Issued by: SA Communication Service
WELCOMING REMARKS BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR ALFRED NZO, AT THE SADC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING, GALLAGHER -ESTATE, MIDRAND, 28 TO 29 JANUARY 1996
On behalf of our Government of National Unity I have the pleasure and honour to welcome all the participants to South Africa to the SADC Consultative Conference. As you commence your important task of preparing for this year's annual Consultative Conference. As you know, South Africa is proudly hosting the Consultative Conference for the first time since becoming a member of SADC one and a half years ago.
I would like to extend a special welcome to our brothers from Mauritius to their first Council of Ministers Meeting. We are delighted that you are making your SADC debut in South Africa, and we wish you a very happy and fruitful association with and within the Community.
The commencement of our work is taking place in the shadow of the sad passing away of one of the founding leaders of SADC, His Majesty King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho, who was laid to rest on the 26th of January on the Mount Thaba Bosiu, a historic resting place for the Lesotho Royalty. SADC will long remember that important contribution of the late King to our regional transformation, a fact underlined by the Chairperson of SADC, President Sir Ketumile Masire at the burial ceremony delivered on behalf of the Presidents of our region. His wisdom and leadership will always be remembered.
Last year, during his welcoming remarks at the Heads of State Summit, President Mandela said that a joint approach to regional infrastructure had become a reality. He referred specifically to the progress made with regard to the Southern African Power Pool and Shared Water Course Systems, which, he referred to as shining examples of what could be achieved, and set the scene for further advances.
From the background notes for this meeting we have noted with appreciation the myriad of developmental priorities, initiatives, projects and mission reports of the various SADC sectors and the Secretariat. We would like to congratulate the institutions involved with these activities, and commend all its officials on their enthusiasm and commitment towards the ideals and objectives of SADC.
South Africa is committed to contribute to the best of its ability to the improvement of life for all of SADC and its people. I would like to emphasise that we will contribute in a collective way to implement the objectives set out by SADC and to build the community and strengthen it both economically and politically. In my opening remarks at the previous Council of Ministers meeting I mentioned that intra-regional relations should be based on peace and be development orientated. I assured the meeting that South Africa will contribute through mutual benefit and interdependence to regional cooperation and integration and not through "power politics". South Africa and her people are a partner to the reconstruction and development of SADC, as the people and countries in SADC were partners in the liberation of South Africa.
As member countries are aware, the South African Government's approach for redressing the political and socio-economic disparities of the past, is based on its Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which is complementary to and in line with the main objectives of the Community as expressed in the Treaty, i.e., to achieve sustained development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa through regional cooperation.
We have adopted a strategy within our government planning to regard regional cooperation as an integral part of the Reconstruction and Development Programme. In this regard SADC provides a framework for translating the imperatives of reconstruction and development onto a regional plane. In so doing it enhances the degree to which, individually and collectively, we offer a climate for sustained growth and development. Achieving the growth that this makes possible will require our respective business organisations also to rise to the challenge, through investment and active participation in the shaping of our region's economic development.
SADC has now embraced a wider agenda for integration which incorporates both project development and market integration. We need to adapt to the demands of the rapidly changing world economy and to develop the skills needed to compete internationally. In our opinion, this requires a system of management that ensures and accommodates an integrated approach where these objectives are maintained on a continuous basis. Such an approach will avoid potential imbalances in resource allocation to individual sectors and will also make provision for a re-prioritisation of resource allocations.
South Africa is concerned about the need for enhancing the capacity within the SADC structures to coordinate all developmental activities to allow for synergy and coherence. In this regard we have noted with appreciation the draft terms of reference for the review and rationalisation of the SADC programme of action, especially the inclusion of a term of reference to assess and recommend the possible strengthening of the capacity within the Secretariat for overall regional planning, programme management, assessment and coordination within the Community. We feel it is important that all member countries should participate actively in the process of identifying regional priorities, and would like to propose that, as a first step in this direction, we should commission a comprehensive regional assessment on inter alia, the regional demography; human, natural and mineral resources; infra-structure and services. An assessment like this is not unique to Southern Africa. Countless studies have been completed by a great number of organisations and consultants, primarily on a sectoral or country basis. Never, to our knowledge, has there been an overall regional inventory under the SADC banner, in any case including the new members Mauritius and South Africa.
The regional resources assessment will assist us as the Council of Ministers in the establishment of a macro-framework, whereby the Community could identify specific short, medium and long term priorities towards regional cooperation and integration. We feel that there should be alignment at sectoral level and within the Secretariat with the above priorities.
Sectoral Ministers should be responsible for ensuring that programmes and projects undertaken within their sectoral responsibility are in accordance with the Community's objectives as defined by the Council of Ministers. In this context all initiatives undertaken with the International Cooperating Partners should fall within this framework.
Lastly, also with reference to the review and rationalisation of the SADC programme of action, I would like to make a special request to my brother Ministers that we should develop formulas to stream-line the current SADC procedures and to improve communications between our respective countries.
I conclude. Twenty-one months ago, the new South Africa was born when the results of our first democratic election were broadcast to the outside world from this very building. To bring the 1996 Annual Consultative Conference to this same building is symbolic and very appropriate for SADC to broadcast to our International Cooperating Partners our seriousness and dedication to the success of the Community. May this Council of Ministers meeting as well as the rest of the Consultative Conference realise this commitment, which, I suggest, should become the "Spirit of Midrand".