Chairperson, hon members, hon Minister and Deputy Ministers, directors-general and your delegations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, indeed I stand here today daunted by the prospect of delivering what I understand from the old guard to be my maiden speech, an experience in intensity only second to the feeling of gratitude, honour and privilege of serving my people in this fourth democratic Parliament.
Africa is my home, Africa is our home, and consolidating the African agenda is our responsibility. The ANC proceeds from the premise that there can be no prosperity and stability in South Africa when there is strife, abject poverty, war, conflict, instability and underdevelopment in Africa.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Ntate Alfred Nzo warned the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs on 14 May 1994 that the notion that South Africa could go it alone, separate from the rest of the continent, was outright hazardous. Furthermore, it has been established that a self- sustaining and parasitic relationship exists between economic poverty and armed conflict. Where armed conflict is indeed widespread, economic poverty is entrenched and sustainable development becomes impossible, as alluded to by my chairperson earlier. Thus, instability and violent conflict undermine development, destroy infrastructure, reduce trade and investment, and spread malnutrition and disease.
Spending by a country in conflict is actually diverted away from economic and human development to security and armaments. Lack of stability and security lead to disinvestment and what is termed "the flight of capital" which, in turn, results in unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment.
To this end, the ANC, consistent with its internationalist traditions derived from the Freedom Charter, which provides that South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and to settle all international disputes by negotiations, has indeed committed itself to working together with other countries, especially in Africa, to fight the scourge of hunger, disease, conflict and underdevelopment.
The principles and policy positions articulated in the department's strategic plan for 2009 to 2012 aptly capture this strategic task in the following manner, and I quote:
We are committed to promoting South Africa's national interests and values, the African Renaissance and the creation of a better world for all.
It is within the broad confines of this mission statement that our international relations policy on Africa must find practical expression. Consolidating the African agenda correctly remains at the top of the department's strategic plan, as articulated in the President's state of the nation address.
This, then, concisely sums up South Africa's perspective of herself and how she relates to Africa in particular and the world in general. We are South Africans, Africans in the first instance and members of the global community of nations.
The ANC has consistently stated that without peace, stability and prosperity in Africa, South Africa could never be at peace. This is a necessary precondition for our long-term sustainable development. In this context, South Africa has made various contributions to processes that are aimed at bringing about peace, democracy, security and economic development within the spirit and mandates of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, with specific reference to the preamble, and to articles 3 and 4 of the Act.
The mainstay of South Africa's engagement in the resolution of conflict is premised on multilateralism, and we make our contribution through multilateral fora, such as the African Union, the United Nations and other regional bodies collectively and severally. It is therefore important that we continue to support and further strengthen forums, such as SADC, and consolidate our strategic alliances such as SADC, Comessa, and the East African Community Tripartite Alliance.
The fundamental contradictions of Africa's backwardness, abject poverty, disease and superexploitation of both human and material resources, as articulated in Nepad, remain the grim reality of our continent.
The ANC therefore remains committed to the reversal of Africa's fortunes. It continues to be a struggle, albeit in different terrain, which must be waged with relentless ferocity with the same vigour, zeal, zest and oomph with which we defeated the apartheid monster.
Central to the attainment of our noble objectives of advancing the African agenda, is indeed the popularisation of Nepad and it's being rooted amongst ordinary South Africans. This will go a long way in supporting other initiatives, which seek to defeat xenophobic tendencies, whose effects we saw not so long ago.
Indeed, it is with trepidation that I note the incident, though isolated, in which Somali nationals received anonymous threatening letters during the course of last week. It therefore remains critical that a deliberate and conscious campaign is undertaken amongst our people to prevent incidents of xenophobia and ensure the integration into our communities of all those who are resident in our country.
In our elections manifesto, the ANC committed itself to the following: The ANC government will -
... spare no energy in our efforts to find lasting solutions to the situation in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Western Sahara, Somalia and other countries.
The department has clearly set out its key priority areas and outcomes. While most of the deliverables will remain as work in progress for the foreseeable future, we hope to set clear timeframes in some of the areas articulated.
The developments in the Southern African Customs Union are a source of concern and inevitably raise serious questions, amongst other questions: How does the lofty ideal of regional integration stand up to the overwhelming urge of some of our sister countries to secure themselves individual access to European markets and at what cost, given the practical realities of subsidisation of farmers and protectionism? Furthermore, what will be the impact on our own economy?
More than ever before, the elevation and celebration of Africa Day on our calendar has become more relevant than ever. The celebration of this important day by one or two cities in our country does not do justice to its significance. If we are to advance at least the elements of the Lagos tradition - to borrow from the hon Ben Turok - and begin to engender collective self-reliance, a common African identity and a sense of shared destiny, then Africa Day must indeed be elevated to its rightful place.
Hon Minister and Deputy Ministers, in fulfilling our constitutional mandate and living up to the expectation of positioning ourselves as an activist Parliament, we will indeed hold you accountable, but we will do so without being antagonistic. We will ask questions and render critique when warranted to do so. But when we do so, it will be for no other purpose than to assist you to play your role even better and support you in delivering on our collective commitment to the people. You can be assured of our continued support.
In conclusion, the fundamental objective of African unity and our unmitigated support for the advancement of the African agenda is not merely the fact that we occupy the same geographic space, nor just the data about GDP growth or its decline, or our national interests at the expense of our African brothers and sisters. It is about the fundamental issues that affect every African child, woman, man and youth; it is about bringing an end to the endless suffering of Africa's children; it is about Africa's self-reliance in resolving its own problems; it is about silencing the guns in Darfur, Sudan; it is about the restoration of democratic government in Madagascar; it is about peace and stability in the land of Joshua Nkomo in Zimbabwe; it is about an end to the conscription of children to fight in armed conflicts; it is about an end to the senseless murders and rape of vulnerable civilians in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere on the continent. It is indeed an end of ceaseless strife, poverty, malnutrition and underdevelopment in Africa.
African unity, therefore, is about socioeconomic advancement. Indeed, it is about the betterment of the lives of Africa's children. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]