Hon Chair, every time I have this interaction I go back home rejuvenated, excited that we have dedicated committee members and hon members who really want South Africa to continue shining in the international arena. Today's debate did not disappoint me.
I just want to take this opportunity to humbly remind hon members that we have started talks on public diplomacy. We have done so knowing and having observed that there was a gap. I am very excited that so many of our hon members here have taken this issue so seriously. They are already questioning if we are making desirable progress.
In the last province I visited, the Free State - one of three provinces that I visited - I was so humbled to see 3 000 ordinary people of the Free State in a hall in the afternoon asking very interesting questions about connectivity. The main point they wanted to address was connectivity between our foreign policy and our five key priority areas.
There are times when you are even tempted to think that it's about time to find a way to encourage one child from that particular community to join our department, even as a cadet, because they are very keen to continue this good work.
Talking about nonstate actors, I thought it was this department that said it was about time we opened up the debate about who played in the international forum, who defined and who made contributions to the wellbeing of our foreign policy. I thought it was this department that has called upon big business, and they have responded positively. I am talking about the biggest businesses such as MTN, Sasol and others who have asked me what else I think they should do as our nonstate actors.
It is true that that is why we are talking about establishing the foreign policy council and bringing this White Paper to Parliament. I love the excitement that comes from this Parliament, from our businesses, from our youth organisations outside this room. I want to tell you that this call we are making - the call we made yesterday - is nonpartisan.
Every country I have been an ambassador to has had no-go areas and consensus on issues of national defence policy and foreign policy. No political party even enters those areas to start playing games around them, even during the electioneering period. I am talking here about big democracies like India. They can call each other names when they want to garner votes, but when it comes to these two critical areas, they will swear like they would swear with their constitution. I pray for the day when South Africans have a national consensus, and I agree on the no-go areas of foreign policy and defence policy. I think we can co-operate on everything else. We are not Foreign Affairs; we are International Relations and Co- operation. Everybody from that and this side of the House has been very positive, and the interventions I have been listening to were all very positive.
Let me say to the hon Smuts Ngonyama that in this country, when you were still a member of the liberation movement, the one and only, you knew very well that not a single president came to the Presidency through his own popularity or his own policies. The policies of the ANC are informed by the policy conference - the last one you attended was at Gallagher Estate - in terms of what we would expect of you.
In this country, we have had President Mandela, we have had President Mbeki, we had President Kgalema for a short while, and now we have President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. The message he delivers around the world is a message informed by the policies of the ANC, by what the populace of South Africa say to him. He is a President that all political parties in this country, including the opposition, say is a very consultative President.
So, when he goes out this country and into the world and is well received, he represents all of us. Who is leading the message - and a clear message - on behalf of all of us? President Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. When you list the number of presidents who have been in power, you stop at Mbeki. You are the only one who conveniently does not remember to mention your President - my President.
Talking about what the message is that we are sending out there, we are delivering a message to Africa of peace, security and development. What message does President Zuma deliver? A message of peace, security and development. Our two Deputy Ministers and I, and all the officials you see here, support him as the chief adviser of the foreign policy of this country.
When the people of Burundi, when the people of the entire Intergovernmental Authority on Development region, when the people of Zimbabwe see him - the MDC or whatever - they all say, "This is the man of peace", as the people of KwaZulu-Natal would say.
President Jacob Zuma spent months and months of his life in Burundi. When the Burundians attained peace in their own country, they chose to sacrifice their lives in Somalia because they wanted to repay their debt to President Zuma, South Africa and the SA National Defence Force, which supported their efforts to attain peace in their country. They looked back and saw that Somalia was becoming a failed state and said, "We are going there to make our contribution". So, this is what they say about the President of South Africa, President Zuma.
What does president Obama say about President Zuma? It was the first time in my life that I heard a president of the United States say:
President Zuma, because you are a man of peace, a leader of grass-roots people, I, President Barrack Obama, want you to know that at the end of my term you can say you had an ally and a friend in the United States of America, and we shall support all your efforts in attaining your five key priority areas.
[Applause.]
I have heard the president of China, president Hu Jintao, saying this in a meeting held at our embassy. This shows the level of respect that the people of China, under the leadership of their president, have for our President. When we were in Brazil, a bilateral meeting was held at our embassy and not at the Chinese embassy.
I am responding to your question that we must check our radar as to whether we are rising or falling. I want you to get answers to whether we are rising or falling from these practical examples that I have witnessed.
Hon Holomisa, we have said that I did that, and I got the message from my predecessor, the hon Dlamini-Zuma, that yes, when we were on the United Nations Security Council for the first time, we learnt lessons. One of the lessons was that we thought that South Africans understood what we were going to do there, but we had very little time to communicate what we were doing at the United Nations Security Council and why we needed to be there. Now we are closing that gap.
That is why we are engaging right from the outset, even as we seek votes from other countries, by saying, "Here we are, and we need to walk together". Walk the talk of co-ordination with ordinary men and women on the street. Even when we are in Botshabelo, we tell them what we are doing at the United Nations Security Council.