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Statement by Mr. Aziz Pahad, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs Introducing the South African
Legal Team at the International Court of Justice, The
Hague, The Netherlands, 23 February 2004
Honourable Judges,
The Government of the Republic of South Africa humbly
submits to this Court that there are compelling reasons
for this Court to give an Advisory Opinion as requested
by the United Nations General Assembly on 8 December
2003. As we have submitted in our written statement
to this Court, we wish to reiterate that the jurisdiction
of this Court to hear this matter is beyond question.
We believe that at stake are the lives of all the people
in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinians and
Israelis, as demonstrated by the suicide bombing in
Jerusalem just yesterday, an incident that we also condemn.
This underlines the urgency for this hearing. The decision
to confirm the jurisdiction of this Court would send
a clear message to the Palestinians and Israelis that
they must redouble their efforts at achieving peace
in the interest of their peoples.
Honourable Judges,
The legal consequences arising from the construction
of the Separation Wall is an issue that this Court cannot
ignore. The separation Wall is not a security wall.
It is a wall to enforce Occupation, a wall that has
separated hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from
their families, homes, lands, and religious sites.
We submit that this Court should deal with the merits
of this case no matter how difficult or complicated
they may be.
South Africa, which was once a subject of this Court,
is in the midst of celebrating Ten Years of Democracy.
After centuries of division and conflict, South Africans
found the political will to build a new democratic society
based on reconciliation and peaceful co-existence. The
fact that this Court had the courage to pronounce on
the Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence
of South Africa in Namibia contributed to the achievement
of democracy in our region.
We fully understood then, as we do now, that there
could be no military solution to fundamental political
problems.
Therefore, South Africa is committed to a two-State
solution - the State of Israel within secure borders
and a viable Palestinian State within equally secure
borders. The separation wall is an anathema to the peace
process as envisaged in the Roadmap as it eliminates
the prospect of the two-State solution. As His Holiness,
Pope John Paul II has so eloquently stated, the Middle
east needs bridges and not walls.
Honourable Judges
In rendering the Advisory Opinion requested by the
General Assembly, this Court could play a fundamental
role in contributing meaningfully towards sustainable
peace and security in the Middle East, and indeed the
whole world.
I have the honour to introduce Advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga,
Senior Counsel, and the legal team; Ms Sandia de Wet,
Ms Thandeka Lujiza and Mr Andre Stemmet, to address
the Court.
Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa at 082-990-4853
Department of Foreign Affairs
P/Bag X152
Prteoria
0001
23 February 2004.
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