Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR ALFRED NZO, TO MR ERIC DERYCKE, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM
Mr Minister,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you and the members of your esteemed delegation to our country. We are grateful to see you here, at last, at a time when our busy schedules have allowed us to meet on South African soil.
I have had the occasion of seeing the programmes which you are following during your visit and notice that you first stop, since arriving in the country, had been to Robben Island, where President Mandela was jailed for the better part of the 27 years he spent in prison. Your visit there, so soon after your arrival, is symbolic of the high value which you attach to the relations between your government and the newly democratic South Africa.
It gives me all the more pleasure, Mr Minister, to welcome you here at a time when the citizens of this country are savouring the rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the new constitution, and which place my countrymen and myself on a par with the human rights guaranteed to every inhabitant of the European Union and enforced by the European Court of Human Rights. At the very centre of the European Union is Belgium, whose capital, Brussels, is also the capital of the Europe of fifteen nations.
Who could have thought, socond world war, and the devastation it created, that so many of the old disputes would one day have been laid aside and that the nations of Europe would combine in one great area of prosperity harmony and peace. One of the main architects of this miracle was a Belgian, Paul Henri Spaak.
As South Africa emerges from the shadows of the apartheid era, we, for our part, also owe a great deal to the one man who was able to navigate a course of peaceful transition in our country, our President, Nelson Mandela.
Mr Minister, you visit South Africa at an opportune time. The transformation of our country will still take some time, but the foundations have been firmly laid and we can look forward to a new period of sustained growth, social justice and harmonious relations with our neighbours and the rest of the world.
Indeed, vast horizons have been opening for us. Today we maintain diplomatic relations with virtually every country of the world and we are able to make our voice heard in the most influential fora such as the United Nations, the organisation of African Unity, the Commonwealth, the Non Aligned Movement, and the Southern African Development community, of which as you will know, we currently hold the chair. Our assistance has been requested, and willingly given, in such diverse trouble spots as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Lesotho.
On the economic front trade with the rest of the world has blossomed. Total two way trade in 1993, the last year before assumption of power of the new government amounted to R140 billion. The latest figures available shows that the same trade last year had increased to R240 billion, a very sizable difference even accounting for the rand devaluation of 1996.
We shall, however, have to do better than that. The injustices of the past, combined with the world-wide employment crisis, have seen to it that unemployment in our country and in the region is rife and this has led to a host of economic and social problems. The main one is the unacceptable crime rate which we are confronting, but there are others, such as the stream of illegal immigration to South Africa and the lack of adequate social services, particularly in our rural areas.
It is for this reason, Mr Minister, that South Africa is deeply grateful to the Government of Belgium for the very substantial assistance it is giving us, both directly and through the channels of the European Union. Thus, to focus only on the contribution of the Belgian Federal government,r the period 1995 to 1997 to development cooperation in health care, education and training, rural and agricultural development, democra- tisation and good governance, community development and institution building. Beneficiaries include a project to transform our police service into a civilian controlled democratized organisation, teachers whose skill in mathematics and science are being upgraded, the legal Resources Centre, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, the Triple Trust Organization.
In this context, it would not be amiss for me also to mention the very substantial assistance which is being given by the Government of Flanders, whose Premier, Mr Luc van den Brande, visited South Africa a year ago. It has not escaped notice that all the programmes, both of the Federal and of the Regional government, have been extremely well focused to the real needs of our country, and very competently executed.
South Africa is presently in the midst of one of the most difficult and drawn out negotiations in its recent history, namely with the European Union. It is of vital importance, not only to South Africa itself, but also to its neighbouring countries that a satisfactory conclusion should be reached in this respect. We have taken note of the support which we have received from the government of Belgium in furthering our cause, and would like to thank you, Mr Minister, for that assistance.
Belgium ranks tenth on the list of South Africa's trading partners with total trade between the two countries in excess of R5 billion. Belgian investment in South Africa amounts to some R3,8 billion, eighth on the list of foreign investors. In the light of recent visits by large and influential delegations from your country, I would predict that these figures will show considerable expansion in the years to come. Over time South Africa has offered a home to over 40 000 Belgians and according to one source the second largest number of your compatriots outside Belgium itself. All the necessary pieces are in place for a substantial expansion in our relations.
Mr Minister, your country and mine share common concerns on the continent of Africa, not least in the former Belgian colonies of the Congo and Burundi. It is my sincerest hope that the turmoil which has been affecting those two and other countries in Africa can soon be put to rest in the interest of all inhabitants of this continent. We shall be listening with interest to your analysis of the situation and your suggestions for the pacification of Africa: it is time for the bloodshed to stop and for the African renaissance to take root.
Once again, Mr Minister, allow me to welcome you and your delegation and to wish you a happy and fruitful stay in our country.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 10 NOVEMBER 1997