Opening remarks by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms Sue van der Merwe at the Workshop on Xenophobia and Migration, 20 June 2008, Parliament South Africa

Minister of Home Affairs, Ms Mapisa Nqakula,
Honourable Chairpersons of the Portfolio Committees of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, Mr Chauke and Mr Sithole,
Honourable Members of Parliament
Distinguished Representatives of International Organizations
Distinguished guests

My task here today is to set the background to this discussion in terms of South Africa’s foreign policy and to do this I thought we should go back to the early formation of our foreign policy in our new democratic state. In 1994 when our first post democracy foreign policy perspectives were articulated we said that foreign policy belongs to South Africa’s people:

• It mirrors their long relationship with the international community;
• It reflects the rich tapestry of their international heritage;
• It demonstrates their desire to live in harmony with their neighbours;
• It signals their intent to contribute creatively to Africa’s future
• It beckons them to international service so that their country my fulfill its calling as a responsible global player;
• It summons all South African to think beyond the immediate, to reach towards the challenges of the approaching century;
• These ideals echo the words of the Freedom charter that

THERE SHALL BE PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP AMONG THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD.

It is these sentiments, these thoughts about our people that have guided our foreign policy as it has developed and been given life.

As with most countries our foreign policy is also linked to our domestic policy and the two are mutually reinforcing. The principles and values are defined through the Freedom Charter and our Constitution. South Africa stands for a democratic, peaceful, stable, prosperous, non-racial, non-sexist society with respect for human life and which contributes to a world that is just and equitable. We also want a better life for Africa and the world as a whole- we cannot have a better Africa without a better world. Does our foreign policy contribute then, to a better African and a better world?

Africa is a priority pillar in our foreign policy for the following reasons: We believe that;

• A better world is one anchored on a better life for the Continent and its people;
• The fortunes of South Africa are tied to the fortunes of all Africans;
• The Continent needs collective action to fight for a better Africa for all.

As part of this effort, the evolution of the African Union has formed an important focus of our attention. South Africa served as its first chair and with other member states remains seized with ensuring an effective implementation of the AU organs and its structures; some of these have been established.

However African countries are all at different levels of development and it is important that we pool our resources to improve each to achieve its own potential. The 54 African countries in African cannot all drive this development at the same pace or speed. We need locomotives on the continent to drive this project, and South Africa is among the countries that can fulfill this role and act as locomotive. We need to do that responsibly and through sharing where we have advantages and assist other in those areas, and learn where we have deficiencies.

While we remain focused on the challenges at home, we have a role to play in the development of Africa and to contribute to it reaching its full potential. We premise our work on the assumption that South Africa can only reach its full potential, if we assist Africa in its development. We need to look at what the European Union, what the United States and Asia have achieved through trading within their blocks. Africa needs to focus more on trade amongst each other, while also expanding our industrial base and skills capacity to further grow our economies.

South Africa views SADC as the foundation for its regional, continental and international engagements. SADC with the other Regional Economic Communities (REC’s) such as ECOWAS, and COMESA are the building blocks for Africa’s economic integration. Targets for a customs union and ultimately a monetary Union in this region are important challenges for us and our neighboring countries.

Indeed our ultimate objective is a fully united and integrated Africa, and African Union with all the elements of political and economic union. This is the subject of much current debate at various forums of the African Union. We continue to work towards this goal, focusing firstly on the economic integration of our own region.

Towards this end in 2005 at its summit, SADC accepted the protocol on the free movement of people and of goods in an important step towards full integration, and this parliament has subsequently ratified this protocol.

I believe an important element of the work still to be done is the full emancipation of women on our continent. Africa is a patriarchal society. Modern development has, however not achieved full development of both men and women. More needs to be done to place women at the edge of development in Africa. Through the African Union and SADC we are working towards the achievement of parity between men and women in decision making. This renewal in the role of women will help our foreign policy to ensure that in the world, Africa and at home, we achieve a more peaceful society.

Africa forms part of the global village and our development cannot be achieved in isolation. South Africa’s foreign policy actively focuses on providing bridges and linkages with the world outside. Our second foreign policy pillar after our Africa work therefore is South-South cooperation.

This is the initiative by the developing countries of the South to work in solidarity to address the challenges of marginalization as a result of globalization that is biased towards countries of the north.

Our cooperation in this regard includes our work with India and Brazil in the IBSA Dialogue Forum, where we work toward the linking of our economies and our different peoples; of our Africa and Asia partnerships, of which there are many, including with Africa and China, with Asia as a whole through the New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP), and African and India dialogue. We continue to strengthen relationships with South America and the regional Union MERCOSUR, we have an active engagement with the African Diaspora and the Caribbean countries, and we will host the Diaspora Summit in South Africa later this year.

The third pillar of our foreign policy is North South engagement. This engagement has developed strongly in the recent years particularly with the G8 countries and countries of the north are now properly engaging with African countries on central issues. Issues such a migration, which we in Africa see differently to the countries of the North is now debated at summit level between African and the European Union leaders for example. This is one amongst many matters of concern to Africa that now is on the agenda of developed countries and their alliances.

The forth pillar is our bi-lateral engagement with countries of the world.

In this regard and in seeking to achieve our overall objectives, trade is an increasingly important factor. Trade is a driving force at all our missions abroad and Foreign Affairs work closely with Trade and Industry, Environment and Tourism and other sister departments to promote trade. Securing investment for South Africa has become a central part of our mission’s work. Tourism is a key priority in this regard and much still can be done to reach our potential as regards tourism. We have a wonderful wealth of natural beauty and opportunity for the world to see, and it is partly our role to convey this to the world, to continue sharing our cultural heritage with the people of our own continent as well as with people all over the world including from Asia.

The fifth broad pillar of our foreign policy is the reform of the institutions of global governance. The United Nations was born as we know after the Second World War 1945. Little reform of that institution has taken place in the 63 years since its founding. We believe that reform of the UN, its agencies and indeed the Breton Woods Intuitions is necessary and urgent, so that these global government institutions reflect the new and modern world and are fully representative of all the peoples of the world, not dominated by a few powerful countries.

Such reforms must include:

• Security matters – dealing with terrorism, with weapons of mass destruction, disarmament, actions against international crime and others. The Security Council is the agent for international security and reform of this body is crucial.
• Development – dealing with poverty, women’s rights, and the achievement of the Millennium Development goals, amongst others. We believe the security of the world is inextricably linked with its development and the two are necessarily interlinked.
• Human rights and respect for Human rights continues to be a focus of our work with global institutions. The relatively newly established Human Rights Council of the UN is the instrument within which we work to promote these issues.

This is a brief brush stroke of our foreign policy objectives. We can see from this that our work with Africa, individual countries and the multilateral institutions on the continent such as the AU and SADC form the central pillar of our international work. The challenges and problems of Africa infuse all our work.

South Africa’s interaction with the international community must necessarily reflect its national imperatives, including such critical issues as job creation and poverty alleviation. This challenge for South Africa’s interaction with the international community will, therefore continue to be the way in which foreign policy synthesizes the South African peoples values and principles with the action and positions it needs to adopt as a response to global events and trends.

These are great challenges indeed, but much progress has been made since 19994 and our articulation of our dreams proclaimed at Kliptown 53 years ago. Those are ideals worth upholding and it is up to us in government, in parliament and in civil society to do so.

Thank you