03 June 2004
With the assumption of power in 1994, the tenets or doctrine held and executed by the ANC government over the last ten years, were and are basically distilled from our vision as a liberatory movement, our experiences as exiles, the persistant pronouncements and interventions by our president, the peace and security cluster and cabinet decisions. the tenet and strategic objective is peace, security and stability in our one world for all. the reverence for life, with a call to action on the basis of truth for the welfare of all were and remain our guiding principles. it is against this backdrop that we celebrate our ten years of democratic governance.
Our successes at the Geneva consensus on the questions of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty, the comprehensive test ban treaty, the agreement and our contributions towards The removal and banning of Landmines, our vigorous presence and influence at conventions like Davos, the EU, the WTO, the United Nations , the World Bank among a host of others were and are all directed towards the creation of a better world for all. This is our pride.
It is with this compulsion that the ANC is committed to promote south south co-operation and north south partnerships. We will enhance our celebrations of what has already been achieved by committing ourselves to seek:
Amongst the founding aims of the non-aligned movement, over and above maintaining its independence from the politics of the cold war was economic co-operation in the ways of providing technical assistance to one another in the form of experts, trainers, pilot projects and the establishment of national and where possible regional training and research institutes. We in the ANC remain animated and seized by a set of basic principles centering on the promotion of sovereign independence in the political sphere and collective self-reliance in the economic sphere …… notwithstanding the subjective political abberations that exist in a globalised world.
Infrastructure IRO transport; energy; ict; water conservation and additions to it; agriculture with food security; animal husbandry; human resource development with adequate education; the management of our environment and as a must science and technology are areas in which not only must there be south-south co-operation but these are the areas in which north-south partnership must be rooted.
Geographical proximity is one basis for co-operation which must lead to bi-lateral, sub-regional and regional action. And where a common interest in a certain commodity or enterprise prevails therein is an added capacity to co-operate. For the south to become palpable and formidable it is vital that co-operation should take place not only between government agencies. Trading, industrial, financial enterprises, labour movements, research institutions and universities, non-governmental organisations and the media should be encouraged and garnered and helped to contribute to the consolidation of the south ….. as a collective in working solidarity.
Until recently developing countries had to make net debt-related transfers of almost $40 billion per year to developed countries. It is good to note that efforts are being made to address this anamalous situation by quarters in the north, thus giving the indebted countries the financial space to address the needs of their own countries.
The establishment of the India, Brazil, South Africa forum presents an ideal intervention, opportunity in pursuance of the new Delhi agenda for co-operation. The IBSA fund for poverty and hunger alleviation, with programmes, has been set into motion which is aimed at assisting other developing countries, in the implementation of best practice projects from IBSA countries.
In order to strengthen the south, south africa is playing a vigorous role in seeking a review of the Bretton Woods system the IMF, the World Bank, The W.T.O. and the restructuring of the security council of the UN. Until these happen the efforts Of South to consolidate will remain bruised.
South-South co-operation offers US, especially in Southern Africa, substantial opportunities to promote our own concerns together with other developing countries. Southern Africa, will find a voice in the all-important international debates on security, Human Rights, Trade, Development, War and Peace.
Given the global realities of the present there is the imperative that South-South co-operation can by itself assert its own growing political and economic power. In the face of protectionism, the skewed approaches to peace, security and war, the demand for feelingless restructuring programmes, the mind-bending abuse of international laws and multilateral institutions the people of the south cannot afford the luxury of complacency and compliance.
The added challenges the south is faced with are subjective. And, these, too, have to be addressed if we are to assume our rightful place in world affairs.
To facilitate and deepen co-operation among ourselves we need to, in the spirit of openess and as a matter of urgency to creatively intervene to stop the added and real threats posed by armed insurgencies, state repression, terrorism, separatism, corruption and religious fundamentalism. All these diminish the capacity of the south as did the first fissure in its unity, with the emergence of the oil rich states. It was and remains regrettable that there appeared to be only limited desire on the part of the leadership of the opec states to use their income to ameliorate conditions in the developing world. We cannot refuse to recognise these real threats posed by these anti-people tendencies and practices. If we refuse to do so, we do so at our own collective peril.
The strategies and programmes for priority action cannot ignore the management of global inter-dependence on the basis of a rational and development-orientated international system, that must be seized with the responsibilities to address the issues of poverty, homelessness, hunger and disease, the protection of our planet, the question of human rights and democracy; the democratisation of international institutions and most vigorously the curse of the war, insurrections, terrorism and religious fundamentalism, no matter where they come from.
When our President and Minister of Foreign Affairs face the world, face to fact, they indeed fact the vision of the ANC, which says to the South:-