Madame Chairperson of the NCOP/Madame Speaker/ Chairperson,
Your Excellency President Zuma,
Deputy President Ramaphosa,
Honourable members, comrades and friends,

To fully comprehend what this ANC-led government has achieved in
transforming South Africa’s former status from that of an international
pariah, to that of a respected member of the international community, we
need only cast our minds back to December 2013. After the nation and the
world received the sad news of the passing of Comrade Nelson Mandela,
there was a outpouring of grief that touched every part of the world. No
other African head of state has ever attracted that many heads of state
and government to his memorial service and funeral. The passing of no
other South African political figure, even General J.C. Smuts, who was
regarded as an international statesman in his time, evoked so much
emotion in the capitals of the world.

In addition to former President Jimmy Carter, two others, Presidents
Clinton and Bush could not stay away. The incumbent, President Obama
made a stirring oration, And, true to the role he had played during his
lifetime, even in death Mandela achieved an unprecedented act of
reconciliation, persuading President Obama to shake hands with President
Raul Castro of Cuba. The British House of Commons met in special
session, the heir to the British crown attended his funeral in Qunu, and
the US flag was flown at half-mast as mark of mourning.
It was inconceivable that any South African politician prior to 1994
could have been honoured in this fashion. The ANC-led government had
truly rehabilitated our country’s international image!

When we mention the name of Nelson Mandela, everyone, I am certain even
some who had called for his execution at one time, protests that he
belongs to us all, to us as a nation and as South Africans. That, of
course, is indisputably true. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South
African hero and will remain an international icon for generations. But,
in claiming him for the nation, let us not forget that he was not a
member of the DA, or the IFP, or the UDM or of Cope. As Madiba himself
proclaimed on several occasions, he owed his social consciousness to his
upbringing as an African child, but he owed his political awakening and
politics to the ANC, which he served in numerous capacities, from callow
participant in the Youth League during the 1940s, to President in the
1990s.

Madame chair, the centrepiece of South Africa’s foreign policy since
1994 is the African continent. It is among the ironies of our history
that ours is the only country that actually incorporates the name of our
continent in its name, South Africa! Yet, for the greater part of the
20th century, we seemed to have a schizophrenic attitude towards the
continent – not quite comfortable without African-ness. It was another
ANC President, addressing this august house from this very same podium
who eloquently reclaimed our status as Africans, projecting the
inclusive conception of African to which our movement has always
subscribed. It is a well established fact that while others appropriate
the name Afrikaaner for themselves, they prefer to refer to the
indigenous peoples as “swartes”, sometimes even “swartejies”.

There even others who have the temerity to call us refugees!
Our African agenda is premised on the reality that South Africa cannot
hope to grow, develop and move forward without the rest of the
continent. Which is why the emphasis on regional integration and the
enhancement of African regional economic communities is so important. I
heard some opposition speakers bemoaning the fact that the size of
Nigeria’s economy has now outstripped our own. They forget that
Nigeria’s is the most populous country on the continent. They forget
too that except for its size, compared to South Africa, the Nigerian
economy still has much catching up to do.

It was vitally necessary that South Africa completely re-orients itself
in relation to the continent. In the past, this country, its wealth and
its military capacity were regarded as a threat to the other countries
of the region and the continent. From that conflictual relationship with
Africa, we have moved to firm fraternal relations with the countries of
our region and the continent as a whole. The people and the leaders of
the continent have great expectations of our country. South Africa has
been compelled to accept and shoulder a number of responsibilities on
the continent. A European diplomat aggressively inquired of me last
year, what South African troops were doing in the Central African
Republic. My response was simple.

Would you prefer us to allow the continent to descend into chaos? The SANDF is currently deployed in
countries ranging from the Sudan to Congo and Burundi close to home. In
all these instances, we were called upon to intervene in order to
preserve peace or to assist countries emerging from internecine
conflicts. These are obligations the continent has asked to assume or
that we accepted because the alternative, in a country like Burundi, was
a descent into near anarchy with no government capable os asserting its
authority. We heard a lot of noise when our troops suffered casualties
on the Central African Republic, but military analysts all agree that
the SANDF acquitted itself well. I am certain that similar verdicts will
come from the other areas in which we are engaged.

Stability and peace in Africa are essential ingredients for any economic
growth and development. Stabillity and peace are equally important for
our own success as a country. There are many who applauded the
intervention of the EU states, led by France and Italy, in the events
that culminated in the murder of Colonel Khadaffi in the streets of
Libya. While no one on this side of the house holds any brief for the
late “big brother” of Africa, the outcomes that intervention has
produced have created yet another failed state on our continent.
Otherwise dormant fundamentalist sects and armed bands were emboldened
by it and the ripple effect of that intervention lies behind much of the
unrest in West Africa, in central Africa and even in Algeria.

Among the forces that threaten to undermine African sovereignty is
religious fundamentalism of every hue. The scandalous kidnapping of over
200 schoolgirls in Nigeria is but the latest manifestation if that
threat. South Africans especially, would do well to remember that before
Al Qaeda struck at the twin towers in New York City, it had mounted
vicious attacks in Kenya and Tanzania. Kenya continues being the target
of militant religious fanatics. Though western oriented journalism likes
pointing a finger at Muslim fanatics, we should not lose sight of
equally fanatical Christian sects that have wrought havoc in parts of
East Africa.
Madame chair,

The sovereignty of the African continent is once again under threat. In
the horn of Africa the scourge of piracy, the direct result of the
collapse of governments, remains a bleeding ulcer that undermines not
only our trade relations with west Asia and the other states on the
Indian Ocean, but poses a danger to the hard-won right of
self-government Africans waged a century-long struggle to attain. Just
last evening, I attended a reception on a Chinese frigate on a visit to
our navy. During the evening I learnt that it was amongst a tiny portion
of the Chinese fleet that participates in the international effort to
suppress piracy. It does not require rocket science to understand that
the African continent can ill-afford to outsource the security of our
seaports, harbours and sea lanes to non-African powers.

Regarded from
that perspective, the refurbishment of our navy, recommended by our
Defence Review during the Mandela presidency, is not the irresponsible
action of a government that should have spent the funds on building
schools, clinics and homes. Unless South Africa has a crediblecapacity,
including its navy, the sovereignty of our continent will be
in jeopardy.

Under the ANC-led government South Africa is playing a new and exciting
role in world affairs. Through our links with other emergent markets in
BRICS, we have diversified our international economic relations as well
as sources for much needed foreign direct investment. The two new
economic power houses of the world, India and China, cooperate with
South Africa in a number of fields. Chinese investment in South Africa
grows almost by the day, and the presence of cars, trucks and buses
bearing the name Tata on our roads, testifies to the role Inda has begun
to play in the South African economy. There can be little doubt that
both these countries, and Brazil, are destined to become significant
partners well into the 21st century. Again, the developing links between
us, China and India, underscores the strategic importance the Indian
Ocean has acquired for the well-being of our people.

The Nigerian kidnappings and the inability of west African states to
deal with it without external assistance also indicates the deficiencies
in the continents defences and security services. There clearly are a
number of areas where cooperation among African governments and their
security services could save the continent much pain.

Amongst other purposes we should pursue in the African Union, should be the creating
an environment in which the forces that can compromise African
independence can be effectively combated and contained. Some will
protest that this might entail cooperation with unsavoury governments,
dictators and non-democrats. That is of course a dilemma faced by all
states threatened by dangerous fanatics. I would however submit that in
an imperfect world, sometimes choosing the lesser of two evils, is the
only moral choice! We will, like many others, have to accept the
unpleasant necessity of sometimes hugging hyaenas!

There can be little doubt that since 1994 South Africa is punching well
above its weight in international affairs. With Dr Dlamini-Zuma at the
helm of the AU Commission, we can expect this country’s contribution to
continental affairs to escalate even higher. We are already witnessing
the changed role of South Africa in the business activities of our
commercial sector. South African supermarket chains have discovered a
lucrative market in countries north of the Limpopo. Other South Africa
corporations are also investing extensively on the continent. The role
we are playing in the Congo Hydro-electricity project is a portent of
things to come. The electrification of the continent, especially its
rural areas, will occasion a social revolution of unprecedented
proportions, akin to the rise of China to become the world’s second
biggest economy.

It was South Africa’s initiative, under the ANC-led government, that led
to the adoption of the African peer review mechanism as one amongst
continental instruments to encourage the rule of law and to stimulate
democracy. NEPAD, the agenda for African development, was also a South
African initiative. While neither has delivered earth-shattering
results, it remains absolutely necessary that we retain these as key
elements of our engagement with the rest of the continent.
From that perspective the Sate of the Nation is sound. The pity is that
from the opposition benches, with one or two exceptions, all one hears
is whinging and a litany of complaints. We all agree that a vibrant and
vocal opposition is essential to the health of a democracy. What is all
too often missed is the quality of that opposition. For over a decade,
through the war years, Dr D.F., Malan’s purefied National Party were an
extremely vocal and vibrant opposition. They were also the architects of
apartheid! Opposition, in and of itself, is not necessarily a virtue.

The Honourable James complained, rather bitterly, that the issues of
poverty, inequality and unemployment were the leit motif of the previous
State of the Nation Address. That is true, but that is because these
problems are still with us! He goes on to suggest that BEE has only
benefitted a handful of connected Africans. Well, according to the
report commissioned by Goldman Sachs last November, the African middle
class has more than doubled since 1994. If all that number owe their
climbing the social ladder to the ANC, that explains why we beat his
party by 40 percentage points!