Hon Speaker, thank you for affording me this opportunity to speak on the role of the Pan-African Parliament in deepening and enhancing democracy in Africa. My speech is dedicated to the memory of the former president of the Pan-African Parliament, hon Idriss Ndele Moussa, who passed away as a result of a road accident in N'Djamena in Chad on Sunday, 19 May 2013. As the ANC, we wish to convey sincere and heartfelt condolences from the people of South Africa to the family and relatives of the late hon Idriss Ndele and the entire African family. May his soul rest in peace!
The ANC believes that the Pan-African Parliament, the PAP, has a crucial role to play to realise the aspiration of a united and democratic Africa which is also stable, prosperous and at peace with itself, its people, and the rest of the world.
In stating the above, we are guided by the clear directive of the ANC's 53rd National Conference, which says that the ANC resolves to assist the Pan-African Parliament to revitalise its role as a catalyst for the unity and further democratisation of Africa, and that the ANC will promote and celebrate the institution of the PAP in South Africa. That the Pan-African Parliament has an important role to play in promoting democracy is not under dispute. Where consensus needs to be developed is in relation to the content of the democratic and development project.
In his address to the First Ordinary Session of the Second Legislature of the Pan-African Parliament in October 2009, the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, challenged the members of the PAP to give elaborate meaning to the content of the democracy they have undertaken to pursue. He thus said:
Once again, the question we must answer is: What is our common understanding of the democratic project in Africa?
Democracy is not an end in itself. It is a means to bring about improved conditions of livelihood for the people of Africa. It is about securing a future where African women and children will no longer present us with the common image of squalor, pestilence and famine, whilst they carry their meagre possessions as they run from yet another war perpetrated by men.
President Zuma was addressing the need for Africa to create this future urgently when he said:
Our people remain exposed to disease and malnutrition, with high rates of child mortality and declining life expectancy, despite significant medical advances and improved health care provision.
Parts of our continent are still plagued by war and conflict, political instability, and the removal of governments by unconstitutional means. In such circumstances, development is stifled and economic activity severely curtailed. It is the ordinary people who suffer, the very people that we in this Assembly represent.
The ANC has always understood that South Africa needs to campaign actively for the realisation of the shared objectives of the Southern African region and Africa. It has always recognised the critical importance of working within the established continental multilateral institutions. Thus, in its 1992 Ready to Govern policy guideline document, the ANC states that South Africa is part and parcel of the African continent in general and Southern Africa in particular. As such, the ANC will continue to work for the aims and objectives of the Organisation of African Unity, the OAU, the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference and the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa in achieving the economic integration of the continent. The Pan-African Parliament, also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union and it held its inaugural session in March 2004. The PAP exercises oversight and has advisory and consultative powers.
As indicated above, the PAP plays a crucial role in activities associated with deepening and enhancing democracy. In this regard, the PAP has the following responsibility: To examine, discuss and express an opinion on any matter, either on its own initiative or at the request of the Assembly or other policy organs, and make any recommendations it may deem fit relating to, inter alia, matters pertaining to respect of human rights, the consolidation of democratic institutions and the culture of democracy, as well as the promotion of good governance and the rule of law.
In its 53rd National Conference, the ANC underscored the important role of the PAP in actively stimulating democracy, unity and stability among other key imperatives of the African agenda. The ANC thus said:
South Africa resolves to assist the PAP to revitalise its role as a key catalyst for the unity and further democratisation of Africa. South Africa should assist the PAP to establish or support regional parliaments in line with the regional bodies of the African Union.
In this conference, the delegates went further to commit the ANC-led government to assist with the transformation and establishment of the tools and institutions which are required to bring about African unity and democracy. In this regard, it was resolved that the ANC will continue to play an active role in strengthening the PAP and its work. The ANC will lead the debate on the future of the PAP on the transformation of the Parliament by giving full legislative powers. The ANC will promote and celebrate the institution of the PAP in South Africa.
The PAP exercises oversight and has advisory and consultative powers lasting for the first five years. The objectives of the PAP underscore the high premium that the PAP places on the enhancement of democracy in Africa. The two objectives which speak directly to this imperative are the commitment to cultivate human rights and democracy in Africa, and to make sure that member states adhere to good governance, transparency and accountability.
The other objectives give expression to the pursuit of conditions whose realisation can only be enhanced through democracy. Thus, one of the objectives speaks of the PAP's aspiration to engender peace, security and stability on the continent. The powers of the PAP shed further light on the collective desire for democracy in Africa. In this regard, it is stated that the PAP's powers include the power to examine, discuss and express an opinion on any matter, either on its own initiative or in promotion of good governance and the rule of law.
The PAP's agenda of democratisation and development is not without its fair share of challenges. In his piece entitled: Transformation of the Pan- African Parliament: A path to a legislative body? Mpanyane draws opinions that doubts remain about the ability of the PAP to realise its objective and vision. In fact, the record of the PAP during the first five years shows that it still faces many challenges and disadvantages. Among its most critical disadvantages is that the PAP does not have any enforcement capacity for its decisions. Instead, it only has consultative and advisory powers. Another challenge is that its members are not directly elected but nominated. Thus, there are doubts about the likelihood of the PAP being transformed into a full legislative body as envisioned by the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Pan- African Parliament.
However, it is encouraging to note that the PAP has a strategic plan to deal with these challenges. In her address to the Third Pan-African Parliament on 6 May 2013, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, her Excellency Dr Dlamini-Zuma, had this to say on the PAP's plan:
The African Union Commission has as its core mandate the implementation of the vision of our union of an integrated, people-centred and prosperous Africa, at peace with itself.
The commission has therefore recommended its third strategic plan for 2014 to 2017 to the policy organs, based on the following eight clusters of priorities and our assessment of the state of the continent. These clusters are: Promoting peace and stability; inclusive governance; democracy and human rights as a foundation for inclusion; security and the development of the continent and its people; mainstreaming the participation of women and the youth in all priorities and activities of the Union and the continent; building a people-centred Union through active communication of the programmes of the African Union; the branding of the Union and participation of member states and other stakeholders in defining and implementing the African agenda; strengthening the institutional capacity of the African Union Commission, the AUC, the Regional Economic Communities, the RECs, and other organs, and its relations with strategic and other partners.
It is essential that Africa leverages its own resources to bring about the change which is articulated in the above vision. For this to happen, member states of the African Union must be encouraged to pay their dues. The ANC understands the critical importance of this matter of developing adequate resources for supporting the programmes of the PAP and other AU organs of African development. That is why the delegates of the ANC resolved, at the 53rd National Conference, that the ANC should call on all African countries to pay their membership subscriptions to the AU. Thank you, hon Speaker. [Time expired.] [Applause.]