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Japanese support for African development
This week
six ministers and a team of senior civil servants accompanied the President
and Mrs Mbeki as we paid a very successful State Visit to Japan, at the
invitation of the Emperor and Empress of that country. We were also accompanied
by an important group of South African business people, including those
drawn from the state corporations.
The visit marked yet another important step in the further
development of relations of friendship and solidarity between South Africa
and Japan. Apart from the detailed matters discussed during the visit,
we must mention the fact that we were received with great warmth, friendship
and openness by everybody we met. Clearly, we were among genuine, all-weather
friends and partners.
I refer here to everybody we were honoured to meet.
These include Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, the Crown Prince
and other members of the royal family, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
and members of the government, members of both houses of parliament, a
large number of the most senior business leaders, intellectuals and members
of the press. We were also privileged to meet former Prime Ministers Ryutaro
Hashimoto and Yoshiro Mori.
The visit gave us an opportunity to learn more about
this ancient country, including its history and its culture. It is clear
that the Japanese people have every reason to be proud of, and treasure
a national identity that has evolved over the millennia. Obviously, this
does not mean that they ignore what may have gone wrong in the past and
should not be repeated.
In this context, being in Japan, we could not but recall
the terrible moment when atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki towards
the close of the Second World War, the only, and hopefully, the last time
that these weapons of mass destruction were used in actual combat.
The warmth with which we were received also brought
to mind the grave insult and injury inflicted on this ancient people when
apartheid South Africa would not accept them for what they are, Japanese
and fully human, as human as any other human being.
In those dark days, while being greedy to access Japanese
capital, markets and technology, at the same time, the racist rulers of
our country would not accept that the Japanese people were equal to themselves.
Accordingly, they decided to classify the Japanese as "honorary whites",
since they determined that to be human, you had to be white.
Our own delegation, including both public and private
sectors, reflected the rainbow colours of our nation. Without any statements
having to be made to draw attention to this fact, the mere sight of the
delegation communicated the powerful message that the people of South
Africa are making progress towards the creation of a truly non-racial
society.
Accordingly, when our Japanese friends said to us - "we want you
to succeed" - we were both moved and understood what they meant.
We understood because they, themselves, had fallen victim to the humiliation
of the same racism that had brought untold suffering to the majority of
our people.
When they said they wanted us to succeed, they also
made the statement that they would extend to us such support as they were
capable of. They would do this to assist us to create the kind of society
in which nobody would be despised or humiliated because of their race,
colour, culture or nationality.
It spoke highly of the durability of the spirit of human
solidarity that we could find so far from our shores an eminent people,
who are grappling with their own problems, and yet have such a sense of
a common humanity that they will, from their hearts, make the statement
- we want you to succeed!
And yet, there are some in our country, fellow South
Africans, whose actions are designed, deliberately or otherwise, to ensure
that we do not succeed.
The then Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshiro Mori, indicated
Japan's sense of a common humanity when he visited our country and other
African countries, at the beginning of this year. This was the first time
that a serving Japanese Prime Minister visited sub-Saharan Africa.
During that visit to our country, on January 9th, Prime
Minister Mori made an historic statement on "Africa and Japan in
the New Century". Among other things, he said:
"...I (am)...more firmly convinced than ever that
the 21st Century is the century in which Africa will finally make big
strides, and that there will be no stability and prosperity in the world
in the 21st Century unless the problems of Africa are resolved. And I
chose to visit Africa at the dawn of the new century because I definitely
wanted to stand on the soil of the African continent and express directly
to the African people the firm determination of the Japanese people to
open our hearts along with you, to sweat and to expend all our might to
aid in the process of Africa overcoming its difficulties and building
a bright future. I believe this is an appropriate new beginning for Japan's
global diplomacy."
He went on to say:
"Before I discuss individual points, I want to
explain our nation's basic philosophy about Cupertino with Africa. All
the problems confronting Africa - poverty, conflicts, refugees, infectious
diseases, water resource, environmental destruction, etc. - are problems
that threaten human existence itself. Indeed, Japan's peace diplomacy
of the 21st Century places human security at its core. In that sense,
it would not be an exaggeration to say that our success or failure in
establishing human security in Africa will test the merits of Japan's
foreign policy. The threads that connect all measures aimed at human security
are the idea that each individual human should be valued, and the conviction
that in the medium and long terms, development of human resources is a
major key to helping humans overcome a variety of threats."
Accordingly, he explained:
"With the start of the new century, I want to reiterate
Japan's unwavering commitment to Africa, a land that holds the key to
the future of humanity. As a responsible member of the world community,
Japan has repeatedly expressed our determination to contribute to peace
and prosperity on a global scale, and addressing the problems of Africa
is one of the most important issues for our global foreign policy."
He concluded:
" …President Mbeki called on the Tokyo audience
to participate in Africa's fight for renewal, saying, "the African
Renaissance, in all its parts, can only succeed if its aims and objectives
are defined by the Africans themselves. Here today, I want to respond
to this call on behalf of the Japanese people with a resounding "Yes!"
Let's fight for that together."
The Joint Communiqué issued after our meeting
with Prime Minister Koizumi correctly stated that the Prime Minister:
"…Reiterated that "there will be no stability
and prosperity in the world in the twenty-first century unless the problems
of Africa are resolved" and that "the problem of Africa is one
of the most important issues for our (Japan's) global foreign policy."
It was clear in our discussions and in the agreements
we reached, that the Japanese government and the people as a whole seek
to apply these principles and perspective to their relations with our
own country and people.
To cite the Joint Communiqué once again:
"Japan expressed its appreciation of South Africa's
endeavours towards nation building within the spirit of national reconciliation,
and expressed its intention to implement measures to support South Africa's
efforts in promoting economic and social reforms aimed at the alleviation
of poverty and the eradication of social inequality."
In this context, we discussed a wide range of bilateral
issues with our Japanese hosts, focused on further extending and deepening
the extensive Cupertino that already exists between our two countries.
Further to reinforce this collaboration, and as the Joint Communiqué
put it:
"Both countries confirmed that the 'Japan-South
Africa Partnership Forum", (an inter-governmental standing committee),
which has convened four times so far, has re-enforced their relationship
in a variety of areas and confirmed the utility of this forum in promoting
the implementation of concrete proposals in a wide range of fields in
the future."
Regardless of the problems it is currently experiencing, the Japanese
economy remains the second largest economy in the world, after the United
States. Taking into account the changed balance of forces in the world,
our government has also expressed support for the proposal that Japan
should join the Security Council as one of its new permanent members when
this Council is restructured.
It is most fortunate that our country and continent
have such a country as a partner, which, in addition, is inspired by the
positions explained by then Prime Minister Mori and now reaffirmed by
Prime Minister Koizumi. This partnership provides additional assurance
that we will succeed in the long and difficult task of achieving Africa's
renaissance.
The first meeting of the Japan-South Africa Business
Forum also took place during our visit. This Forum brings together the
business communities of our two countries, enabling them to share experiences
and identify areas of Cupertino relating to the further growth and development
of our economies.
Already during the few days we were in Japan, agreement
was reached with major Japanese companies that we would work with them
to identify further investment opportunities in our country, which the
Japanese companies would look at. This would be in addition to a number
of major projects which are already being developed, which will result
in important investments in our economy, resulting, among other things,
in the further strengthening and modernisation of our manufacturing sector.
The Japanese companies themselves did not hesitate to say that they want
us to succeed.
Our struggle, and that of the peoples of the rest of
our continent, to overcome the legacy of centuries of apartheid, colonialism
and slavery, continues. To achieve the victory we seek will take time.
It will require clear thinking, an African ability to generate original
and appropriate ideas, perseverance, sacrifice and united action.
Those of us who experienced apartheid racism as the
Japanese people did, and those who joined in struggle to defeat this system,
know the meaning of the promise held out by former Prime Minister when
he spoke of "Africa overcoming its difficulties and building a bright
future."
Those of us who had the privilege to experience the
great solidarity of the peoples of the world as we struggled to end the
system of apartheid, will appreciate the message of the people of Japan
when they say that they want us to succeed. We will be touched by the
words Yoshiro Mori uttered in our country, when he said that he "wanted
to stand on the soil of the African continent and express directly to
the African people the firm determination of the Japanese people to open
our hearts among with you, to sweat and to expend all our might"
to help us build a bright future.
During this coming week we will be in Brussels to discuss
with the leadership of the European Union the implementation of the vision
spelt out in MAP or the New African Initiative. Already at its Summit
in Portugal last year, the EU had solemnly pledged that it would support
the development programme that Africa itself would elaborate. Accordingly,
I am certain that, next week, we will take yet another important step
further to strengthen the global partnership dedicated to helping us build
a bright future for ourselves.
We must not allow ourselves to be diverted from this
goal by those who are mean, selfish and small-minded. These are unable
to understand the immense opportunity in front of us to measure up to
the challenge posed by Yoshiro Mori, that "Africa (is) a land that
holds the key to the future of humanity." That key is in our hands.
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