Chairperson, hon members of the House, distinguished guests, my speech in this debate on the International Day of Democracy will underscore the democratic values, human rights and international co- operation under the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum and our Parliament's relationship with the European Union, EU.
This will be done against the background of the ANC's policy on international relations and human solidarity. It is most appropriate that we are celebrating the International Day of Democracy in the month in which, here in South Africa, we are celebrating our national heritage.
At the core of our national heritage, as a people, is a long struggle for democracy, recognition and respect for diverse cultures, languages and traditions bounded by our ideals of a unitary South African nation that is democratic, nonracist, nonsexist and based on equity.
At the heart of this heritage is the leadership role that the ANC, as one of the oldest liberation movements on the continent, has played as it approaches its centenary celebrations. Since its formation, the ANC's mission is the struggle for democracy and human rights as understood within the context of the national democratic revolution. We recognise that the achievements of political freedom and democracy in 1994 did not automatically translate into economic democracy and justice.
There exists in our country huge socioeconomic disparities and inequalities which subject the majority of our people to a life of poverty where political freedom, in the final analysis, loses it significance. These disparities and inequalities are a characteristic feature of our current globalised world.
It is these global inequalities and economic injustice that inform our continued struggle for a better life for all and a vision of a better Africa and a just world, as is articulated in the policies of the ANC.
It is these policies and vision that informs the ANC government's policies on international relations and, as such, our understanding of the significance of celebrating democracy and human rights. As South Africans, coming out of a long struggle, we have an opportunity and privilege to celebrate our democratic achievement and gains. We must also use this democratic space to advance our struggle to deepen beyond mere political democracy.
We need to take this beyond the confines of our national borders and build international human solidarity. The recognition of this internationalism around democracy and human rights is fully expressed in the strategy and tactics of the ANC. They encompass the fact that the achievement of democracy in 1994 provided South Africans with an opportunity to build democracy, a culture of human rights and a value system based on human solidarity, and to work with African and global progressive forces to advance human development in our country, on the continent and across the globe.
The ANC government's approach to international relations and to democracy and human rights must therefore be underpinned by these ideals. It must be informed by our principles of a better life for all and a vision of a better Africa and a just world. It is on the basis of this understanding that we must place a priority on establishing and building our relations with other countries of the South.
The building of South-South relations should not only be seen in terms of economic and national self-interest, but as part of advancing our common ideals of building a world based on economic democracy and justice. It is also about our commitment to rid the world of inequalities and poverty, and by so doing, deepening democracy and human rights.
India-Brazil-South Africa, Ibsa, is a trilateral, developmental initiative that promotes South-South dialogue, co-operation and common positions on issues of international importance; facilitates trade and investment opportunities between the three countries; supports the alleviation of poverty and social development in developing countries; and promotes the trilateral exchange of information, international best practice technologies and skills amongst the three countries.
The South Africa-European Union, SA-EU, trade relations represent a bilateral interaction on South-North co-operation that has seen growth in South Africa's export, but also reinforces a system of global dominance in trade relations that has a negative impact on African countries as illustrated in the EU's relations with developing blocs.
There is another inconsistency in the application of human rights in the EU support for a genocide warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court, ICC, against the President of Sudan. The African Union has taken a position of nonco-operation with the warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity issued by the ICC on President Omar Al-Bashir and made an appeal to the UN to delay the case against him.
Hon Mokgalapa, South Africa supports the AU's decision precisely because there is a provision in terms of article 15 of the Rome Statute that allows for a deferral. We are saying: Let us defer the matter so that we are able to ensure that the people of Southern Sudan are able to realise the referendum next year. That is what we are saying.
We could easily have subjected President de Klerk and his government to the same process in 1990, but instead we negotiated with him, and look at where we are today! That is the point. [Applause.]
You cannot prosecute Al-Bashir whilst he still has a very big role to play in terms of realising this particular referendum. You cannot do that. [Interjections.]