Foreign Affairs: Minister's Budget Speech
Briefing
13 May 2008
Minutes
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS BUDGET VOTE SPEECH BY MINISTER KOSAZANA DLAMINI ZUMA,
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
TUESDAY 13 MAY 2008
Madame Speaker
Honourable President Thabo Mbeki
Honourable Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Honourable Members of the National Assembly
Honourable Members of the Portfolio Committee of Foreign Affairs
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Fellow South Africans
This year, 2008, marks the 90th birthday of that great icon, hero and leader of our people: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Nelson Mandela continues to inspire hope in millions of our people as they struggle for a better life for all.
In July the world will join us in celebrating a life that epitomises triumph of humanity over adversity and the victory of the human spirit over the apartheid system- a crime against humanity. Sithi halala Madiba! Ukhule uzukhokhobe. Wuyibekile induku ebandla! Usibuyisele isthunzi somuntu omnyama umhlaba jikelele!
We continue to be inspired by his inaugural Presidential address in 1994, following the first democratic elections that, “Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.”
With that understanding, President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address, under the theme “Business Unusual - All Hands on Deck - to speed up Change,” committed all of government to “use the short period ahead of us further to energise our advance towards the realisation of the all important goal of a better life for all our people,” including the need to “enhance our focus on key areas in terms of our system of international relations, with a particular focus on some African issues and South-South relations.”
The permanent home of the Pan-African Parliament will be completed in 2010 in our beautiful country. Our government and public representatives will have to start with consultations on the review of the protocol, with the major question being whether it will remain consultative or will have some legislative authority.
The AU has developed its own peace and security architecture- the Peace and Security Council- whose responsibility entails the resolution of conflicts, peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction in conjunction with the UN
A common defence policy has been adopted which includes a Standby Force, with a nucleus of five brigades, one from each region. The SADC Brigade was launched in
The Human and Peoples Rights Court has been established with our Judge Bernard Ngoepe as one of the very first judges
The Protocol on the Rights of Women in
The Protocol on the Court of Justice is underway.
Financial institution will be developed in due course.
The socio-economic programme of the AU, NEPAD, was developed with President Mbeki as one of the architects of that process.
Recognising that we are responsible for own development, we launched the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) in July 2007 with a view to driving and sustaining
An audit of the AU’s institutions, human and financial resources has just been completed and will assist in strengthening and improving its efficiency. The discussions on the African Union government are ongoing with the Committee of Heads of State and Government meeting in
Later this month, on 25 May, our people, together with the rest of the continent, will join in the celebration of Africa Day. A series of events and activities have been lined-up by government, the private sector and civil society to celebrate Africa Day. Government has taken a decision that we have to popularise the AU anthem, the flag and other symbols.
We now have diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries represented by 121 Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Consul-Generals worldwide. By the end of the year we shall have 47 diplomatic missions on the African continent.
South Africa, understanding that there can be no development without peace and stability has spared no effort in conflict resolution and/or peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan, Comoros, Ethiopia, Eritrea, etc.
We continue to be involved in the post-conflict reconstruction and development of the DRC through the Binational Commission co-chaired by President Thabo Mbeki and President Joseph Kabila Kabanga.
Our country has also been privileged to lead the AU’s Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development of the
We were honoured by the visits of both President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro respectively to appraise us of the progress being made in consolidating peace and stability including the holding of elections later this year within the context of the Ouagadougou Agreement. The foundation was laid by President Mbeki.
With regards to
Following the recent AU mandated military operation on the
After reviewing the situation in
During the first decade of our democratic transformation, we had to establish anew our bilateral and multilateral relations in order to take our rightful place in the international community. We prioritised economic diplomacy and played a pioneering role in establishing South-South institutions like the India-Brazil-South Africa Forum (IBSA), New Africa – Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP) and others.
We operate in an ever-changing environment with the re-emergence of
Having been integrated into the international organisations, we have endeavoured to honour our international obligations and to participate actively in most activities.
Given our history and the increase of racism in the world we hosted and presided against the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) in 2001. The Declaration enjoins member states to implement the Programme of Action. Seven years later, the UN General Assembly has passed Resolution 61/39 for the convening of the Review Conference which will be held in 2009.
Naturally we express our serious reservations at calls for a boycott of this Conference which can only subtract from global efforts to eradicate racism and xenophobia. Those of us who were victims of centuries of racism in our country, correctly, must express our serious concerns at the global rise of racism and xenophobia including recent developments in our own country. All of us have the responsibility to help devise strategies to uproot racism, xenophobia and other related intolerance in our midst.
In 2002 we hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) which was also the 10th year of review of the Rio Summit of (1992). The Rio Summit established the administrative and monitoring mechanism within the United Nations called the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD). It meets annually to review progress on the implementation of the outcomes of the
Correctly, we stated our objective in the UN Security Council as the need to advance the interests of
In pursuance of this objective, President Thabo Mbeki hosted a debate of the Summit of the UN Security Council and African Union Peace and Security Council in which it was agreed that the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will appoint an AU-UN panel of distinguished personalities to formulate proposals on how support to regional organisations in general and the African Union in particular can be provided in a concrete way, with a view to ensuring sustainability.
Again in April we convened a joint meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council at Ambassadorial level on how best to maximise the relationship between the UN Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council to further co-operate in the fields of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and conflict management.
As part of our ongoing international work, we certainly will, together with the general membership of the UN, remain seized with processes aimed at the reform of the General Assembly, the UN Security Council and management.
As part of our international obligations, the country will next month host the visit of the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Director (CTED) aimed at determining
Madame Speaker
We have engaged correctly so with other countries of the South in favour of a more equitable global financial architecture responsive to the need of the developing world and thus to push back the frontiers of poverty and underdevelopment. In this regard, we have further helped launch the Doha Development Round with a particular focus on advancing a global developmental agenda.
We were honoured to have chaired the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the eve of a new century which provided the Movement with an opportunity to reflect on the many challenges facing developing countries. In this regard, we had the primary responsibility of promoting the sanctity of the UN Charter through outright condemnation of unilateralism. In this capacity, it was incumbent upon our country to help develop a cohesive political approach to the achievement of a number of developmental issues. This year in July 27-30, we will be participating in the NAM Ministerial meeting in
Madame Speaker
Democratic
On the Board of Governors, we have been actively involved in discussing issues ranging from technical co-operation to benefit developing countries as well as nuclear concerns relating the Democratic People’s
To further concretise South-South relations we have been privileged to play a role in the formation of both the Forum for China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) in 2000 and more recently the Africa-India Forum launched in New Delhi in April this year. These Fora agreed to enhance co-operation in the economic, political, science, technology, research and development, social development and capacity building, tourism, infrastructure, energy and environment, media and communication fields.
We, together with
As part of preparations for this
President Thabo Mbeki will in October this year participate in the 3rd IBSA Summit of Heads of State and Government scheduled for
Madame Speaker, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations with the
At the centre of our approach to these celebrations is the need to forge a strategic Partnership for Development with
We wish to take this opportunity to congratulate
Young South African athletes will indeed be participating in the Beijing Olympic Games scheduled for later this year. Accordingly we express our fervent hope that they, like their counterparts from the Springbok and other sporting codes, will indeed represent us with honour and distinction by winning gold medals and thus bring glory to our country. In this context the government and people of our country extend their best wishes to the government and people
In August this year, we will have the pleasure to host the SADC Summit. In this regard, our country will have the honour and privilege to Chair SADC once more for a year. The process of integration will enter new heights with the launch of the Free Trade Agreement.
This historic event will indeed by the first
Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad will provide you with the details on
Madame Speaker and honourable members
Since 2001,
Later this year,
We have developed co-operation with countries of the North with a view to supporting post-conflict reconstruction and development programmes on the continent, strengthening safety and security sector, to ensure improved terms of trade and market access and to improve the productive capacity of the continent.
Later this month, we will participate in TICAD IV in
We have further witnessed the finalisation of the revision of the Trade Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA), the launch of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership and significant commitments by EU countries to support Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) and Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).
The EU and its
As we know,
During this review process
Regrettably the impact of these EPA negotiations have tended to subvert our efforts towards regional integration. Not only have SADC countries been parcelled into different EPAs. Consequently, in December last year we saw deep cleavages appearing even among the SACU members. South Africa, Angola and to some extent Namibia are raising concerns on account of both the imbalance in the exchange of concessions and on the negative implications for regional integration contained within the interim EPAs.
We remain of the firm view that we should continue to do everything we can to ensure our region indeed acts in a manner consistent with imperatives to advance regional integration. In this context we appeal to our partners in the EU, to respect this especially as they know from their own experience, how critical this is, to enable our countries to grow their economies and benefit from the unstoppable force of globalisation.
In 1999 jointly with the peoples of the
Madame Speaker
The issues of climate change have taken the centre stage in many international fora. The devastating effect of the cyclone in
At the same time we convey our deepest condolences to the government and people of
The current food crisis is testimony to the fact that in order to preserve the environment we need to ensure food and energy security.
It is our view that the developed world has a greater responsibility to deal with climate change since they are major emitters as well as having greater resources at their disposal. Generations to come will not forgive our generation for merely paying lip service to this critical matter. Our view, correctly, remains that each generation has to bequeath unto the next, a better world than it found, with a view to balancing development while preserving a healthy environment.
The devastating effects of climate change, high food and oil prices will undermine efforts by developing countries towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
We are happy to work with the SADC countries and the rest of the continent to ensure that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is truly African experience.
Madame Speaker
May I express my deepest appreciation for the invaluable contributions of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Relations and in particular the Chair of the Committee Job Sithole, Deputy Ministers Aziz Pahad and Sue van der Merwe, Director-General Dr. Ayanda Ntsaluba, senior management and staff of the Department at home and abroad, in the execution of foreign relations.
I also take this opportunity as well to express my gratitude to President Mbeki and Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka for their wise counsel. The same goes for cabinet colleagues without whose support the implementation of our foreign policy would have been much more difficult. It is my fervent wish and hope that parliament will indeed give effect to our programmes for this financial year by approving this budget vote of our Department for the financial year.
Modulasetulo
Overall, I am certain that as we celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, he would agree with us that good progress has indeed been made, that whatever we did, whatever the challenges we may have faced and whatever the opportunities we explored, we were indeed motivated by none other than a burning desire to reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen confidence in the nobility of the human soul and thus sustain all our hope for a glorious life for all and to create a better South Africa, a better Africa and better world for all who live in it!”
Yet, it is not so much the absence of setbacks in the work we do in advancing our national interests abroad, but the ability to overcome obstacles as we progress towards our ultimate goals.
In conclusion, allow me to draw inspiration from the wise words of that hero and icon of our people, Nelson Mandela when he said: “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.” (Long Walk To Freedom)
I Thank You
Audio
No related
Documents
No related documents