Address by ANC President Jacob Zuma on the occasion of the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the ANC and the Indian National Congress

New Delhi, India, 10 June 2008

The President of the Indian National Congress, Cde Sonia Gandhi,
Distinguished leadership of the Indian National Congress,
ANC NEC members,
Deputy President of the ANC Youth League,
Distinguished guests,

I greet you all on behalf of the ANC National Executive Committee, the membership of the ANC and the people of South Africa.

Let me begin by thanking the INC and the Indian Government for a wonderful reception and warm hospitality that has been extended to us since our arrival in India.

We feel at home in this country, given the history of warm relations and solidarity between the INC and the ANC, and also the relations between our two countries on intergovernmental and people to people levels.

I visited India in November last year, shortly before the ANC's 52nd national conference. We have returned so soon, so that we can take forward the objective of furthering and deepening relations between the ANC and the INC, and also between our two countries in general.

We met recently as well in Berlin, at the workshop of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Workers Party of Brazil, the INC and ANC. That important meeting had been convened to discuss areas of cooperation between IBSA plus Germany, in light of the severe challenges in the world, such as rising food and fuel prices.

It is good that we are beginning to meet frequently as we have a lot in common and a lot to share as the INC and the ANC. India and South Africa share a common history and an identity, bound once in the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.

India supported the struggle against apartheid immensely, and when it joined the United Nations it became an outspoken voice against apartheid and colonialism in Africa.

India never established relations with the apartheid state, but with the ANC, providing logistical and political support. We are proud to share the common legacy of the icon Mahatma Gandhi with you, whose contribution to the struggle for liberation remains etched forever in the history of our country, and will be appreciated by generations to come.

Our relations have also grown stronger as South Africa has a large population of African-Indians, who have contributed immensely to the country's economic, social and political life.

We are pleased that at the economic level, our two countries are beginning to cooperate much more vociferously than before.

We are particularly pleased to see many Indian companies that are now operating in South Africa, such as Sahara, Mahindra, the Tata Group, Ranbaxy, the State Bank of India and many others.

South Africa is India's largest market in Africa, and we remain committed to the joint statement made during the visit of Prime Minister Singh in 2006, that the two countries should treble bilateral trade by 2010.

We are therefore encouraged by the investment of South African companies in India, such as SAB Miller, the Airports Company of South Africa, Sanlam and Old Mutual, Naspers and Altech.

In my meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday we reiterated the to need to further promote these economic relations for the common good of our peoples.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is because of noble reasons that trade between our two countries remains lower than we would all want. India was amongst the first countries to impose sanctions against apartheid South Africa in 1948, which led to the end of economic relations. We, as the formerly oppressed, remained truly appreciative of this solidarity during our hour of need.

Two agreements currently serve as the basis for cooperation between the two countries at an intergovernmental level.

These are the Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Political, Trade, Economic, Cultural and Scientific and Technical Commission signed in 1995, and the second, the Strategic Partnership signed in 1997.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the INC and the ANC today will formalize the cooperation between our two political movements. This historical step augurs well for the furtherance of relations between the ANC and the INC at a party-to-party level, and brings positive spin-offs for the country and our peoples.

In my meeting with the President of the INC, the Honourable Ms Sonia Gandhi yesterday, we both emphasized the need to ensure that relations between our two parties is taken to the highest level, as there are many opportunities for structured cooperation.

The MoU provides for formal cooperation to be established between the ANC Women's League, Youth League and trade union movement. The agreement provides tangible areas of collaboration on amongst others employment generation schemes, health and food security issues, formation of self-help groups, micro-credit, gender empowerment and legal training for women. The implementation will have to be monitored very closely by the leadership of both Congresses.

Comrades, we have in the past worked well together in the international arena, in pursuance of the shared goal of building a better Africa and a better world. We should continue to collaborate at the United Nations and other forums, to promote the views of the developing world on matters facing the world.

We cannot ignore the fact that we are meeting to discuss the deepening of the relationship between our two movements during a difficult period. The global economy is under immense pressure. Financial markets are in turmoil; the cost of energy, food and basic goods continues to rise and it is the poor that are likely to pay the highest price.

The global economic challenges put pressure on the forces of the left to unite and work more closely together to defend and protect the interests of workers and the poor in general.

We would like to keep channels of communication actively open to see how we can compare notes to minimize the social impact of the global economic meltdown on our peoples.

Comrades and friends, you would have heard of the unfortunate attacks against African immigrants in our country. We were all outraged by the horrific incidents, and our law enforcement agencies moved swiftly to quell the unrest and stability has returned.

The manner in which we dealt with the unrest should indicate to the international community that as the ANC and as government, we would not allow any instability and lawlessness to creep into our country. We will deal with it thoroughly, both politically and through our criminal justice system.

We concede that some remedial action is needed in the implementation of our immigration laws, and also to improve service delivery, which may have led to frustrations amongst some of our people. However we remain convinced that no service delivery bottlenecks could justify that type of violent action we saw last month.

We are working hard to ensure that lasting solutions are found. The response should address the perceptions about immigrants, and on the other hand, intensify the fight against crime. It is clear that criminals took advantage of the situation, if some did not actually instigate some of the incidents.

You are most probably equally concerned about the situation in our sister country of Zimbabwe. We are alarmed and anxious about the reports of violence. If these are accurate, the violence surely puts enormous strain on the preparations for the presidential election run-off that should be held towards the end of this month.

SADC has pronounced itself on what should be done to ensure a credible and legitimate democratic outcome in Zimbabwe, and we urge all parties to abide by the resolutions of the region.

We cannot rest until the situation is resolved, as it affects all of us. We want to see the return of peace and stability in Zimbabwe as speedily as possible. We welcome the undertaking by government to crack down on those responsible for the violence.

We trust that our comrades in Zanu-PF will work with relevant parties to ensure free political activity leading up to the run-off.

I raise these matters because stability in the region will greatly enhance the quest for sustainable economic development and lead to an improvement in the quality of life of all our people in the Southern African region.

Comrades in the INC, let me reiterate our gratitude on the wonderful hospitality, and on the fruitful engagements we have had so far.

This visit and the signing of the MoU will go a long way towards cementing relations, and will ensure more focused cooperation between two fraternal Congresses.

I thank you.