagements. At the 52nd conference in Polokwane, we as the ANC, noting that the situation in the world continued to change drastically in recent years and that more people than ever before live in democratic communities, proclaimed that a just world and a better Africa was a possibility. This conviction continues to guide us as we work hard for a better Africa and a peaceful world. Through your leadership, Mr President, we remain united around your call for all of us to do work differently.
One of the responsibilities that we have not only committed ourselves to, but also internalised as an obligation to achieve, is pursuing African advancement through the fast-tracking of regional integration by strengthening the African Peer Review Mechanism, the APRM, and advocating for the democratisation of and equity in institutions and systems of global economic governance.
With in this commitment, we uphold our international relations policy which advocates pushing back the frontiers of poverty and underdevelopment in South Africa and Africa based on the continental, economic and development plan, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad. This commitment also includes creating peace and pursuing peaceful resolutions to conflicts; contributing to peace efforts in Africa and in the world; building and consolidating strategic partnerships to advance the country's developmental agenda; building and reforming African continental institutions; and continuing to exert influence on global, political and economic issues.
We played a critical role in the creation of Nepad and we hosted its secretariat as we understood that working for Africa's advancement meant taking responsibilities and working to implement them. Nepad is the African Union's programme of action at a practical level to intensify the struggle against poverty and underdevelopment, founded on the principles of accountability, ownership and partnership.
It is the main frame of reference for intra-African relations and Africa's partnership with international partners, such as the European Union Strategic Partnership; the Forum for Africa-China Co-operation; the Group of Seven most industrialised nations plus Russia, commonly known as the G8; the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership; and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, commonly known as the OECD.
South Africa continues to play a role in the activities of Nepad. Under the leadership and guidance of our President, our voices were lifted in acknowledgement of all at the African Union Heads of State and Government Summit in Ethiopia in January this year to the effect that Nepad should be strengthened to live up to the realisation of its founding mandate.
Of course, it takes visionary and responsible leadership to contribute in steering the continent away from poverty and underdevelopment and to economic growth and development. As we discuss and celebrate Africa's advancement, we should never forget where we come from, lest we undermine the reality that it takes unity and co-operation derived from mutual respect for nations of the continent and the world to thrive.
A realist perspective expressed by some South African international relations policy analysts reflected that in the years before 1994, our "foreign relations" policy, as it was then referred to, focused primarily on Southern Africa and rested upon a combination of promoting economic interests, in the form of flows of South African exports and investments in the region, and on military destabilisation as part of the aggressive defence of apartheid.
We say thanks to the heroic leadership of our struggle whose views continue to guide us as we march on in the journey of Africa's advancement. As our icon, Tatana Nelson Mandela, said when addressing the Davos World Economic Forum in 1999:
Africa is beyond bemoaning the past for its problems. The task of undoing that past is on the shoulders of African leaders themselves, with the support of those willing to join in a continental renewal. We have a new generation of leaders who know that Africa must take responsibility for its own destiny, that Africa will uplift itself only by its own efforts in partnership with those who wish her well.
As we march on in this journey of Africa's advancement, we will always remember that the road will not always be smooth, hence we also agree that we may have to do things differently to respond to each given situation in so far as our having to strive for implementation of agreements and treaties that we enter into, in measured speed, is concerned.
The words of our President in his address at the World Economic Conference in Tanzania recently confirms that, yes, Africa's advancement programme owes its roots to its own soil. He said, "Africa should start to use its own resources to get out of the trap of underdevelopment."
South Africa is one of those African states that played a leading role in ensuring that there had to be a voluntary instrument for member states of the AU to assist one another in working for the realisation of the objectives of Nepad, so that regional integration, political stability, and economic growth and development should be realised.
This voluntary instrument, founded in 2003, is called the African Peer Review Mechanism, the APRM. The APRM provides space for AU member states to assess one another as peers and to guide each other, so that we can say that it is each according to capability and each according to need. We share experience and reflect on those things that we would advise each other about in the areas of democracy and political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance, and socioeconomic development.
About 30 AU member states have now acceded to this review mechanism. Twelve of them have been peer reviewed. In July later this year, Mauritius and Ethiopia will be peer reviewed. We will, accordingly, approach lead agencies for comment on the reports of these countries. The beauty of the African Peer Review Mechanism is that it is a country process. It is highly interactive and brings together civil society, government and business.
South Africa has acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism, as we believe that it is a useful instrument in facilitating interstate engagements on issues of political stability, good governance and economic development.
We are amongst the first five states to be peer reviewed. We have since submitted our first accountability report, in January 2009, in which we shared with African Union member states our legislative and policy standards, as well as our accedence to the international treaties and conventions.
In successive reports to the first one, we will account to the extent to which we have succeeded in implementing these laws, policies and international instruments, leading up to a period when we will be ready for the second review. Our peers identified, advised and would like to see us reflect on what we are doing about some critical issues that are crosscutting in the four thematic areas of the APRM that I alluded to earlier.
Of course, our preparation to respond to these issues is at an advanced stage. We have been engaging APRM sectors in consultative sessions in all the provinces in the country. We have so far received inputs, broadly, on issues such as challenges to service delivery, the land reform issues, stakeholder participation, poverty and inequality, the fight against racism, anticorruption, violence against women and children, and HIV and Aids. We will receive further comments on xenophobia, diversity, affirmative action, cross-border movement of people, and black economic empowerment.
Regarding the matters for attention that I referred to as we respond to these crosscutting issues, our peers in the APRM believe that we have the capacity to deal with them. To the extent that some debates arise and some debates are, of course, informed by the fact that we need to clarify some of these issues, we consider this as a call for us to indicate how we are dealing with these matters.
They want us to indicate whether the debate in each suggests that there is a crisis, or if it is a function of democratic agility and the slow pace of positive advancement. South Africa will soon tell our consolidated stories on these issues when we submit our second APRM accountability report. It is waiting for the completion of one important chapter: the Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament that we are hosting. We definitely have to conclude this chapter so that the activities of the tournament will form part of the report when we then prepare it.
Having declared ourselves an activist Fourth Parliament of a democratic South Africa, it is expected of this honourable House to rise and be counted as one of the active participants in the writing of the second report of the APRM.
We are looking forward, without any doubt, to seeing Parliament in action, as was the case when we went through the country's self-assessment process and the writing of the country's self-assessment report in terms of the APRM in the period up until 2006.
Participating in the APRM processes is not only for APRM compliance. It is also a moment for self-reflection as it provides a mirror for reflection on our record of performance in the areas of democracy, political stability, economic growth and development.
This Parliament led by example at the conclusion of the self-assessment process when it appointed a team of experts to introspect its state of readiness as a people's Parliament.
Taking the cue from that leadership by Parliament, we are leading a project modelled around the self-reflection of the APRM, in order to introspect the Public Service with a view to defining an architecture of our Public Service ready to drive a developmental agenda.
We interpret the performance agreement that we signed with the hon President to be premised on this demand. May we, as we celebrate Africa Day this year, once more confirm that a just world and a better Africa is a possibility and that we will make it happen through our own efforts.
Ku nga va ku ri xihoxo lexikulu eka un'wana wa vatswari va mina eka swa tipolitiki, Nkul Pharephare Mothupi, loko a nga ndzi twa ndzi nyika nkanelo wa mina ndzi gimeta ndzi nga nghenisanga ririmi ra manana. Hikwalaho, ndzi rhandza ku gimeta nkanelo wa mina hi ku vula leswaku tiko ra hina ra Afrika Dzonga ri amukele ntwanano wa Nhlangano wa Matiko ya Misava eka ku kamakamana na vukungundzwana.
Hi endlile tano tanihi mfungho wo tiyimisela ku humelela eka mafumele lamanene emisaveni hinkwayo. Ha rona mpfhumba leri, hi ya emahlweni hi vurhangeri bya Presidente Zuma leswaku matiko hinkwawo ya misava ya fanele ya sayina ntwanano wo xopaxopana hi vuntangha bya matiko. Ku nga ri khale ha tshembha leswaku mhaka leyi yi ta fika emakumu.
Ku humelela ka matiko ya misava swi lawuriwa hi vuswikoti na ku tinyiketa ka wona eka ku tirhisana. A swi hi vuyiseli nchumu ku pfukelana matimba, ku tshwukiselana mahlo hambi ku vutlelana mimfumo handle ka ku hi vuyisela ntsena ngati, swirilo na vusweti. A hi swi papalateni. Tiko ra hina ri nghenerile ntwanano wo tirhisana na Nhlangano wa Ntirhisano hi swo Hluvukisa Ikhonomi.
Hi ku ya hi ntwanano lowu, hi yirisa vatirhelamfumo, hambi i vo hlawuriwa kumbe vo thoriwa, ku ba mati leswaku tingwenya ti etlela loko va tirha ematikweni ya le handle na loko va amukela vukorhokeri hi vatirhi vo huma ehandle. Ku endla tano i manyala ya vukungundzwana. Na wona ntwanano lowu wu katsa ku xopaxopana ka matiko hi vuntangha.
Loko ha ha ri eka mhaka leyi hi ri tiko, hi vika leswaku hi pfumerile ku kamberiwa hi tlhela hi endla leswi hi nga tsundzuxiwa swona. Hi ku ya hi ntwanano lowu wa OECD, hi kamberiwile ro sungula hi tintangha ta hina hi 2008. Sweswi ha ha ku kamberiwa ra vumbirhi laha tiko ra Slovenia na Amerika a va ri vona varhangeri eka vukambisisi lebyi. Xiviko xi ta huma ku nga ri khale.
Hinkwaswo leswi swi komba leswaku hi tiyimiserile ku tirhisana na matiko ya misava naswona varhangeri va hina va twisisa xidemokirasi. Hi ri ku dya hi ku engeta. [Va phokotela.] (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)
[It would be a big mistake if one of my political mentors, Mr Pharephare Mothupi, heard me concluding my discussion without using my mother tongue. As a result, I would like to conclude my discussion by saying that our country, South Africa, has accepted the United Nations agreement to fight corruption.
We have done so as a sign of commitment to good governance in the whole world. Through this instrument, we surge forward under the leadership of President Zuma so that the entire international community can sign the African Peer Review Mechanism. It won't be long before this matter is finalised.
The success of the international community depends on its abilities and commitment to work together. There is no benefit in fighting each other, causing animosity or overthrowing governments which only result in bloodshed, crisis and poverty. Let us avoid this. Our country has entered into an agreement to work together with the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development.
According to the agreement, we forbid government officials, whether elected or appointed, to accept bribes when they work in foreign countries and when they receive services rendered by foreigners. To do that is a damning act of corruption. And this agreement also includes the review of countries by their peers.
While on this issue as a country, we report that we have acceded to be reviewed and to do what we have been advised. According to the OECD agreement, we were peer reviewed for the first time in 2008. Now we have just been peer reviewed for the second time, and Slovenia and America were the leaders in the review.
All of this shows that we are committed to working together with the international community and our leaders understand democracy. I rest my case, lest I not be afforded the opportunity in future. [Applause.]]