NOTES FOR THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DR NKOSAZANA ZUMA, FOR THE GCIS MEDIA BRIEFING WEEK, 8 February 2000
"As much as the rest of the world stood with us as we fought to end the system of apartheid, which struggle brought about the announcements that were made by the apartheid parliament ten years ago, so do we have an obligation ourselves to contribute to the construction of a better world for all humanity.
"We should aim to make a meaningful contribution in this regard because with regard to all the important objectives we have to pursue, at no point during our entire history have we ever been as well placed as we are to meet the challenges that confront us.
"From this we cannot walk away"
(President Thabo Mbeki in his, State of the Nation Address, National Assembly, 4 February 2000.)
Since 1994, South Africa has made major strides in overcoming adversities of its past, as well as positioning itself as a global player of repute. The country's Constitution and Bill of Rights are widely acclaimed internationally.
The sense of decisive action by the government, better management of public affairs and consistency with regard to fundamental policies has increased certainty and helped create a positive image of our country abroad.
The challenge therefore remains the need for South Africa to seize these opportunities and international goodwill to promote its national interests as a government and as a country abroad.
The process of re-integrating South Africa into the community of nations remains on course. South Africa continues to make great strides toward the betterment of humanity, better continent and a better world since the inception of democracy, peace and justice in 1994.
South Africa has increasingly, continued to play an important role in international affairs and has remained steadfast in the fulfilment of its responsibilities towards the international community in general and Africa in particular within the context of the urgent need for an African Renaissance during this, the African century.
Our commitment to the continent of Africa and its development leads naturally to a bonding with the aspirations of the countries of the South, the majority of whom are African. We will continue to strive to ensure an equitable balance of the needs of the African countries are addressed in relation to the developed countries of the North.
What then do we envisage as our programme for Africa?
* SA seeks to promote democratisation, disarmament and the respect of human rights.
* We hope to prevent conflicts and promote peaceful resolution of disputes on the continent. Active participation in the settlement of disputes and in peacekeeping missions will become an even greater focus area in the medium term.
* South Africa aims to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS in our region and the continent.
* To present South Africa as an equal partner in our interaction with the continent.
* We aim at the advancement of environmentally sound, sustainable development and poverty alleviation.
* Our policy remains the promotion of all aspects of the African Renaissance mainly through concentration on our immediate region, SADC and the continent as a whole.
Restructuring of SADC/OAU A progress report with regard to the restructuring of SADC will be presented at the forthcoming Consultative Conference in Swaziland. The Conference will among others discuss recommendations on:
* Regional defence and particularly the location of the SADC organ on Politics Defence and Security with a view of finally establishing a regional mechanism that will promote security and stability.
* In line with decision of the OAU Heads of State/Government, the restructuring of the OAU remains a top priority to ensure existing capacities within the OAU are reconciled with the structure of the organisation.
Dispute Resolution-DRC/BURUNDI/ANGOLA
DRC South Africa is currently involved in unblocking the implementation of the Lusaka Agreement. In this regard, South Africa has made a clarion call to African leaders and to the United Nations to Urgently consider the resolution of issues that are delaying the successful implementation of the Lusaka Agreement which we view as a viable instrument to achieve peace not only in the DRC, but in the Great Lakes region as a whole. In supporting the peace process in the DRC, South Africa does so in an impartial manner. We are appreciative of the month-long discussions that the United Nations Security Council Presidency devoted to Africa.
ANGOLA The conflict in Angola still remains a high priority of SADC in general and South Africa in particular. Recent developments have seen the conflict spilling over into neighbouring countries with long term possibilities of threatening the stability and peace of the entire region.
South Africa remains ceased with attempts to bring about an everlasting solution to the conflict. In this context, we subscribe to the UN sanction against Unita and have implemented measures aimed at curbing support and assistance to UNITA. In addition, we remain concerned about the humanitarian crisis of calamitous proportions that Angola faces as result of the conflict.
In 1999, we contributed vaccine to help in the combating of the polio epidemic and we are currently considering donations to several UN-affiliated relief organisations like the World Food Programme. We have established through the Department of Welfare a Special Fund For the People of Angola, which boasts among others Adelaide Tambo as one of its patrons.
BURUNDI. Former President Mandela has been facilitating the Burundi Peace Process following the death of Mwallmu Julius Nyerere. This development compliments the efforts of the OAU, UN and regional initiatives to promote democracy peace and stability in Burundi.
While we recognise the enormity of the work still to be done, we are however satisfied with the progress we are making in each of these areas.
BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH NIGERIA/EGYPT Relations with Nigeria have improved dramatically following the end of the military regime, and with the installation of a democratically elected government, South Africa and Nigeria established a high level Joint Commission focusing on important areas including conflict resolution and trade. The strong joint condemnation of the coup d'etat in the Ivory Coast in December of last year is a good example of this close co-operation. We hope to strengthen economic relations through our interaction within the framework of this Commission.
South Africa's relations with Egypt have also improved and we have established a Joint Bilateral Commission for Co-operation Agreement signed in Cairo in January 1995. The normalisation of relations in all spheres is particularly visible in bilateral trade, sport, aviation services, tourism and information technology followed fairly rapidly. Egypt works to elicit public support from SA on issues of terrorism and on the Middle East as a region free of nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
INTERNATIONALLY On the international front, South Africa, together with the rest of the continent will press ahead for the reform of the United Nations Security Council system. Our emphasis is to ensure a Security Council, which is transparent, legitimate, representative and democratic. South Africa will continue to play a meaningful role in the Open Ended Working Group tasked with the responsibility of finalising the modalities of the UNSC reform, to ensure the meaningful restructuring of the Council.
We have chaired and hosted successful multilateral conferences, including SADC, the Non-Aligned Movement, UNCTAD and the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
EU/OAU SUMMIT In a move aimed at reversing the isolation of Africa form the economic mainstream, the focus will be on our continent during the EU-OAU Summit to be held in Cairo. This Summit will discuss issues such as trade, investment. technology transfer and African external debt. Sustainable development and peace building and conflict prevention will also be on the agenda. The eradication of poverty world-wide has become a central theme in multilateral diplomacy, as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, UNCTAD IX, NAM and speeches to the UNGA and World Economic Forum will attest.
MULTILATERAL AFFAIRS During its presidency of UNCTAD IX, South Africa made a significant contribution towards refocusing the attention and energies of the organisation and laid the foundation for closer partnerships between the public and private sectors with a view to addressing issues of trade and development. South Africa is also proud to be associated with laying the groundwork for Least Developed Countries to speak with one voice at the WTO meeting in Seattle in November last year. The Presidency of that organisation will be handed over to Thailand during the next few days.
SOUTH SUMMIT
In April of this year, South Africa will attend the South Summit, which will take place in Havana, where issues of globalisation will be discussed. The Summit will be first gathering of Heads of State of the South and will focus among others on the key questions facing the developing world: North-South dialogue; South to South co-operation, globalisation and technology.
CONCLUSION
We believe our efforts to create a better continent and a better world for all to live in are gaining momentum. Essentially if our continent is to remain apace with international issues and trends, the need for joint and integrated development cannot be overemphasised.