Deputy Speaker, the core objective of this Agenda 2063 is to have a flourishing culture of human rights, democracy, gender equality, peace and security, prosperity, and to put in place mechanisms to defend the continent's collective security and interests.
In addition to this is the objective to create unity, cohesion and solidarity between African countries and nations. It is very sad that if this is what we have adopted, what is happening in South Africa, particularly with xenophobia and the way our brothers and sisters from the African continent have recently been treated leaves a lot to be desired.
Now, if we talk about wanting to be part and parcel of the unity, then surely charity begins at home. Indeed, we need to ensure that our brothers and sisters that are emanating from these African countries are treated with respect and dignity.
We all must agree that the African continent is one of the richest continents in terms of mineral wealth, agriculture, etc. However, despite all its wealth, it remains one of the poorest continents globally. The question we need to ask is: Why are we still the poorest continent with all this wealth?
Despite this attempt to create a united states of Africa, the continent continues to experience great challenges, including corruption, lack of human rights, democracy, limited growth, civil unrest, etc.
I was watching the programme the other day on Rwanda. You will remember the civil unrest, the division, the number of people that lost their lives, but Rwanda has today been able to launch their first smart phone in Africa. What a great achievement for an African country! [Interjections.] Yes, indeed, they ... [Inaudible.] ... the first smart phone in Africa. What a great achievement! The question that we need to ask is: Why are we as South Africa lagging behind? What are we not doing? What are we doing wrong? How can we come together as one united nation to address this?
I said this before, at the SADC region, at one stage, we have agreed on infrastructure development from South Africa through the neighboring countries but we have not taken advantage of that. We have discussed the issue of a pharmaceutical industry and we have the capacity and the capability but we have not been able to do that. The question is: Why can we not come together and do it? Why is Africa not able to have its own currency? Why do we have the entire world, but yet allow it to be controlled by the Western society and Western countries?