This serves as political education of others.
Re na le dikamano le naha ya Brazil, Russia, China le India. Haufinyana re ne re tshwere kopano ya Brics e bileng le katleho e kgolo. Hona ke pontsho ya hore moruo wa rona o tla tswela pele ho ntlafala ho feta hona jwale. Ke e meng ya meralo eo re nang le yona bakeng sa ho fedisa bofuma. Ho molemo hore batho ba letsohong la ka le letshehadi ba ithute, ba mamele, ba bale mme ba etse diphuputso. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[We have relations with Brazil, Russia, China and India. Not long ago we hosted the Brics summit, which was a great success. This is an indication that our economy will continue to improve to more than what it is now. These are some of the plans we have for the alleviation of poverty. It is advisable for people on my left hand side to learn, listen, read and conduct research.]
As the ANC, we envisage an economy that fosters economic and regional integration; an economy that fosters relations with the global environment and has mutual relations with the North and the South, and is an essential component of a balanced regional economy which contributes to the growth and prosperity of Africa. The above are some of the elements that form the vision of the economic base of the national democratic society that we as the ANC seek to create.
Regional integration is one of the bases to foster inter-African relations that we as the ANC have pursued and will continue to pursue. This has been expressed through organisations such as the Southern African Development Co- ordination Conference, SADCC, the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa, PTA, and the Economic Community of West African States, Ecowas.
From the onset we said that regional integration in Southern Africa would have to be based on the agreement of all countries in Southern Africa in order to form this regional economic community. This was because of our understanding, as the ANC, that this would enable balanced and stable regional economic development so that our relations with our regional compatriots would not, postapartheid, be perceived as what it was during apartheid, a hegemonic regional power.
Our attempts to accelerate the economic integration of the Southern Africa region through our goal of creating a free trade agreement within the SADC will be based on the premises of mutual benefit, equity and balance.
Ke kahoo Mokgatlo wa Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, o thusang dinaha tse potapotileng Afrika Borwa. Re ka bua ka boikgantsho ka tswelopele tse entsweng ke Mokgatlo wa IDC mane Botswana, Lesotho, jj. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[That is why the Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, is assisting countries surrounding South Africa. We can proudly talk about developments done by the IDC in Botswana, Lesotho, etc.]
The idea was and still is to increase South Africa's interests through our ANC-led government when it comes to relations with our traditional trading partners like the European Union.
We reflect on the legacy of apartheid and we are affirmative when we say that the ANC-led government has made great achievements and as such there is sharper regional and continental focus by our government.
South Africa is an essential component for regional and continental integration. This is because there is immense work that needs to be done to rapidly eradicate the challenges of poverty and sustained economic development, which are remnants of our colonial past. The notion is to eradicate poverty by ensuring that dependency on our colonisers is not entrenched through aid.
One of the drivers of regional integration is mainly continental, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad. Nepad basically calls for a mutual vision and a goal to eradicate poverty and replace this with a programme of sustainable economic growth and development. Ours, as the ANC- led government, is to implement economic programmes that will attain growth whilst eradicating poverty that will encourage investment, infrastructure, agriculture and regional integration.
Batho ba batsho ho tloha kgale ba lekanngwa le bofuma. Le hona jwale ho thata ho ba basweu hore ba amohele hore batho ba batsho le bona ba ka kgona ho una molemo moruong ona wa naha ya rona. O tla bona le ho utlwa ha motho e motsho eka o a iphumana, ho ba le lerata ho tswa ho baqolotsi ba ditaba le mekga ya kganyetso hobane ba dumela hore ntho e nngwe le e nngwe e fumanwang ke motho e motsho ke bobodu. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Black people have always been identified with poverty throughout the years. Even at this juncture it is difficult for whites to acknowledge that black people can also benefit from the economy of our country. When a black person realizes his/her potential, there are rumours of corruption from journalists and opposition parties because they believe that anything that a black person achieves is as a result of corruption.]
Hon Chair, thank you very much! [Time expired.][Applause.]