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As the initial results of the South Sudanese referendum are being reported on, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is astounded that instead of proposing measures to support South Sudan’s efforts at political freedom, the Zuma administration has decided to propose that the ANC’s centenary celebrations be discussed at the AU’s Assembly of heads of state at the end of this month. It is the responsibility of African countries, including our own, to act singularly and collectively, through the AU, to give support to this fledgling state.

The DA notes the initial reports of polling in the South Sudanese referendum, with initial results from the majority of reporting counties showing a vote for independence. If these results are formalized when the total official results are released in February, it shall mark a momentous occasion for Africa’s history. Self-initiated statehood with redrawn sovereign boundaries is a rarity in our continent’s history and should be welcomed when they act as vehicles to end years of civil war, oppression and hardship.

We often hear the Zuma administration make all the right noises in public about supporting democracy and human rights but when the administration actually has the opportunity to advance these causes in appropriate fora, it opts for inappropriate self-congratulatory sentiments that blur the line between party and state. Of what possible continental significance can one political party’s birthday be to the aspirations of an entire continent? The ANC is not synonymous with the South African government and our foreign policy should not be nothing more than highlights of some birthday bash.
It is difficult to pin down what this display of arrogance can be attributed to: a misunderstanding of the distinction between party and state; a deep-seated arrogance that believes that the continent’s interests revolve around the ANC; or a deep disrespect for the principles upon which the AU was founded and its purpose.

All of these are equally problematic. However, it is especially ironic to note that the formation of the AU was a process driven by a former president of the ANC and president of our republic, Thabo Mbeki. One wonders if his lofty ideals of a forum for African democracy were really nothing more than an elaborate staging ground for the celebratory musings of former liberation parties, specifically the ANC, writ large.

The DA intends to send an agenda of the continent’s most pressing issues to President Zuma before he departs for Addis Ababa later this month. It shall include:

• Proposing a discussion of how the AU can support a likely independent South Sudan in its difficult transition to statehood;
• How election support can be provided to Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution;
• How the situation in Cote d’Ivoire is to be resolved through AU intervention;
• The continuing situation of lawlessness in Somalia.

These are the issues we should be driving through the AU: continent-level support for democracy, human rights and elections, not allowing ANC politicians to wax lyrical about themselves.