Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President and hon Speaker, concisely outlining the ANC's foreign policy, the former President of the ANC Comrade Oliver Reginald Tambo said in 1977, and I quote:
We seek to live in peace with our neighbours and the peoples of the world in conditions of equality, mutual respect and equal advantage.
Aptly, Comrade OR's lucid words represent what the ANC and its government seek to realise. The ANC is neither craving for excess, nor will it content itself with the deficient. It seeks the mean between the excess and the deficient. As the sage of old, Aristotle, would have said, indeed the ANC only seeks social justice, fair treatment and protection of human dignity for all. The ANC has thus committed itself to building a better Africa in a better world and will continue to strive for a new world order in which the brotherhood of men prevails and all peoples of the world reap equal benefits of the resources our planet has to offer.
However, let me without further ado indicate that I am not oblivious to the diverse permutations of our society and the inherent contradictions that attend such diversity. Ours has to be a unity in diversity. In other words, our diversity should serve as glue that seals us together rather than a wedge that drives us apart.
I venture to contend that our diverse views, opinions and preferences may only germinate and bloom when not in conflict with the Constitution. That this democratic dispensation is a product of a negotiated settlement cannot be gainsaid. Be that as it may, we all should do well to remember that the negotiated settlement birthed the current Constitution. Therefore, those who continue to yearn for a federal South Africa should restrain their predilections, idiosyncrasies and desires and refrain from creating quasi- federal outposts, especially where international co-operation is concerned.
Section 40(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa provides that:
... government is constituted as national, provincial and local spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated.
Section 41(1)(a) obligates all spheres of government and organs of state co- operatively to preserve the peace, national unity and indivisibility of the Republic.
Parliament has a duty to ensure that our foreign policy determines all relations and agreements between a province or a municipality and its foreign counterparts. South Africa has to speak one language in all international relations engagements despite inadvertent diversity in political leadership in other spheres of government.
The point I want to underscore is that it is unconstitutional conduct for anyone to engage in international operations that militates against South Africa's foreign policy and undermines the collective national interest of the people of South Africa. Parliament should not only speak against such unconstitutional acts, but should also ensure that corrective justice is meted out against perpetrators of such wrongs.
In broad terms, ours is to protect the people of South Africa against fear and want. Pursuant to this imperative, South Africa's national interest can be summarised in the goal of a better Africa and a better world. Let me assert that the adjective "better" is not a mere superlative measured in terms of progress, but has to denote resilience, unity, integrity, and other such values.
However, the unfortunate part has been that this balance between the ideal and the reality does not find expression in the discourse due the skewed balance of power in the public domain. The South African context continues to be marked by the unity and struggle between generally neoliberal and conservative inclinations of a small section of society and broadly progressive impulses born of long years of our struggle for liberation.
The neoliberal conservative foreign policy proponents criticise South Africa's foreign policy for failing to ensure returns on investments. They claim that the country has nothing to show for huge contributions in time, energy and funds to peacemaking, peacekeeping, post-conflict reconstruction and the promotion of democracy in Africa. In their view, South Africa ought to give greater attention to economic diplomacy or economic interests.
The point made by these forces is that the domestic justification of foreign policy is in our being able to show in concrete trade and investment figures how the country has benefited from our African agenda. I want to assert without fear of contradiction that the ANC will not blindly entrap this country in dangers that entail enmeshing diplomatic engagements with commerce.
The truth of the matter is that there is no evidence that when big companies amass super-profits from doing trade in Africa, they share these profits with the broader public. We should at all times be conscious of the fact that South Africa's poverty is not conjectural but structural, and more so that our identity has been formed in a struggle for justice and greatness.
Let me now come to parliamentary forums and how our Parliament can ensure co-operative governance through its participation in such forums.
Allow me to address myself to a common concern about value for money supposedly not realised in relation to participation in parliamentary forums. I am convinced that those who argue that money used in participation in parliamentary forums could have been put to better use in other programmes of Parliament based their positions on lack of knowledge. I do not seek to attempt to refute their arguments or to disabuse them of their conviction; mine is to make a recommendation to Parliament to create space and time for Parliament to receive and engage reports from the participants of this fora.
In relation to the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum, the ANC has committed itself to multilaterally promote the process of transformation of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum, SADC-PF, into SADC Parliament. As part of the SADC-PF our Parliament should strive for the realisation of the vision of the SADC- PF to be a regional Parliament that reflects and respects the collective voice and aspirations of national parliaments and SADC citizens.
Parliament has to contribute to building and sustaining peaceful, stable democracies and good governance practices in the SADC region. In this regard, Parliament should support the enhancement of constitutional and democratic practices in institutions that are responsible for and engaged in public affairs and governance in the SADC. There should also be vigorous promotion of citizen-oriented effective regional integration.
Parliament should thus be guided by the fact that peace, stability and good governance are sine qua non to socioeconomic development. The region can only be developed and, as a corollary, be meaningfully economically integrated if and when it is peaceful and stable. The truth deserves re- emphasis that South Africa cannot sustainably be an island of opulence surrounded by a sea of poverty. It is trite to mention that it is in Parliament's interest to collectively undertake to deepen socioeconomic development in the region. Our current challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality can be addressed through an integrated and strengthened regional economic community.
The vision and purpose of the Pan-African Parliament, PAP, can be traced directly to the Pan-African ideals of co-operation and unity among African states, leading ultimately to the establishment of an African economic community. These ideals inspired the signing of the treaty establishing the African Economic Community, the Abuja Treaty, on 3 June 1991 and the adoption of the Sirte Declaration in 1999. The Sirte Declaration called for the establishment of the institutions provided for in the Abuja Treaty, and the PAP was envisioned as a platform at which the African peoples could be represented in the decision-making processes affecting the continent.
According to Article 3 of the Pan-African Parliament protocol, the key objectives of the PAP are, among others, to promote human rights, democracy, peace and security; to facilitate co-operation and development on the continent; to strengthen continental solidarity and build a common destiny among Africa's people; and to encourage good governance, transparency and accountability in member states.
I have already drawn attention to reinforcing the relationship between peace, stability and development. I will not belabour that point. However, I should mention that one of the threats to peace and stability, and by extension to development on the continent, is the presence of the United States Africa Command, Africom, in Africa in the guise of war on terror, while actually militarising the continent.
The ANC recognises that Africom is more than just the building of American bases on the African continent. It includes more subtle programmes involving the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Nato, military in military training of African militaries, the funding of nongovernment organisations, NGOs, for anti-African agendas and, increasingly, the introduction of drones in the guise of technological assistance in conflict areas. The ANC respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of fellow African countries, and calls on the US and military organisations like Nato to do the same.
One of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's areas of activity is sustainable development. Sustainable development, according to the IPU, transcends merely linking environmental considerations to economic growth. Sustainable development encompasses other vital issues such as human development, social and economic justice, and the advancement of democracy.
Economic development includes, amongst other elements, the need to revise the current global financial and economic model, globalisation of the economy and liberalisation of trade.
Through the IPU, Parliament should promote sustainable development by, amongst others, encouraging other countries to reduce their carbon gas emissions. Our Parliament actively participated in Conference of the Parties, Cop 17, processes. In the same vein and vigour, Parliament should promote the implementation of Cop 17 decisions. Amongst the decisions I am referring to is the agreement by government to the full implementation of the package to support developing nations agreed to in 2010 in Cancun, Mexico.
The ANC endeavours to realise global economic justice, as the IPU does. Through the IPU and multilaterally through the India-Brazil-South Africa, Ibsa, and the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Brics, Parliamentary Forum, Parliament should endeavour to realise a more inclusive global economic model. The ANC's call for reform of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and World Bank to reflect equity and fairness continues.
Let me remind this House that Brics is a continuation of the tradition that was firmly established 58 years ago, in April 1955, when countries of Asia and Africa met at the historic Bandung Conference to galvanise their collective muscle in the context of the Cold War and assert themselves in the international system. The Bandung Conference, which led to the formation of the Nonaligned Movement, was a historic watershed in the international relations of developing countries.
At the Brics Summit held in Sanya, China, in April 2011, the five leaders declared that:
It is the overarching objective and strong, shared desire for peace, security, development and co-operation that brought Brics countries with a total population of nearly three billion from different continents. Brics aims at contributing significantly to the development of humanity and establishing a more equitable and fair world.
Currently, in the midst of the global economic crisis, many countries in the world are looking up to Brics member states for a way out.
Through the Brics Parliamentary Forum, Parliament should work multilaterally to strive to enhance inclusive economic growth that will lead to an increase in the creation of decent sustainable jobs, advance the fight against poverty and accelerate economic transformation in the member countries. Parliament should in the same vein work to realise a more equitable global political and economic system.
In conclusion, the ANC neither craves the excess nor countenances the deficiency. We seek only justice, equality and fairness in international co- operation. Again, we make a strong call for synchronised international co- operation, representative of the unitary structure of our beloved country.
Let there be peace and stability in mother Africa. Let her socioeconomic muscle go from strength to strength among the family of nations. Let the brotherhood of man prevail in all corners of the globe.
Before I sit down, I heard the Chief Whip of the DA saying that, on the part of the opposition parties, they are very frustrated. I just want to give them friendly advice: There is no frustration in the ANC. [Laughter.] [Applause.] They will be most welcome; if he can lead the best of the opposition to come to the other side of the table, we may be able to build a united democratic and nonracial society. I thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]