Address by Ms Sue Van Der Merwe Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the Budget Vote Debate of the Department of Foreign Affairs, National Assembly, Cape Town

Madam Speaker
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Honourable members
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners present
Members of the diplomatic corps
Distinguished guests

"Government can build diplomatic relations and sign trade and investment agreements with other countries. It can do all that is possible to attract investment and promote the image of the country. But it requires the co-operation of business, workers and all South Africans to take advantage of these opportunities, to promote the country's image, and to provide good service to investors, tourists and others.

This is the contract that we should all enter into as South Africans � each of us with one another: government and each citizen, community and sector of society � together to build a better South Africa."

This is a quotation from the 2004 African National Congress (ANC) election manifesto, and is what we committed ourselves to for this government.

For our work in the international arena is as important to those ordinary South Africans whose needs are for decent housing, for clean water and proper sanitation. Our work, in a different way, focuses on these same issues towards the betterment of the lives of our people.

These domestic imperatives are what drive our foreign policy and it is important that our international work supports these South African challenges and complements the work of other government departments.

While our democracy is built on a constitutional dispensation underpinned by principles and where people rights are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, we also recognise that a political settlement without an enduring contract among the economic role-players for growth and development would not be sustainable in the long term. And, as this is true for South Africa, it is also true for our region and our continent.

We have spoken increasingly over the past three years of the growing interface between our political and economic diplomacy with the view to serving our domestic interests. Over the past few years of our democracy, recognisable characteristics of our national interests have emerged that we have actively promoted through our foreign policy agenda and which represent the common will and aspirations of our people.

In 1997 then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said in this house:

"The success of our common project to remake South Africa as a stable, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous democracy depends in good measure on the existence of an international community, similarly defined. Among other things, this places on us the obligation to contribute to the common African continental effort, at last to achieve an African Renaissance, including the establishment of stable democracies, respect for human rights, an end to violent conflicts and a better life for all the peoples of Africa."

"Our first step towards our own entry into that {African} century must consist in our capacity together to transform our own country into a place which all our people would be proud to call home."

In other words, while we must transform our own country into a place which all our people would be proud to call home, we recognise that Africa is also our home and our efforts must support the transformation of this continent too.

As a nation we have come a long way towards reaching these objectives, but great challenges remain.

We need:

* to further strengthen our democracy for a cohesive society that shares and aspires for the same values
* to ensure shared economic growth and development for the betterment of the lives of all South Africans
* to develop a sense of national pride based on a shared vision about the kind of society we wish to see.

Towards this end government has implemented a series of co-ordinated and incremental economic growth and development policies and strategies to consolidate our democracy. While these initiatives have borne very positive results over the past thirteen years, we have also recognised that there still remain large pockets of poverty in our country. Our international work has an important role in addressing these challenges.

In the Department of Foreign Affairs our role is outward looking, seeking to unlock potential and create opportunities through our foreign relations, for our people and our continent that would otherwise not exist. Our mandate as the Department of Foreign Affairs therefore is to ensure that we conduct our foreign policy in such a manner that we give expression to the wishes and aspirations of our people to protect and promote our domestic objectives through a principled foreign policy for which we can be held accountable; and we seek nothing less for the peoples of the continent of Africa.

South Africa's interactions with the international community must therefore, continue to express the South African peoples' collective values and principles. Our work must not simply react to global trends but also influence the direction of key global processes to the benefit of our people.

The Minister has described the challenges that we face in the United Nations Security Council, of the differences between our aspirations and of those that adopt a different approach, who do not see the future world as we do.

The critical challenge for any country today is the management of these tensions between domestic priorities and global demands. As we engage in political relationships, the dynamics between domestic priorities and global demands are starting to take an increasingly (socio) economic character.

Our ever-expanding foreign policy agenda therefore increasingly challenges the notion that a nation's status in the global community is determined not in terms of its ability to resort to force, but rather in terms of advancing the socio-economic development of its people in particular and the human race in general.

We choose to focus on a more people centred world, on the socio-economic advancement of our own people, the people of Africa and the developing world, of the elimination of poverty and hunger for all the peoples of the world.

This can be seen in the structure and nature of our bilateral agreements and engagements as well as the increasing role we are playing in tri-lateral and multilateral relations. Most of these relations are now conducted in an integrated fashion with other government departments, where foreign affairs plays a co-ordinating and facilitative role ensuring that our foreign relations do not remain abstract but address practical socio-economic needs. We therefore are continuing in our efforts to build the necessary capacity to ensure that we are equal to the task.

If we consider for example the status of our relations with some of the influential nations of the South, including Brazil, China, India and Nigeria, with whom we already have good political relations, we see much greater emphasis on socio-economic development co-operation. In all the recent engagements we have had with these countries, we have increasingly sought to bolster the cordial political relations that exist between us with the advancement of socio-economic co-operation to improve the lives of our people. The interface between political solidarity and the practical manifestation of benefits at the national level has been one of the key lessons that we have learnt as a country.

In the time since we have re-entered global politics, we have also realised that to remain relevant players we would need to persuade the international community to support developing countries in efforts to devise and implement national strategies for development and sustained economic growth. It is important that our foreign policy agenda has social relevance, so that the gap between the abstract world of policy and its practical manifestations begins to close. Using platforms such as the India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue we have been able to create a Facility Fund for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger. Each of the three member countries contributes one million United States dollars annually, which is used for replicable projects for eradicating poverty and hunger in developing countries by providing improved access to education, health and sanitation, and food security.

The fact that we are starting to translate foreign policy outcomes from global platforms such as IBSA, into programmes at the national level is a clear demonstration of our understanding of the need for policies that are practical and relevant.

Like any other government department, we are held accountable for what we deliver. South Africa is a participatory democracy and as a department we are committed to the objectives of accountability, transparency and probity by the legitimate representatives of our people. This commitment is demonstrated through the interaction that our department has with the Portfolio Committee in the last two years. Briefings by our Director-General and senior officials to the Portfolio Committee have resulted in a dynamic interaction amongst South Africans on many pertinent foreign policy topics such as the resolution of the conflict in Cote d'Ivoire; the fulfilment of the legitimate rights of the people of the Saharawi Democratic People's Republic; on Iran; and on the Non-Aligned Movement and the Democratic Republic of Congo, amongst others.

It is our intention therefore to continue and constantly improve on this trend, particularly in the areas that are in the interests of South Africa and which have international relevance, such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).

Nepad constitutes a new approach to development on the African Continent, an approach which supports African development initiatives with international partnerships. This approach has received a vote of confidence at the United Nations and we need to capitalise on this. Nepad, as members will be aware has now been fully integrated in various United Nations programmes and plans of action, particularly in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The MDGs closely mirror our own vision 2014 and it is in our interest to work within this global framework to ensure that we benefit from the collective wisdom of the international community that can contribute towards realising the vision of creating a better life for all. Various South African government departments, supported and facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs, have since the inception of Nepad, played a leading role and been closely involved in the development and implementation of various priority programmes.

We have also used our bilateral relations to interact with the developed countries of the North to highlight the partnership role that they can play in supporting key initiatives such as the fight against communicable and infectious diseases, including HIV and AIDS. Support for Nepad from the developed world and the business sector, with particular focus on the implementation of infrastructure development projects, remains a high priority and South Africa will continue to work actively to see the full implementation of the many projects that have been started.

Given the extent to which we have promoted Nepad globally, it is urgent for us to increase the understanding about Nepad amongst our own people. Ongoing consultation with South African civil society and the private sector has been underway since 2005 and the Nepad Implementation Strategy for South Africa (NISSA) has been formulated. Further engagement with Nedlac and the business sector needs to be given greater impetus and we are giving our focused attention to this issue.

Both the Nepad Implementation Strategy for South Africa and Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) priorities are mutually reinforcing and should enhance the pace and quality of the services we deliver to our people.

Madam Speaker, honourable members

In deepening our own democracy and democracy in our region, we continue to place great importance on regional integration. Regional co-operation and integration in Southern Africa owes its origins to historical, economic, political, social and cultural factors that have created strong bonds of solidarity and unity among the peoples of Southern Africa.

Our vision of full regional integration was reaffirmed at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit held in Lesotho in 2006. Here it was agreed to set as targets: The formation of a Free Trade Area; the completion of negotiations of the SADC Customs Union; and the completion of negotiations of the SADC Common Market within a fifteen year period.

We are aware of the challenges associated with the integration programme, including the full implications of SADC Free Trade Area and Custom Union's ambitions, the full implementation the Trade Protocol in the region, as well as the issue of overlapping custom union membership within SADC. These are without a doubt serious challenges, but we will not be deterred from pursuing this vision, because not only is it in the regional interest to do so, but also in our own.

So much has been achieved in SADC in the past few decades to bring political and economic stability to our neighbourhood. Therefore the crisis in Zimbabwe poses a particular challenge to the region and efforts towards integration. As the Minister has already stated, we will do everything in our power to support President Mbeki in his efforts to help the Zimbabweans find a solution to their problems.

As a region, we have a clear vision for the kind of future we wish to create for future generations, which is why we believe that with the current will and commitment that exists towards the regional programme, we will overcome the obstacles we face, as indeed we overcame the destabilising effects of apartheid in the region in the 1980s by forming the Southern African Development Co-ordinating conference, SADC's predecessor.

Let us bear in mind that the ultimate aim of regional integration is the creation of a more politically stable and economically prosperous region, which is a key building block of a united Africa. Since our entry into the global arena we have sought to work in partnership based on the recognition that the problems we face as countries are far too complex for us to deal with individually. How could we for example hope to negotiate alone on critical international trade issues in the face of increasing protectionist tendencies by the developed countries of the North? Our interests are best served by working with other like-minded countries to establish co-ordinated negotiating positions at global forums such as the World Trade Organisations (WTO).

Given that we have anchored our foreign policy agenda on the African continent, SADC is a logical gateway for us into the continent and into the African Union and its institutions. SADC is therefore an important platform for us to lobby our positions to take forward to continental and international negotiations. To prepare our positions and co-ordinate South Africa's intervention in the integration agenda, we have established a task team of senior officials from the departments of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, and the Treasury. The respective Ministers have also played a prominent role in Ministerial engagements associated with this unfolding integration process.

We are mindful of the fact that South Africa has, up to now been slow in filling its quota of seconded positions in SADC and this has had a negative effect on the functioning of the regional body. We are closely looking at this matter with the view to attracting people of a high calibre to serve on these institutions and further demonstrate our commitment to the African Agenda.

As regards other multilateral obligations we are proud that South Africa plays host to the prestigious Pan African Parliament (PAP). As members are aware, we were bestowed the honour to host this prestigious African Union institution, which is at the heart of the democratisation process in Africa, in 2004. As representatives of the African peoples, the Members of the Pan-African Parliament play an important role in reflecting the wishes and aspirations of the African people. As an advisory body, it has become an important platform for discussing the most topical and pertinent issues on the African continent.

As part of our bid to host the parliament we pledged to hold a continent wide architectural design competition for the permanent home of the parliament. All the work has been done and in April, along with the Minister of Public Works, we launched the Competition for African Architects, to ensure that from the very beginning, the parliament, that is the house of many voices and reflective of the diversity of our continent is also housed in a building reflecting Africa. We continue to work closely with the Department of Public Works to ensure that we start construction in the latter part of this year.

Earlier this year, the Pan African Parliament convened a workshop on the harmonisation of regional economic communities and regional parliamentary forums. This workshop recommended, amongst others, that they should "move expeditiously to establish mechanisms to engage citizens, civil society and intergovernmental organisation in order to mobilise the voices of the people." We need to play our part in supporting the PAP in its mandate as an institution for entrenching democracy, by ensuring its popularisation and accessibility by ordinary Africans.

Madame Speaker

As an activist for progressive change, South Africa together with other progressive forces chooses the path of hope and solidarity, pursuing effective and constructive dialogue among the peoples of the world based on mutual interest, and a shared responsibility to the common challenges that confront humanity.

South Africa endeavours to consolidate an agenda for the South, and to build partnership with the North to forge a common vision for meeting the pressing challenges faced by the global community, including poverty eradication, peace and security, good governance and sustainable development. And recent developments in Latin America and the Caribbean have captured our attention. The emergence of progressive governments in that part of the world and the values for which they stand has spurred us to increase our involvement in that part of the world.

The countries of the South share similar experiences and have the same wishes and aspirations for their people. The possibilities for co-operation with individual countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region are therefore immense. We have already undertaken a number of initiatives on which are critical for the co-ordination of positions in multilateral forums.

To give impetus to these relations, we have actively sought to increase our presence in that part of the world by opening a High Commission in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in early 2007 and, together with the High Commission in Kingston, Jamaica, these two missions now maintain responsibility for most of the Caribbean Islands (Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Suriname).

In formulating South Africa's policy in relation to the emerging markets of the Caribbean, it is important to strengthen relations and to develop common positions on global issues such as access to the markets of the industrial North, reform of international institutions, and the promotion of the development agenda. In this regard, special emphasis is placed on how South Africa and the rest of the African continent engage these countries in promoting the ideals of the continent and the Diaspora to which the Minister has already referred. We will therefore increase our focus on strengthening relations with the Caribbean region.

The Fifth Joint Consultative Mechanism meeting between Cuba and South Africa will be held in Cuba on 14 and 15 June 2007, while the Fifth Session of the Joint Bilateral Commission will take place in South Africa later during this year. Sixteen government departments are currently involved in projects with Cuba, where exploring appropriate skills development programmes in a Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) context is being pursued.

In October 2006, the (Minister) Secretary for External Relations of the Dominican Republic, Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, visited South Africa and held bilateral talks with his South African counterpart, Minister Dlamini Zuma. They signed a Declaration of Intent in which they stated their intention to undertake consultations, joint actions and projects on issues of common interest. During the visit, Minister Morales Troncoso also announced his country's decision to open a diplomatic Mission in South Africa in 2007.

In June 2006, Colombia's former Foreign Minister, Ms Carolina Barco, visited South Africa for bilateral economic and political discussions with the Minister Dlamini Zuma. Bilateral trade flow between Colombia and South Africa is constant with the balance in favour of South Africa. South African Breweries-Miller (SAB-Miller), Anglo American, Anglo Coal and Anglo-Gold Ashanti are among the South African companies that have operations in Colombia.

Following a visit from President Evo Morales from Bolivia to South Africa in January 2006, a high-level South African delegation visited that country in July 2006 to explore ways of furthering bilateral relations, as well as assisting Bolivia with its constitutional process and in its minerals and energy sectors. A Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Consultative Mechanism was also signed. It is envisaged that the inaugural meeting of this Mechanism will take place later during 2007, to coincide with the opening of a diplomatic Mission of Bolivia in South Africa. The Vice-President of Bolivia, Prof Alvaro Garcia Linera visited South Africa in April 2007 and met with Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to give further impetus to these initiatives.

In formulating South Africa's policy in relation to emerging markets, we believe it is important to develop common positions on global issues such as access to the markets of the industrial North, reform of international institutions, and the promotion of the development agenda.

In this regard, we have been focusing on strengthening our relations with other emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on the consolidation of the legal frameworks for the promotion of economic relations.

The accession in May 2004 of five Central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia) and the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) as well as the accession of Romania on 1 January 2007 to the European Union is expected to further influence South Africa's political and economic relations with these countries, and becoming, on the one hand, competitors in trade and beneficiaries of development aid, but also allies in terms of the level of development, which is, at this stage closer to that of South Africa than to most of the current United Nations (UN) members. This dichotomy presents both challenges and opportunities to South Africa in the design of its foreign relations with this new reality. In formulating South Africa's policy in relation to the emerging markets of the new European Union (EU) countries, we believe it is important to strengthen relations and to develop common positions on global issues such as access to the markets of the industrial West, reform of international institutions and the promotion of the development agenda.

Madam Speaker, honourable members

We have described just some of the activities of the department in the period under review. As you can see we have an expanding programme as our diplomatic and economic bi-lateral relations increase. For us to fulfil these responsibilities, and indeed for our country to meet our growth targets, we require a sophisticated workforce with the skills suited for the tasks for the achievement of our goals. We regard the Jipsa programme led by the Deputy President as an important aspect of our work, to give impetus and substance to the many bilateral agreements that we conclude in the course of our foreign relations. Many of these agreements have come with offers and opportunities for capacity development, which, until recently we have not fully exploited.

But in the last year alone, significant progress has been made to take up offers for skills acquisition and capacity building programmes across a number of Asian, Middle Eastern and European countries. Our missions abroad, as well as foreign affairs officials have provided support to Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka on foreign visits to promote both the AsgiSA and Jipsa programmes.

We have received invaluable support from a number of countries including Indonesia, Singapore, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan South Korea, Portugal, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany, amongst others. Large numbers of students have been placed in these countries and some have successfully completed their programmes in diverse areas such as business process outsourcing, technical skills, research, science and technology, small-medium micro enterprise (SMME) development and so forth. Without a doubt these are valuable skills and capacities from which a growing economy such as ours can benefit.

Two weeks ago, while accompanying the Deputy President on an official visit to Germany, we met with a group of the most vital and impressive young people from Southern Africa who were participating in a high level course at the Daimler Chrysler factory in Stuttgart. It was an exciting experience to see these young people, all graduates, receiving highly advanced training in a variety of hi-tech fields in that organisation. We are most grateful to our international partners for the exceptional support they have afforded us to up-skill our young people to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Madam Speaker

South Africa's increasing role in international relations calls for a capable and committed cadre of diplomats. The expansion of our representation abroad, particularly in Africa, necessitates that we increase the capacity in terms of numbers, and deepen our skills in both our political and economic diplomacy.

In this regard, the department has put in place a structured approach to address vacancies through two big annual recruitment drives, in January and July, targeting vacancies across all levels and across all branches. These drives allow us to fill some vacancies, but often we are not able to fill all the vacancies that we have because of a general skills shortage experienced by both the public and private sector.

In response to these constraints, the department has initiated programmes to accelerate our cadet programme targeting the youth:

We have 43 young people that are currently being trained by the department in collaboration with University of South Africa (Unisa) on our cadet programme and a second group of approximately 50 young people will start in July. As part of the broader government initiative to address the challenge of unemployed youth, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) continues to take on young people in our learnership programme, with the focus on preparing them for future employment.

The recruitment drives also gives us the opportunity to acknowledge internal talent through promotions. The timing of the recruitment drives is aligned to the placement cycles of outgoing and returning officials and two-third of our vacancies is filled by internal candidates.

The drive also allows the department to bring in new talent from outside. We attract talent from within the Public Service and from other sectors of our economy including the private sector, state-owned enterprises, universities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

In line with our commitment to integrated governance, we also provide training to employees in other departments in the areas of diplomatic protocol and etiquette and foreign languages. I am glad to report that the demand for this training is increasing dramatically.

Madam Speaker

At this point I would like to thank the honourable members on both sides of the house for their support both during the good and difficult times.

My greatest appreciation goes to Minister Dlamini Zuma and Deputy Minister Pahad for their constant support and leadership in this challenging environment.

I would also like to specially thank our Director-General, who has one of the most difficult jobs in the world. He has ensured that we achieve our objectives and that we are always able to account for the promises we make in this house, and he never fails to be professional and cheerful as he leads our team of dedicated professionals. We thank them all, senior and junior, here and abroad for their invaluable contribution.

Our participation in key international processes has broadened our understanding of the challenges we face as a country and a member of the community of nations. At the same time, our foreign engagements have allowed us to learn valuable lessons in the quest for creating a better life for our people and in attracting opportunities that would otherwise not be possible to access. If we think of the recognition that South Africa has achieved from our involvement in the United Nations Security Council, on the Human Rights Council, in hosting and participating in key international processes where our views are sought and valued, and of course in the prospect of the hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup, then all our efforts are worth it.

In conclusion, I would like to recall the words of Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, on Africa's regeneration. He said:

"[A] brighter day is rising upon Africa. Already I seem to see her chains dissolved, her desert red with harvest, her Abyssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising sun from the spires of their churches and universities. Her Congo and her Gambian whitened with commerce, her crowded cities sending forth the hum of business and all her sons employed in advancing the victories of peace, greater and more abiding than the spoils of war."

Let us never forget these words and the promise they hold as we tackle the challenges of the next year.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
29 May 2007