Deputy Speaker, hon members, this debate perhaps offers an opportunity to reflect on who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. Our point of departure is to affirm that the ANC has been and will always be a Pan-African organisation committed to the unity of Africa, the renaissance of our continent and the solidarity among the people of Africa.
In 1906, six years before the formation of the then SA Native Congress, which was later known as the ANC, Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme rose to give a lecture at the Columbian University, calling for the regeneration of Africa. In his words, Dr Seme envisioned an Africa of hope; an Africa of prosperity; and an Africa at peace with itself.
The word of Dr Seme became an umbilical cord through which the ANC has been tied to the continent of Africa for all the years of its existence. The ANC has been advancing the struggle against colonialism and apartheid to ensure that the African children direct their energies to advancing the victories of peace, greater and more abiding than the spoils of war.
In response to the establishment of the Union of Africa by the British Parliament, Dr Seme made a clarion call to all Africans to unite. He made this call by firstly addressing what would be an obstacle to that unity of Africa. Among other things, he said: "We are one people."
It was on the basis of the appreciation of oneness of the African people that the ANC was formed to fight against colonialism. In 1912, when the ANC was formed, it made sure that it encouraged other countries. We know that Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, and other African countries, were invited and represented by their kings and chiefs. Therefore, from its formation, the ANC was never formed for South Africans only; it was formed for all Africans in the Southern Africa.
Some years after the formation, the ANC made sure that it also helped other organisations, the Zambian African National Congress that was led by Comrade Kenneth Kaunda. It also made sure that it gave support to the then Rhodesian African National Congress that was led by the late Zimbabwean, Mugabe.
I reiterate that, as the ANC, we are a Pan-African organisation committed to the unity and prosperity of Africa and its people. In Addis Ababa in 1963, the leaders of independent African states met and formed the Organisation of African Unity, OAU. As part of the founding resolutions of the summit, independent African states agreed to coordinate and intensify their efforts
to put an end to the then South African government's criminal policies. Therefore, they even decided in those meetings they would make sure that South Africans who would come to exile would be granted scholarships, educational facilities and possibilities of employment; and that happened.
It is common cause that countries such as Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Nigeria, and many other African countries heeded this call by the OAU to coordinate and intensify their efforts to end apartheid. These countries played host to many of our liberation fighters and offered them support. The important matter is to emphasise that South Africans were accepted in these other countries and they were actually abiding by the rules of those countries.
Sesotho:
Le rona re a kopa hore batho ba etetseng naheng ya rona ba re hlomphe. Ba ye dikantorong mme ba batle ditokomane tsa bona tsa molao hobane le rona ha re kena naheng tsa bona, re kena ka hlomphe. Ebile, ba tlileng pele mme ba kile ba dula moo, ba ne ba ba hlompha.
English:
We all know that these efforts of African states culminated in the demise of apartheid, and we really appreciate that as South Africans. In 1994, the ANC made sure that we have a foreign policy. Our foreign policy moves from the premise that first and foremost, South Africa is an African country.
It is our firm belief that the development of South Africa is tied to the development of Africa. Our commitment to the renaissance of Africa is beyond doubt. Our commitment to the agenda of the integration of Africa, as championed by the African Union, is without question.
This debate calls on us to engage on a very painful matter relating to the incidents of criminality and violence which have been happening in our country. These acts of criminality and violence must be condemned. We however have a responsibility to correctly diagnose what is the root cause of these acts of criminality and violence before we can define what we are dealing with. We have laws and they should be adhered to in this country.
Sesotho:
Mapolesa a rona le ba sebetsang Lefapheng la Ditaba tsa Lehae, mmoho le Matona a rona, re kopa le re thuse hore batho ha ba etsa mosebetsi wa bona, ba o etse ka boitelo le tlhompho. Ba tsebe hore batho ba tshwanetse ho fumana ditokomane tsa bona ka tsela e nepahetseng. Ba di hlokang ha jwale, re kopa hore le rona re ba tshwere kamoo ba neng ba re tshwere. Ba ye dikantorong mme ba di fumane.
English:
There are some among us who judge South Africans as being xenophobic and at worst, Afrophobic. The accusations are false and will continue to be proven false. For many decades, South Africans welcomed the African compatriots without hostilities towards one another. Marriages among Africans across artificial borders have been part of our lives for many years.
Setswana:
Ga re kitla re bua thata ka gonne kwa lelapeng la ga Mandela re na le ngwetsi go tswa kwa Mozambique, kwa lelapeng la ga
Ramaphosa re na le ngwetsi go tswa kwa Uganda mme kwa lelapeng la ga Dlamini-Zuma re na le mokgwenyane go tswa kwa Zimbabwe.
English:
We have been marrying cross-culturally. We have Africans among us who are engaged in businesses such as salons and nail bars, and we support them. We hope that from now on, before you do anything with them, ask them if they are documented. But we also condemn those business dealings that are done with undocumented people by the people who are renting properties to them.
The Africans are now engaged in the agenda set by the African Union. The agenda seeks to reorientate the economic outlook of African countries to look inward within the continent, with the intention of stimulating economic activities among African states. This will ensure that African countries will raise productivity and address policy, unemployment, inequality and poverty. In terms of the number of participating countries, this will be the world's largest trade ever formed.
We are affirming our commitment to the unity and prosperity of Africa. South African companies must take advantage of this Free Trade Agreement. In conclusion, the ANC condemns the criminality, violence and all the things that are happening, and have been done in our country including drugs. We must say no to illegality regardless of who commits it and where they come from. South Africans are urged to respect the laws of any country they visit in Africa and elsewhere in the world. In the same vein, we urge our guests to live freely among us in our country and respect the laws of our land. Our President ...
Sesotho:
... o buile a re, marumo fatshe. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.]