Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Ministers and hon members, the UDM supports Budget Vote 5.
Kwaye sithi kuSihlalo weKomiti yeMicimbi yeSebe, aphile ngokukhawuleza. Kwisidlo sangokuhlwa siza kumnika iyeza; siza kumxubela phaya ebharini. Ndiyathemba ukuba ibhari iza kube ikhona ngokuhlwa kwanamhlanje. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[To the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, we say he must get well soon. We are going to give him a cure during supper; we will mix it at the bar. I hope there will be liquor this evening.]
Since the advent of democracy, we have, as South Africans, cleansed ourselves of our polecat image on the international stage, thanks to the visionary leadership we have been exposed to in this country. Who would have thought in 1994 that today we would be on the eve of hosting the Fifa World Cup? Indeed, within this period, we have already risen to the United Nations Security Council, and even chaired that august forum.
It is gratifying to hear that the African Union, at it last meeting, resolved that South Africa must once more return to the UN Security Council as a representative of the continent. This is a sign that the continent holds our country in high esteem and wants us to continue with the work we began during our previous tenure on the UN Security Council.
During this new term, there should be close co-ordination between the department, the Presidency, the Minister and the portfolio committee, to make sure that we read from the same page. The UDM feels strongly that we should use the opportunity presented by the willingness of the Obama Administration to return to a multilateral style of international relations. We must encourage this trend.
How wonderful it would be to reach the day when all players in the nuclear arena sit around a single table. South Africa must play a role in bringing countries like Israel, Iran and North Korea to the table to face reality and submit to the international nonproliferation treaties.
However, we must not fool ourselves that countries such as Israel will easily give up their nuclear arsenals as long as the Middle East question is not resolved.
Now that the Obama administration has shown its commitment to multilateralism, a chance exists that this spirit will spread to other Security Council members and that a solution can be found to the Middle East conflict.
In October last year, I was appointed to the Interim National Defence Force Service Commission by the Minister of Defence. Our mandate is to look, amongst other things, at the conditions of service of SA National Defence Force members. My observation is that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation and the portfolio committee need to consult intensively with the SANDF about our current and future peacekeeping efforts to ensure that we have the capacity to fulfil those duties. In conclusion, allow me to add to the concerns of the chairperson of the portfolio committee. The Department of International Relations and Co- operation is the eyes and ears of the country. It is also responsible for selling South Africa on the international stage.
Whilst we note the right to freedom of expression, the Ministry should not be afraid to call to order those political leaders, even in the ruling party itself, who are sending out mixed signals on economic policy. It is necessary to rein in those people in the tripartite alliance, who, because of the fundamental policy differences amongst themselves, are jeopardising foreign investment with reckless comments about policy and constitutional rights in South Africa. We have witnessed this recklessness for the past 15 years.
Finally, whether we like it or not, the debacle of the Eskom-Hitachi deal has created the impression that foreign investors have to enter into business partnerships with the ruling party or those linked to it. The sooner the political heads of this department explain to the powers that be the danger of this international impression of corruption, the sooner we can save ourselves from being relegated to the backwaters of foreign investment. I thank you. [Applause.]