ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 1, No. 42, 9 - 15 November 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Letter from the President: Our obligations to peace and development in Africa * Child abuse: Shared horror must be turned into common action * World Population: Report urges action on poverty and equality --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Our obligations to peace and development in Africa During recent days, our country had occasion to focus on two sister African countries, one in Central Africa and the other in West Africa and separated by thousands of kilometres. These are Burundi and Mali. As the transitional government was being established in Bujumbura in Burundi in the presence among others of Deputy President Jacob Zuma and Nelson Mandela, we were on our way to Bamako, the capital of Mali. Together with our representatives in Burundi were men and women of the South African National Defence Force. Together they were in that country to support its efforts to end a civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and to help open the way not only to peace, but also to the reestablishment of democracy. On our visit to Mali, we were accompanied by an important delegation of ministers, deputy ministers, senior officials and some of our country's business leaders. The focus of our visit to Mali was to investigate ways and means by which we could strengthen our relations to speed up development in both of countries so as to help provide a better life for the peoples of both countries. Accordingly, we can summarise these simultaneous developments in Burundi and Mali as a practical manifestation of our government's and country's commitment to three matters central to the objective of a better life for the peoples of our continent, including ourselves - peace, democracy and development. There are some in our country who, to this day, argue that we have too many problems of our own to concern ourselves with the challenges faced by other African countries. Even when we act in order to save lives, the first question they ask is - how much will this cost the taxpayer! We cannot and will not agree with this mean, small-minded, short sighted and selfish approach towards our continent and its peoples. We are more than convinced that, together with them, we share a common destiny. The reality is that, in the longer term, South Africa can never be stable, prosperous and successful if the rest of our continent is not stable, prosperous and successful. Experience throughout the world teaches us that the overwhelming majority of humanity shares this understanding of the importance of regional co-operation and integration. This is demonstrated the formation of such regional organisations as the EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, Mercosur and APEC. Of course, these developments have also been reflected on our continent. In our region we have SADC. We also have the OAU, which will develop into the African Union. The process of continental co-operation and integration will be greatly enhanced and speeded up by the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). For over a century, Africans have been driven by a common desire to strengthen friendship and solidarity among themselves, together to attend to the challenge of the renaissance of Africa and the recovery of the dignity of all Africans. I am certain that history has now provided all of us with an historic opportunity to move forward decisively towards the realisation of these goals. We cannot afford to lose the moment now available to us as Africans, to pull our continent out of the quagmire in which it has been immersed for centuries. If we lose the momentum we have gained, because we are discouraged by spoilers and mean-spirited people, we will set ourselves back for many decades to come. This would constitute a betrayal of the hundreds of millions of Africans whose hopes for a better life have been aroused. We saw that hope reflected in the faces of the thousands of Malians who took to the streets to welcome our delegation to their country. We also saw it in the eyes of the Barundi as they gazed at the soldiers of peace made up of units of our National Defence Force. Both the Mali and the Burundi experiences have also given us cause to recall the sacrifices that the peoples of Africa made to ensure that we defeat the system of apartheid in our country. As they acted in solidarity with us, with the countries of Southern Africa sustaining great losses in terms of life and property through apartheid aggression, the peoples of our region and continent did not say that support for our struggle for freedom would be too costly for themselves. They acted according to the noble principles of African and human solidarity. We too have to sustain this tradition which, in any case, is deeply embedded within our own history. As Africa acted in solidarity with us to end the system of apartheid, without being deterred by the immediate cost, we must act in unity with the rest of our continent for the victory of the African Renaissance. It is true that we face a difficult and protracted struggle to overcome the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. As we all know, that legacy includes the unacceptable levels of poverty and underdevelopment in our country, as well as the startling race, gender and geographic imbalances that continue to characterise our society. We have to attend to these challenges everyday to ensure that we progress without faltering towards the realisation of the goal of a better life for all. At the same time, it is also true that despite these very real problems, our country is better placed than many other African countries to make a meaningful contribution towards the solution of the socio-economic problems facing all of us on our continent. Let us illustrate this by looking at some information about Burundi and Mali. The 2001 Human Development Report of the UNDP ranks 162 according to a Human Development Index (HDI). In 1999, the latest available year, Mali is ranked at 153. Burundi is ranked at 160. We might also point out that the last 28 countries in the HDI table are all African. From these figures we can see that both Mali and Burundi are among the poorest countries in the world. This is confirmed by other comparative figures relative to South Africa, for instance. In 1998 Mali's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounted to 2% of South Africa's GDP. In the same year, Burundi's GDP constitute 0.7% of our GDP. The per capita figures paint a slightly better picture. According to these figures, Mali stood at 8% and Burundi at 6% of South Africa GDP per capita. Most certainly, South Africa will have pulled even further ahead of Mali in the period since 1998. What these figures confirm is the fact that despite the well-known challenges we face as a country, we are nevertheless in a better position than certainly Mali and Burundi to make a significant contribution to the solution of the problems facing our continent. As we have said, peace, democracy and development are central to the objective of the renewal of our continent. The history of Burundi illustrates this most vividly. In the three decades since 1972, at least 350, 000 people have died in that country as a result of civil war and the conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Negotiations between the rebel groups and the representative Transitional Government installed last week should bring the ongoing civil war to an end. We are all very pleased at the role played especially by Nelson Mandela, Deputy President Jacob Zuma and others of our people who served on the facilitation team, who have assisted the people of Burundi to take a giant step forward towards a permanent and just peace. We are conscious of the fragile nature of the situation in Burundi. Nevertheless, we are determined to help to ensure that the situation should not be allowed to deteriorate resulting in even more deaths. For these reasons, we agreed to deploy members of the SANDF to protect the political leaders who had been outside the country but needed to be at home to implement the peace agreement. We had to deploy the SANDF because we could not stand by and see more massacres occur in Burundi, as the world did when 100,000 Barundi were murdered in 1972 and another 50,000 in 1993, followed by the genocidal massacres in Rwanda which claimed at least 800,000 lives. We must also take this occasion to salute that great son of our continent, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the first facilitator of the Burundi peace process. He was central to the happy Burundi outcome that has been achieved so far, as have been our Tanzanian colleagues who worked both with Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. All of us have an obligation to work side by side with the government, the leaders and people of Burundi to ensure that this sister country continues its forward march to peace, democracy and development. We have similarly agreed with the Government of Mali that we will work with them to respond to the development challenges facing that country, bringing in both the public and private sectors. Some of our companies are already in Mali, involved in the mining and energy sectors. Together we will work as quickly as possible to generate new developmental activity in such areas as agriculture, livestock, textiles, communication and tourism. The ancient city of Timbuktu holds perhaps the largest collection of ancient books and manuscripts on the continent. The oldest among these was written in the year 1204. This remarkable collection contains texts dealing with such as wide variety of subjects as mathematics, astronomy, optics, medicine and Koranic law. We have agreed to assist the people of Mali as best we can to access the necessary resources properly to preserve this extraordinary African heritage. Next year, Mali will also host the prestigious Soccer African Nations Cup. It is vital that through this sports window into Africa, both Africa and the world should see that our continent is indeed moving firmly towards its renewal. Once more, we are ready to assist to ensure that this important tournament succeeds. We can be proud that our people are responding to their obligations to address the challenges of peace, democracy and development both in our country and the rest of our continent. We are demonstrating practically that we ourselves are ready to act, relying on our resources, to ensure that Africa achieves her renaissance. Thabo Mbeki --------------------------------------------------------------------- CHILD ABUSE Shared horror must be turned into common action South Africans reacted with alarm and horror this week to several reports of sexual violence against children, including the rape of a nine month old child. This shared revulsion at such despicable acts must be used to forge a common front against the abuse of children. It needs to spur individuals, communities, non-governmental organisations and state institutions to act together to rid society of this scourge. The fight against child abuse must be fought on several fronts. Greater effort needs to be made to ensure all instances of violence and abuse against children are reported to the police. The perpetrators of such acts need to face the full might of the law. The courts need to signal society's condemnation of such acts by imposing the strictest sentences possible. Communities need to mobilise to inculcate in society greater levels of respect for children, for their safety and for their rights. Communities and families must show that no form of violence against children will be tolerated. At the same time, the struggle against poverty, unemployment and social dislocation needs to be intensified - as children living under these conditions are particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse. In a joint statement, the SA Police Service (SAPS) and National Prosecuting Authority urged all citizens to ensure any form of child abuse is speedily reported to the police. "For us as a nation to succeed in this effort we need to encourage all schools, churches, community-based organisations as well as NGOs to spare no effort in ensuring that Section 28 of our Constitution is strictly adhered to," the statement said. Section 28 guarantees the right of children to, among other things, be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation. Government efforts to uphold this right are continuing. Since the beginning of the year the SAPS family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit has conducted 657 information sessions and talks at schools. Other projects focus on raising safety awareness among children in all provinces. The Crime Stop number continues to allow children to break the silence on any form of abuse they experience. The Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit was established in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions in September 1999 to empower prosecutors to specialise in fighting crimes committed against women and children. From its inception, the unit has been responsible for several initiatives, which alleviate the plight of children who find themselves being victims. The creation of specialised Sexual Offences Courts to deal exclusively with sexual offences is aimed at reducing secondary victimisation while ensuring the conviction rate in these cases is increased. These courts have special features that allow the child witness to give evidence away from the accused, through a close circuit television system in a room adjoining the courtroom. Children as witnesses are also offered the assistance of an intermediary - an expert in child behaviour whose duty it is to relay court proceedings to the child in age-appropriate language. While waiting for their cases to be called on the day of the trial, child witnesses are afforded the opportunity of waiting in a child-friendly room, with the services of trained counsellors at hand. Sexual Offences Courts are in operation in Bloemfontein, Durban, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Mdantsane, Mafikeng, Parow, Pretoria, Protea, and Wynberg while more are being developed. The unit has revolutionised the manner in which sexual offences are dealt with by the criminal justice system through the centralisation of all the services necessary to assist the victim of a sexual assault. The reporting of sexual offences has been relocated from police stations to victim-friendly facilities in hospitals. This environment also makes provision for counselling services from the reporting of the case until its finalisation. The physical and emotional well-being of the child survivor is prioritised together with the simultaneous protection of the integrity of the medical evidence, in order to secure a conviction in court at a later stage. Three Multidisciplinary Care Centres have been launched, in Manenberg in the Western Cape, and in Libode and Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape. Additional centres are being planned for Thohoyandou and Soweto. In the first six months of this year, over 1,000 people were convicted in child abuse cases. Of these, 53 accused received life imprisonment. The SAPS said it would continue to resource the specialised units dealing with crimes against children and women, which include the Child Protection Unit, to heighten the impact of the fight against the abuse of children. While it is necessary to ensure perpetrators are caught and effectively prosecuted, and that victims are protected and properly cared for, the ultimate objective must be the prevention of such acts in the first place. This is the responsibility and challenge of all South Africans. --------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD POPULATION Report urges action on poverty and inequality To prevent the world's population from outstripping its resources in the decades ahead, action must be taken now to combat poverty and empower women across the globe, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In the State of World Population Report 2001, released this week, UNFPA notes the number of people on earth has doubled in the last 30 years to 6.1 billion, placing great strain on the world's resources and environment. By 2050, the world's population may reach 10.9 billion people. However, argues the report, this number could be reduced depending on the "choices and commitments" made in the coming years. Two actions are central: "First, ensuring that the right to education and health, including reproductive health, becomes a reality for women; and second, bringing an end to the absolute poverty that affects the 1.2 billion people who live on less than $1 a day." "Governments, international donors, civil society and, in many cases, the private sector all have important roles to play in achieving these goals and creating a virtuous circle of smaller, healthier families, healthier and better educated children with expanded opportunities, and increased progress towards population stabilisation and environmental sustainability," it says. While population growth has a negative impact on the environment - and therefore the resources to sustain life - the relationship is complex. Developed countries, for example, consume a disproportionately high amount of the world's resources. With only 20 percent of the world's population, these countries account for 86 percent of total consumption. The poorest 20 percent of the world's people, account for just 1,3 percent. "A child born today in an industrialised country will add more to consumption and pollution over his or her lifetime than 30 to 50 children born in developing countries," the report says. As developing countries advance, however, they will begin to account for a greater percentage of world consumption. And as the populations of developing countries grow - which they are doing far faster than those of developed countries - the demand for water, food and energy resources could grow beyond what can be sustained. While world population has tripled in the last 70 years, water use has grown six-fold. More than half the world's annual available fresh water is currently being used. By 2025 population growth could increase this to 70 percent. If per capita consumption across the world reached the levels of the developed countries, this could be as high as 90 percent. By 2025, 3 billion people could be living in water-scarce countries. In many countries, says the report, population growth has increased beyond food production in recent years. "Between 1985 and 1995, food production lagged behind population growth in 64 of 105 developing countries, with Africa faring the worst," it says. To achieve food security, countries must reverse the current course of land and water degradation, it says. The world's population, and more accurately its production of carbon dioxide emissions, is changing the climate. It is estimated the earth's atmosphere will warm over the coming century at a rate unmatched over the last 10,000 years. "Climate change will have a serious impact including increased storms, flooding and soil erosion, accelerated extinction of plants and animals, shifting agricultural zones, and a threat to public health due to increased water stress and tropical disease," the report says. The poor, while not the greatest consumers of resources, are the most affected by their depletion. At the same time, poverty is causing many poor people to increase their pressure on fragile natural resources to survive. Sustainable development therefore means the fight against poverty needs to be tackled alongside the fight against environmental degradation. "The building blocks for success include increasing the resource base of the poor, investing in energy services and infrastructure, supporting green technologies, and implementing appropriate pricing policies for resources such as water, electricity and fertiliser," the report says. The report notes that while women have the primary responsibility for managing resources, particularly in poorer countries, they do not have control. National law, local customs and unequal power relations often deny women the right to own or inherit land, have collateral to raise credit and to improve their conditions. Women often lack rights in other aspects of their lives, reinforcing gender inequalities. High fertility rates are still a feature of rural life, which in part reflects women's lack of choice. "Sustainable development demands recognition and value for the many ways in which women's lives intertwine with environmental realities. Women need legal and social support for land ownership, tenure and inheritance. The also need access to credit, and agricultural and resource management services," it says. MORE INFORMATION: State of the World Population Report 2001, UNFPA http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2001/english/index.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2001/at42.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html