FRIDAY, 11 APRIL 2003 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 09:02.

The Deputy Chairperson of Committees took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.

        SASOL SOUTH AFRICA LISTED ON NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mnr C H F GREYLING (Nuwe NP): Adjunkvoorsitter, ek stel sonder kennisgewing voor:

Dat die Huis - (1) kennis neem dat -

   (a)  Sasol, Suid-Afrika se grootste primêr genoteerde maatskappy,  op
       die New Yorkse aandelebeurs genoteer is;


   (b)  Telkom ook 'n tydjie gelede op dieselfde  aandelebeurs  genoteer
       is; en


   (c)  die New Yorkse aandelebeurs se noteringsvereistes  tans  as  die
       strengste ter wêreld beskou word; en

(2) glo dat die aandag wat so op Suid-Afrika geplaas word, Suid-Afrika se internasionale posisie in die korporatiewe wêreld versterk. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

[Mr C H F GREYLING (New NP): Deputy Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  Sasol, South Africa's largest primary-listed company,  has  been
       listed on the New York Stock Exchange;


   (b)  Telkom was also listed on this stock exchange a short while ago;
       and


   (c)  the New  York  Stock  Exchange's  listing  requirements  are  at
       present considered to be the strictest in the world; and

(2) believes that the attention directed to South Africa in this manner strengthens South Africa’s international position in the corporate world.]

Agreed to.

                             CHILD ABUSE

                        (Member's Statement)

Ms M R MORUTOA (ANC): Thank you, Chairperson. According to a report in the Daily Sun of 10 April 2003, a fifteen-year-old girl was physically assaulted, shot, and held down by her Taiwanese employers to allow one of their dogs to rape her.

The girl had been employed illegally as a domestic worker. This behaviour is barbaric, racist and criminal. This behaviour is a violation of the Constitution and the progressive law that so many South Africans struggled and died for. This incident highlights once again the triple exploitation of African women in our society on the basis of race, gender and class. It highlights the particularly vulnerable position that young women and girls find themselves in.

We condemn this barbaric and criminal incident in the strongest possible terms. We call upon the South African Police Service, the Department of Labour, the Human Rights Commission and the Commission on Gender Equality to investigate and act on this shocking incident. We call for the strongest possible sanctions to be applied. Thank you.

              LAND REFORM PROGRAMME IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr D K MALULEKE (DA): The Land Reform Programme in Limpopo Province is in danger of collapsing, leaving thousands of …

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Order!

Mr D K MALULEKE (DA): … South Africans with no hope of receiving the land the Government has promised them. The programme has set the deadline of December 2005 to process and finalise all land claims in Limpopo.

Presently only 10 claims are processed each year with a growing backlog of about 5 000. The Department of Land Affairs and the provincial Government must make more resources available for this purpose or admit failure. They must also address the problem of the resignation of land claims officials. The chief land claims officer recently left to become the City Manager of Cape Town, and many more officials are reportedly looking for new jobs.

There is no way that the deadline will be met if urgent action is not taken. The ANC Government promised a better life for all. Now it’s time for them to deliver. Thank you.

                    EXPLOITATION OF CHILD LABOUR

                        (Member's Statement)

Chief B P BIYELA (IFP): Chair, section 28 of our Constitution provides that children under the age of eighteen years should be protected against exploitative labour practices and work that is dangerous and harmful to their education, health, etc.

It is further very disturbing to note that about 44% of South African children between the ages of ten and seventeen are obliged to work or to earn a living, while some do so voluntarily. However, the majority of these children work to put food on the table for themselves and their families.

This places our children in a very vulnerable position to be subjected to all kinds of abuse by their employers, including incidents like that of a fifteen-year-old child presently being treated for severe injuries to her private parts after she was forced by her employers to copulate with a dog. The incident has been described as one of the worst cases of child abuse ever reported. A police spokesman said, and I quote: ``They beat this child, fired shots at her and forced her to have sex with dogs.’’

The two Taiwanese nationals accused of this crime, I believe, are now out on bail. I pray that our courts will deal with these perpetrators …

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order, hon member! Your time is up.

Chief B P BIYELA (IFP): … in a manner that will send a clear message to the beasts that crime does not pay. [Applause.]

              PROVISION OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES

                        (Member's Statement)

Ms N M TSHEOLE (ANC): Chairperson, thank you. The ANC Government has made progress in the provision of primary health care. The Government has built 692 clinics and upgraded 2 298 clinics.

The Government further removed the requirement of paying in order to access primary health care. To improve the quality of services and access, Government has introduced a comprehensive package on primary health care services that is progressively implemented in all health districts which are now realigned with the new municipal boundaries.

The massive roll-out of primary health care services is an indication of the Government’s commitment to empower the masses of our people to be prevented from being infected with diseases. This roll-out also encourages healthy and sustainable livelihoods among our people. The rolling out of primary health care services is part of a broader struggle to roll back the frontiers of poverty.

The ANC calls on all volunteers in this month of April to use the focus on health awareness for this month to conscientise communities about the availability of these services. The ANC commends the people’s Government for remaining steadfast and working tirelessly …

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order!

Ms N M TSHEOLE (ANC): … to build a better life for all our people. Thank you, Chairperson.

                      SYSTEM OF QUOTAS IN SPORT

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr S SIMMONS (New NP): Deputy Chair, the New National Party is in principle against the system of quotas in sport at international level because sport is not the place for politics. The Minister of Sport and Recreation’s threat to impose legislation to enforce quotas in sport goes against the grain of uniting communities, and impacts negatively on nation-building.

Sports players who are selected on the criteria of quotas are also against it, because they feel inferior and rather support selection based on merit. The New NP is of the opinion that a possible solution to address the quota problem is to urgently fast-track the development plan of disadvantaged sportspeople. Providing facilities in disadvantaged communities is essential.

Coaches of advantaged communities must make themselves available for training sportspeople and teams from disadvantaged communities. They should also share their knowledge and expertise with coaches from disadvantaged communities.

The New NP would support the application of quotas at the provincial level until sport at this level has been normalised. Thank you.

              GOVERNMENT'S PROGRAMMES TO CURB HIV/AIDS

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr B M SOLO (ANC): The ANC Government has allocated R3,3 billion over the medium term to strengthen the national HIV/Aids programme. This is in line with the ANC 51st national conference resolution on HIV/Aids, which calls for strengthening and acceleration of the implementation of the National Aids Strategy, as amplified in the Cabinet’s statement of 17 April 2002.

The budget grew to expand a range of services, like life skills; education in schools; condom distribution; prevention and community mobilisation programmes; voluntary counselling and testing; and home and community-based care programmes. There has been an increased base line to provide specifically for this faster roll-out of mother-to-child transmission prevention programmes.

Government’s investigation on the introduction of the national antiretroviral programme is far advanced and recommendations are close to finalisation. The Government’s comprehensive Aids programme referred to its commitment to fight the scourge of this epidemic.

The ANC calls on all volunteers to use the April focus theme of health awareness to mobilise the masses of our people to fight HIV/Aids. [Applause.]

                            SARS OUTBREAK

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr I S MFUNDISI (UCDP): Mr Chairperson, the outbreak of the communicable disease called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Japan is threatening the lives of the global community of which South Africa is part. This disease, if left unchecked, has the potential to decimate our population within a short space of time, making it more lethal than any other communicable disease.

The World Health Organisation reported that more than 100 people have been killed since the discovery of this disease. We welcome the relief of the Health department and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in that proactive measures have been adopted to contain and prevent the spread of the disease and national efforts to increase monitoring and public awareness are being implemented.

However, of major concern is the implication of this disease for South Africans travelling overseas, in particular to the Far East where the disease is reported to have been discovered. It is important that all the visitors to our country, not only those from the affected countries but from all over the world, are carefully monitored upon arrival on our shores. There is no doubt that this will severely affect our booming tourism industry adversely and many travel agencies have reported massive cancellations in hotel accommodation and travel.

                             WAR IN IRAQ

                        (Member's Statement)

Dr S E M PHEKO (PAC): Mr Chairperson, one of the slogans of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania is: Africa for Africans; Africans for humanity; humanity for God. In the light of the fact that part of this humanity has been subjected to the most barbarous form of oppression causing loss of life for innocent children, women and men - an unprecedented destruction of a country this century - the PAC expresses its deepest sympathy with the people of Iraq.

All peace-loving people of the world know that this unlawful war of aggression and violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq could have been avoided if both Britain and America, who possess tons of weapons of mass destruction, had abided by the Charter of the UN and its resolutions.

State property is being stolen and destroyed in Iraq while the British and American soldiers watch on, amused. The PAC finds it disgusting that Britain and America can cause so much destruction in defiance of the UN Security Council and now ask the UN to reconstruct that country, probably after a puppet regime is installed to loot the oil wealth of Iraq on behalf of Britain and America.

It is annoying that countries which practise the barbarism of slavery and colonialism can today claim to liberate Iraq while the Verwoerds and the Ian Smiths of this world massacred Africans with the protection of Britain and America at the UN. I thank you.

           ANC AGAINST THE DA IN THE FREE STATE ELECTIONS

                        (Member's Statement)

Mong L J MODISENYANE (ANC): Modulasetulo, hlwaya tsebe o mamele. Laboraro le tswang ho feta, ANC e hlabisitse DA hlohlodingwane dikgethong tsa tlatsetso mane Kwakwatsi, masepaleng wa Ngwathe, Freistata Leboya.

Le ha DA e lekile ho etsa matshwephenene a ho beha nkgetheng wa yona jwalo ka moikemedi dikgethong, bakgethi ba hanne ho tshwariswa phupe ka lefe ke DA. Bakgethi ba Freistata ha ba so lebale hore phokojwe e sola letlalo empa mokgwa wa yona wa ho ja dinku ha e o lebale. [Ditsheho.]

Sephetho sa dikgetho e bile 85% ho ANC le 15% ho DA. Hona ke temoso bakeng sa dikgetho tsa 2004, hore poho e nngwe fela Freistata, mme ke ANC. [Ditlatse.]

Masepala wa Ngwathe hammoho le boetapele ba lebatowa la Freistata Leboya ba re ho bakgethi ba Freistata ka kakaretso: Tshwara thebe e tiye, wa Rasenate. O a bona lefatshe la heno le a ya. Dikgethong re a ya. [Ditlatse.] (Translation of Sotho member’s statement follows.) [Mr L J MODISENYANE (ANC): Chairperson, please listen carefully. Last Wednesday the ANC knocked the DA out in the by-elections in Kwakwatsi township, held in the municipality of Ngwathe, northern Free State.

Even if the DA tried to manipulate the situation by putting their independent candidate for the elections, the voters refused to be manipulated by the DA. Free State voters have not forgotten that there are still wolves in sheepskins. [Laughter.]

The results of the elections were 85% for the ANC and 15% for the DA. This is an indication that for the 2004 elections there is only one boss in the Free State, the ANC. [Applause.]

The municipality of Ngwathe, together with the northern Free State constituency leadership, says to all the voters in the Free State in general: Be strong, the nation of Rasenate, as you are aware that your country is sinking. However, we are going to vote. [Applause.]]

                   DNA EVIDENCE KEY TO CHILD RAPE

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr M WATERS (DA): Mr Chairperson, South Africa’s crime rate is too high but the most shocking statistics is that of rape, particularly child and baby rape. DNA evidence is a key part of getting convictions in rape cases. The DA is horrified to learn, from the Minister for Safety and Security, that there is a 53% shortage of scientists at the forensic science laboratories responsible for testing DNA evidence a shortage of 413 scientists.

Courts wait for months for DNA evidence in rape cases. Too often these cases are repeatedly postponed until suspects are allowed to walk free. The Government’s commitment to fighting child abuse is just another empty promise. The conviction rate for child rapists is a miserable 8%, which means 92% of child rapists go unpunished. Improving DNA testing, which can provide the most accurate scientific evidence, must receive priority from the Government. It is vital that the vacant scientists’ posts be declared scarce skills. I thank you.

                     BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr M S M SIBIYA (IFP): Mr Chairperson, there can be no doubt that black economic empowerment is one of the major challenges facing South African society at this juncture in our history. The challenge revolves around the need to ensure that the majority plays a meaningful role in our economy and that it participates fully in economic wealth-creating initiatives.

Furthermore, the challenge also includes skills development, management participation and wider human resource development. The IFP welcomes the announcement on 19 March 2003 of the Government’s broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Strategy as we feel that it is in line with our own position that black economic empowerment should never benefit a select few faces right at the top, but that the benefit should filter down to the ground level where our communities have barely benefited much up to this point.

Notwithstanding the need for broad-based black empowerment ownership in black economic companies and ownership by black economic companies in established business, businesses also should form part of the overall strategy. We are, therefore, concerned to note that the value of empowerment deals had fallen by about 50% in 2002, according to the recent report by auditing firm Ernst & Young.

This brought the value of such deals to about R12,4 billion. The IFP can only express its hope that the falling value of empowerment deals will not be repeated in the current year or the coming years as ownership participation in our … [Time expired.]

                   THE WALMANSTHAL LAND SETTLEMENT

                        (Member's Statement)

Mr S B NTULI: Mr Chairperson, in 1996 and 1974 black families were forced from their homes and land which was used for Walmansthal military facilities. The remaining land was passed to white farmers. After the democratic breakthrough the dispossessed families of Walmansthal formed a Walmansthal Land Restitution Committee, and collectively applied for the return of their land.

The Walmansthal land claim has been plagued by numerous delays and controversy. Because of this delay, families now want urgent and better access to their ancestral sites and graves. Therefore, we urge the Departments of Defence, Agriculture and Land Affairs to process this land claim speedily so that this community can return to its land as soon as possible. I thank you. [Applause.]

                 PAYOUTS TO MEMBERS OF SA CAPE CORPS

                        (Member's Statement)

Mnr C B HERANDIEN (Nuwe NP): Mnr die Adjunkvoorsitter, die Nuwe NP neem met kommer kennis dat daar ‘n sterk vermoede bestaan dat ‘n geldmaakskema vanuit Retreat in die Wes-Kaap bestuur word. Volgens inligting wat die Nuwe NP ontvang het, dui alle tekens daarop dat die skema ‘n geldmaakslenter is. Die skema vra R60 van familielede van lede van die SA Kaapse Korps wat betrokke was by die Tweede Wêreldoorlog sodat hulle skynbaar op ‘n lys geplaas kan word om sodoende in aanmerking te kom om geld van die Regering te ontvang. Selfs al kan familielede slegs ‘n foto of ‘n medalje van voormalige lede van die SA Kaapse Korps verskaf, word uitbetalings van tot R75 000 aan families belowe.

Die Nuwe NP vermoed dat hierdie ‘n geldmaakskema is waardeur onskuldige lede van die publiek uitgebuit word. Ons doen gevolglik ‘n beroep op die Ministers van Verdediging, Justisie en Finansies om hierdie saak dringend te ondersoek voordat nog onskuldige lede van die publiek so gewetenloos ingeloop word. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans member’s statement follows.)

[Mr C B HERANDIEN (New NP): Deputy Chairperson, the New NP is distressed by the fact that there is a strong indication that a money-making scheme is being managed from Retreat in the Western Cape. According to information received by the New NP, all indications are that this scheme is a money- making scam. The scheme asks for R60 from relatives of members of the SA Cape Corps who fought in the Second World War, ostensibly to put their names on a list so that they can come into consideration for the receipt of money from the Government. Even if relatives can only produce a photo or a medal of former SA Cape Corps members, payouts of up to R75 000 are promised to them.

The New NP suspects that this is a money-making scheme aimed at exploiting innocent members of the public. We then call on the Ministers of Defence, Justice and Finance to urgently investigate this matter before more innocent members of the public are cheated so unscrupulously. I thank you.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! I don’t see any Ministers or Deputy Ministers, so I think we can proceed to the next item.

 CONSIDERATION OF SIXTH REPORT OF WORKING GROUP ON THE AFRICAN UNION

The SPEAKER: Deputy Chairperson, hon members, in the nine months since the inauguration of the African Union significant progress has been made, as was presented and discussed in the recent debate on the Vote of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The National Assembly’s working group on the African Union has focused its attention on the implementation of the Constitutive Act and, in particular, on the organs that are going to be established. As we indicated earlier, we undertook and commissioned a range of research reports which will now inform the future programme of the group. We have also run workshops to familiarise a large number of National Assembly members with the issues.

Of particular concern to the National Assembly must be consideration of how the South African Parliament will contribute to the building of unity and participate in the process of building the union and establishing its organs. This Parliament played a significant role in helping to draft the protocol for the Pan-African Parliament, and the group has prioritised the Pan-African Parliament as one of the first two organs to be established.

The process of ratification began very slowly, and we are considering ways of being involved in the process of stimulating ratification. However, up to a week ago 11 members had deposited instruments of ratification. We are informed that a number of others have ratified, and we can expect further deposits in the near future.

The Pan-African protocol will enter into force 30 days after the deposit of instruments of ratification by a simple majority. The first meeting of the Pan-African Parliament will be called by the chairperson of the interim commission. A president and four vice presidents representing the regions of Africa are to be elected at that meeting. Once those officers are elected, the chairperson of the interim commission will withdraw from the meeting and the Pan-African Parliament will then conduct its own business. The parliament will, of course, adopt its own rules of procedure on the basis of a two-thirds majority of its members.

The working group will be considering the aspect of the rules of procedure for the Pan-African Parliament on which we have begun research but still need to be discussing. This will be part of the preparations for the participation of the South African Parliament.

Hon members will recall that at the forum of African parliaments that we convened on the eve of this summit there was a recommendation that the heads of state establish a steering committee to address issues relating to the protocol. This proposal was accepted by the summit.

I am happy to inform you that last week we were advised that the steering committee has now been established by the commission and will have its first meeting at the end of this month. The committee is composed of two parliamentarians from each of the union’s five regions, selected on the basis of precedence in ratification of the protocol and, where no member state has ratified in a region, then chosen on the basis of precedence in the signing of the protocol.

On this basis the steering committee comprises Gabon and Cameroon from Central Africa, Rwanda and Tanzania from East Africa, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Libya from North Africa, Botswana and South Africa from Southern Africa, and Mali and Togo from West Africa. As I have said, the committee will meet for the first time on 28 April in Addis Ababa. The steering committee will, we hope, expedite the establishment of the Pan- African Parliament, and we need now to prepare ourselves to participate in this body.

The working group believes that it is necessary for those countries which have ratified the protocol to begin to share views on a vision for the institution, and to explore how it will function. To this end, the working group submits to the National Assembly a recommendation that we convene a seminar of parliaments which have ratified, to begin to draw our views together. We trust that this will receive your support.

We also need to give serious and urgent consideration to how we will ourselves operate within the Pan-African Parliament. The working group will be submitting proposals for your consideration, including how representatives will need to be chosen, providing mechanisms for report- backs, and ensuring accountability of our representatives, including identifying any rules that may be necessary which will, of course, have to be considered by our Rules Committee.

We will also need to consider mechanisms and procedures that will enable Parliament to make recommendations to our executive on issues or instruments that still have to be negotiated. Members will recall that the meeting of the world’s presiding officers, convened just prior to the UN Millennium Summit, agreed to the declaration recommending a more active and significant role for parliaments in international affairs, including, in particular, the involvement of parliaments before and during the finalisation of international agreements.

Our own executive has accepted this in principle in so far as the African Union is concerned, and we need to pick up the challenge and to extend it into other areas of the work of this Parliament.

We will also need to consider mechanisms and procedures that will enable Parliament to make recommendations to our executive on issues or instruments that are now in the process of being negotiated. So we do not have a completed protocol or treaty being submitted to us for ratification.

When we consider establishing mechanisms to enhance accountability flowing from the report of the subcommittee that we adopted at the last Joint Rules Committee, we will have to look at the way we ensure the accountability of the executive in international affairs.

The research reports we have now received have drawn attention to a number of issues that we need to consider in the very near future. Without pre- empting the priorities the working group may determine, I refer to assisting in the development of a strategy for economic integration of the continent. Important also must be the mechanisms for effective oversight of the promotion and protection of human rights in relation to the union and stretching across the continent.

The Cabinet has accepted our recommendation that South Africa offer to host the Pan-African Parliament. This proposal has also received the support of SADC. Our parliamentary staff have provided information and advice on the necessary logistical and procedural support that will be necessary to assist Government in this bid.

When considering the popularisation of the African Union and of the parliament, the working group has mooted the suggestion that while the Pan- African Parliament would need a permanent base, it may consider holding some of its sessions in a number of other countries. However, this is for the future.

Our various research projects have been completed now and, with the exception of one - investigating a strategy of popularising the African Union and engaging civil society, where the consultant withdrew from the project - we have agreed to use the resources to insert brief information in public broadcasts in all languages. These will commence at the end of May and will coincide with the national celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Organisation for African Unity. [Applause.]

I think I have briefly set before us a challenge. The challenge we have is something that needs the engagement of all members of both Houses. However, the participation in the working group, though consistent, is not as broad as we require to address the very important issues that I have outlined. We would therefore wish to urge parties to take on board and discuss amongst themselves and empower their members to participate in the joint discussions we have to have in order to finalise the very many issues that the working group has identified for its own future work programme. I commend the sixth report of the working group to you. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mr W J SEREMANE: Deputy Chairperson and hon members, I would like to take us back a little to basics. I contend that the gigantic initiative of building the African Union is no longer merely a nebulous dream, but is a reality. The African Union evolved from the phased-out Organisation of African Unity. Just that intricate process has brought into being and into action many related tasks, mechanisms and initiatives in the midst of a fast-changing environment and globalising world.

How then can we escape reflecting on the often contradictory tensions raised by the old African adage that goes: ``He or she who is behind must run faster than he who is in front’’? To quote further, from the illustrious Tom Mboya, the Kenyan:

In the case of Africa we do not only have to run faster but we have at the same time to try and avoid the pitfalls of those who ran before us. What a considerable addition to our task.

The foregoing is still as valid as it was in the early formative years of the reawakening of the African continent, albeit with numerous tragic stumblings. This reminds me of one of our role models, wise old Mr Tlhale, who would say to us barefooted boys: ``The glory of kingdoms is not in their never falling but in their falling and rising’’, or some such encouraging wisdom.

Before we even consider the Sixth Report of the Working Group on the African Union, it is important to remember that the working group was established on 16 November 2001 by a resolution of the NCOP. The primary focus of the working group is to consider the implementation of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Much water has gone under the bridge since then in terms of work accomplished.

Briefly, the objective of the working group is to, amongst others, consider Parliament’s participation in the implementation of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and to suggest procedural aims for this, to determine the involvement of Parliament in assisting the South African Government in the process of implementation of the African Union objectives.

The working group met several times as indicated by Madam Speaker, giving rise to the need to set up task teams that focus on specific aspects of the plethora of related tasks. The teams set up are as follows: The first is the team of implementation of the Constitutive Act. This team unpacked their task into the following focal points: the functioning of the four priority organs of the AU, the functioning of the AU itself, and the Libyan amendments and others, and this is no mean task.

The second is the task team on the Pan-African Parliament. Here the unbundling led to areas of the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament, conceptualising the Pan-African Parliament and the hosting of the Pan- African Parliament, and also the practical implementation thereof.

The third task team was on the building of the African Union with reference to civil society’s involvement in the AU, African unity which, we are told, is a very elusive challenge, and the economic integration in spite of formidable challenges.

Having given this background to the working group, may I allude to some aspects that the sixth report found very important. The outcome of this report seems to be pointing to encouraging member states and parliaments to ratify the protocol. I guess we have to do our bit on this one too, and that is to popularise the AU and its organs by using various media in different languages, because there is no point in having one section of the continent being fully equipped, advised and knowledgeable about the African Parliament when other parts are not aware of it. It is in unity that we shall realise the goals of the African Renaissance. And lastly, we need to keep the communication lines between the countries that have ratified the protocol.

It is not enough to urge on to what the Speaker said right now, that more participation is needed. We find ourselves spread very thinly across this wide field of work that has to be done.

With those few words, I hope that colleagues will add the other details of the report. I thank you.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Hon Seremane, just before you leave the podium I just want to give you an opportunity. You indicated that the working group was established by the resolution of the NCOP. Are you comfortable with that?

Mr W J SEREMANE: Of the National Assembly, I’m sorry.

Mr M RAMGOBIN: Thank you, sir. Mr Deputy Chairperson and compatriots, in commending the sixth report of the working group, I want to make a few observations which are not technicalised as presented. I want and need to say with emphasis that whilst we do not ignore modern systems of law and administration, a money economy, intracontinental and intercontinental trade and cultural exchanges, and the growth and development of science and technology, Africa in essence is neither the child of European civilisation nor of the American wilderness.

If I cannot, now and in the long run, tell everyone and anyone what I have been doing, my doing, I believe, will be worthless. Hailing from the enclave of Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, it is with pride that I proclaim ``I am an African.’’

What then, could or should we be doing instead of only praying to, and at times remonstrating with, God. Nkosi sikelel'iAfrika''? To understand this is, firstly, to understand the ANC, and its policies, which adopted this solemn invocation. As the first national liberation movement in Africa, it was the ANCand the people who bequeathed on our continent the prayer and anthem - God bless Africa, bestow on her all her glory! Bless all of us her children!’’

For us in the ANC it meant the assumption of responsibilities, calls to duty, self-effacement, sacrifice and a call to unity in action to create a just, nonracial, nonsexist, united and democratic South Africa, with the proclamation that South Africa belongs to all who live in it - black and white. It is now, I believe, our call to make South Africa livable for all who live in it.

Of course we face shortcomings and limitations, but we are on our way, away from colonialism and apartheid to an order based on social justice. Just as the visionaries in the ANC, such as the Rev John L Dube and Dr Pixley Seme were not content with the state of Africa at the turn of the 20th century, so were the visionaries and architects of the OAU in 1963. It is therefore of great importance that our country hosted the birth of the African Union last year. The import of this birth is well described by President Mbeki with his assumption that ``the African Union will see the dawning of a brighter day.’’

Going back to my question of what we could or should be doing, I think it proper for us to go back to what I call the Mbeki exhortations on behalf of the ANC. Freely summarised and adapted we heard and still hear:

At the end of the deliberations in Durban, hopefully Africa’s leaders will have launched the AU. Hopefully, they will have taken all the necessary decisions that will make it possible for our continent to move more decisively towards the achievement of the objectives stated in the Constitutive Act of the AU and Nepad. These include greater unity and solidarity among our countries and peoples; peace, security, stability, democracy, human rights, good governance and popular participation; economic, scientific, technological and cultural development; higher living standards, the eradication of poverty and social justice; gender equality and ensuring that Africa takes her rightful place among the peoples and continents of our common universe.

The exhortation also reverberated with the plea that -

At the end of the proceedings in Durban, it must be possible that throughout our continent, we must be able truthfully to say that the dreams of John Langalibalele Dube and Pixley ka Isaka Seme have come closer to fruition. We must be able to say, as the Rev Dube predicted, the glory of the Lord has risen upon us.'' We must be able to proclaim that the Durban Summit Meeting of the AU has given Africa the possibility to transform into reality what Dr Seme said, thatthe regeneration of Africa means that a new and unique civilisation is soon to be added to the world’’.

This, I believe, because we were neither fathered nor mothered by any other civilisation or wilderness.

However, Durban must create the ways and means and provide the possibility for the peoples of Africa to build the new world order for themselves ``when the darkness and gloom shall have passed away’’, as Dube said.

To achieve these objectives, and therefore give hope to the hundreds of millions of Africans who necessarily carry the deep scars of centuries of the humiliation of the peoples of Africa, today’s leaders of these masses will have to convince themselves that they have to exercise their stewardship in a new way.

They will have to reaffirm in action that their first and foremost compact is with the masses of the peoples in Africa, to serve their interests. They will have to reaffirm in action that they remain accountable to the people they represent, both within their countries and in the rest of our continent.

Their actions …

And our actions … -

… will have to state, practically that they understand and accept that the African dream of our founding fathers, such as Dube and Seme, is immeasurably more important than any personal ambitions and agendas they may harbour or pursue.

With the adoption of the Letsema Africa programme in June 2002, the ANC declared that July was Africa month. With the inaugural meeting of the AU in July in mind, we in the ANC swung fellow South Africans not only into dialogue, but into action to build our continent. The meeting of the G8 countries in Canada ``adopted an action plan designed to encourage the imaginative effort that underlines the Nepad and to lay a solid foundation for future co-operation’’.

Here in this very Chamber a meeting of African parliamentarians also took place to discuss the AU, Nepad and the planned Pan-African Parliament.

It is not without significance, ladies and gentlemen, that the ANC had declared July the month of Africa and international solidarity as part of the Letsema campaign of voluntary service to raise public awareness and public discussions of the AU and Nepad, as well as to organise practical actions in support of African peace, solidarity and development.

It would be a patriotic duty, I believe, if all South Africans followed the ANC Youth League’s initiatives of hosting the meeting of the Pan-African youth movement, which produced a declaration to be tabled at the continental civil society movement. This forum has as its mandate to contribute and develop a participation model for our civil society both in the Nepad and AU processes.

The history, current engagements and the vision of the ANC are indicators of why our Parliament shared the responsibility to deepen our understanding of the developments with regard to the AU, Nepad and the Pan-African Parliament. The adoption of the sixth report of the working group on the AU will be a rededication to the ideals of our visionaries in the ANC. And when our country possibly celebrates the 40th anniversary of the OAU on 25 May 2003, we will indeed be saluting those African heroes and heroines who laid the foundation for the AU.

A successful and vibrant AU has to lead and monitor our continent on the basis of Nepad. Peace and security, good governance and institutional capacity, trade, investment, economic growth and sustainable development, infrastructure, agriculture, water, debt relief, education and human resource development, health and information and communication technology - all of these are the essentials to make our continent evolve with mutual responsibility and respect into the dawn of a brighter day which will be built, nurtured and protected by us who will have mastered our imaginations, our senses and our minds.

In our hands rests the future of Africa, the earth, its fate and the crystallisation of an ideal very dear to me: You and I, we are one at every level. Our souls bathe in one, Love leads to an expanding sense of unity. Loving others, we love an aspect of ourselves.

I thank you very much.

Mrs I MARS: Deputy Chairperson, the creation of the AU as a successor or replacement for the OAU can indeed be viewed as a watershed moment in Africa’s history. Most if not all people would agree that the OAU was not as successful as originally envisaged and hoped for in the euphoria of African liberalisation at the end of colonialism.

Whatever the specific reasons for its lack of overall success, it became progressively clear to all Africans that a new vehicle was needed to achieve true unity, true peace, true security and economic prosperity throughout the African continent.

Together with the ideals of the African Renaissance and its follow-through, Nepad, the AU presents Africa with its best opportunity in decades to achieve the elusive conditions of peace and prosperity. It is also the embodiment of the realisation on the part of Africa that we have to get our own house in order before we can expect to be taken seriously and, more importantly, before the developed countries of the world listen to us for any approaches for assistance.

In this respect the most important and immediate task of the AU is to create conditions for the establishment of lasting peace and security throughout the continent. Ongoing conflicts on the African continent has meant little chance for progress.

In essence the AU has loosely followed the example of the EU with an overarching political body supported by various organs that are tasked with the practical implementations of the founding principles. These organs or institutions are empowered in various ways to also monitor progress with implementation and are essentially the working tools of the AU. Therefore, it is imperative that these working bodies be established as soon as possible to execute their mandates. It is in this respect that the delay with establishing the Pan-African Parliament is both unfortunate and worrying. The establishment is being delayed because of failure of member states to ratify the relevant protocol.

The IFP believes that it is imperative that the Pan-African Parliament be established as soon as possible. It will be the means through which the voice of Africa’s people will be heard at all levels as it is expressed by their representatives in legislatures around the continent. One of the main criticisms of the establishment of the AU and the formulation of Nepad was the alleged failure of governments and heads of state to consult the African people and this was very clearly demonstrated at our workshop in Durban. … [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Order, please.

Mrs I MARS: Chairperson, the Pan-African Parliament is the vehicle through which this voice will be expressed and hopefully heard at the highest level of decision-making in the AU. The Pan-African Parliament will also be the vehicle through which the African people will hopefully have meaningful participation in the political and economic issues that affect their daily lives. Speedy ratification of the protocol is imperative.

The IFP therefore supports the agreement reached in the working group to the effect that, firstly, the issue of ratification be addressed anew at the SADC Parliamentary Forum and other international meetings of the African parliaments. Secondly, communication urging ratification be directed at African parliaments and regional assemblies. Thirdly, a seminar be convened for countries that have ratified the protocol to create a common vision and understanding. Fourthly, the AU be approached on the establishment of a steering committee of parliamentarians to facilitate ratification of the protocol.

The working group also recommended that the NA consider producing radio inserts aimed at popularising the AU and specifically the Pan-African Parliament. The IFP fully supports this recommendation as it is vitally important that the people of Africa be informed of the existence of bodies that affect their lives and the fact that they can play a very important role in them. That is one of the hallmarks of true participatory democracy and Government should not be allowed to degenerate into a mere lip service.

The IFP also supports the recommendation of the working group that a seminar be held on African parliaments in May 2003 so that urgent issues surrounding ratification and the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament can be addressed.

While we support all these recommendations we also want to raise a small note of concern. It would be very unfortunate if this seminar or meeting became another talkshop without achieving measurable results. Let us hope that it will not be the case, but let us also be realistic and state clearly that the positive movement on ratification and forward movement on the creation of an enabling environment for the establishment of the Pan- African Parliament should at the very least be our minimum objectives.

Adv Z L MADASA: Deputy Chair, the ACDP supports the recommendations of the working group intended to speed up the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament. The evolution of the AU has reached a critical stage, and that is the funding of its organs and activities. Although the Union is founded on the principle of self-sufficiency, the reality is far from it. South Africa, whilst doing its part, is not in a position to carry the whole financial burden. The inevitable has come upon us that we need external funding.

Whilst President Mbeki has done good work to rally the developed countries to join the Nepad initiative as partners and finance African development, it now remains to be seen whether the G8 will honour their word. There is no doubt that the post-war Iraq crisis of reconstruction and investment in the oil production will divert a lot of resources from Nepad. Money spent on the war by important financial supporters like the US and Britain has already had a negative impact on the finances for Nepad.

Despite these concerns it seems that the president and prime minister of these respective countries have pledged to our President that they will keep their word to support Nepad.

The ongoing crisis of governments, democracy, human rights abuses and starvation in Zimbabwe is still a thorn in the flesh for the AU. As the union is based on collectivism, the Zimbabwean crisis is the AU’s crisis. It is somewhat encouraging now that there seems to be overt movement by the union to address the crisis there. The AU does not want a crisis like that in Zimbabwe. That can be used as an excuse by the developed countries not to support Nepad.

Not all is doomed after all on the continent at the moment. Nigeria is about to hold elections, the DRC conflict is being settled, and the Ivory Coast conflict is also being settled, as are the conflicts in the Central African Republic and Sudan.

As long as the Pan-African Parliament is not established, the voices of the ordinary Africans, who are the recipients of underdevelopment, are still being silenced. We must not rest therefore, but speed up the process of ratification of the Pan-African Parliament.

Mrs M A SEECO: Deputy Chair, MPs are responsible for creating awareness of the AU and Nepad by consulting with constituencies, attending consultative meetings and seminars both in South Africa and in the regions of MPs from other countries, and by playing a role in bridging the gap between government and civil society. In many African countries civil society is less active, which may hamper the effective functioning of the economic, social and cultural council.

The role of the South African Parliament in the AU is the Parliament’s oversight over an engagement with the South African executive in relation to the AU. Portfolio committees should request departments to report on their AU activities. Annual committee programmes should include issues around the AU and Nepad.

The South African Parliament should continue to encourage other parliaments in Africa to ratify the protocol on the Pan-African Parliament. The issue of identifying and obtaining adequate resources to give material effect to the AU and Nepad, as well as resources for the activities of MPs relating to the AU and Nepad, was also seen as a priority for further investigation.

Parliament should promote popular participation and awareness with respect to the AU by continuing debates in Parliament on the AU, and conducting further workshops for MPs, ensuring greater participation by MPs. MPs must devise strategies to give material effect to the AU and Nepad concepts. This includes determining how MPs may translate the AU and Nepad documents into tangible improvement at grass-roots level and how to convince people that the AU and Nepad can help to deliver their basic needs. It … [Interjections.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Dr S E M PHEKO: Deputy Chair, the PAC welcomes the report of the working group on the AU. My time is limited, hence I simply want to say that Pan- Africanism is the only political philosophy which has refused to go away. It is the only ideology which can restore Africa to her lost power and glory.

Pan-Africanist giants such as Mangaliso Sobukwe, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Muziwakhe Lembede, Modibo Keita, Zephania Mothopheng, George Padmore, W E B du Bois and Sylvester Williams have made a unique contribution towards the Pan-African vision and products which are today the AU and the Pan-African Parliament, etc.

The Pan-Africanists advocated Pan-Africanism during the darkest times in our continent when some leaders in Africa were instigated by imperialist forces to oppose Pan-Africanism as racism. The great visionary, Mangaliso Sobukwe, the first president of the PAC, called Pan-Africanists harbingers of the new world order'', adding,we must fight for freedom for the right to call our souls our own and pay the price’’. He wisely observed that -

We are seeing within our own day the second rape of Africa. But this time the imperialism we see is not the naked brutal mercantile imperialism of the 17th century and 18th century. It is a more subtle one - financial and economic imperialism under the guise of the tempting slogan, the development of backward areas and peoples.

We must unite. We have before us not only an opportunity, but a duty. I therefore support the Sixth Report of the Working Group on the AU. The PAC appeals to all people of Africa to keep on the Pan-African road. Pan- Africanism, despite its setbacks, has proved that it is the only reliable shield against the forces of imperialism which know no rule of law. If we deviate from this true path of genuine freedom we shall be economic slaves of foreigners forever. [Time expired.]

Miss S RAJBALLY: Deputy Chair, the MF is most pleased about the work and progress that this committee has displayed. South Africa has a major role to play in the AU and it is important that we make our contribution in an effective and efficient manner.

The AU is not only for Africa; our management of this body will add general and global resources to our development and achievement that would be beneficial to Africa as a whole.

Described as a Third World country, our motivation is to shift from that and bring Africa as a whole as a valid global comparative in all sectors and spheres.

The MF is aware of what the domestic adjustment, that may reserve much hostility from within, will take, but the challenge shall serve as motivation. However, it is disappointing that the establishment of a Pan- African Parliament has been delayed.

Noting that we have played our part, the MF hopes that those causing the delay may speed up the process so that the necessary instruments to making this body a success may be put into place. Arising from Madam Speaker’s speech, there has been great progress made thus far, which is very encouraging.

The MF supports the efforts to popularise the AU and shall contribute to this to the best of its ability. It is also encouraging to note the willingness to work with other bodies throughout Africa to make this project a success. The MF supports the committee’s efforts and the inculcation of a dedicated and efficient AU. [Applause.]

Mr E M SIGWELA: Hon Deputy Chairperson, the report of the working group on the African Union indicates that there has been a delay in the establishment of the African Parliament, because of the slow ratification of the Pan-African Parliament protocol by some countries. What is clear is that we cannot talk of a living and ticking African Union without the institutions that are necessary for achieving that. For the facilitation of progress in the implementation of Nepad, we need the institutions. But why is there a delay? Why is there procrastination among some of our countries?

It is heartening, though, to find that the South African working group on the African Union is not complaining idly about this, but is taking drastic steps to urge our brothers and sisters about the need to make the African Union a living tribute to the founding fathers and founding mothers of the Pan-African movement. In this regard I am thinking of leaders such as Dr Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, in the United States of America. Dr Du Bois, in particular, carries a special tribute for his ideas and efforts regarding the planting of the ideas of Pan-Africanism on African soil.

Not only because of that, but also because the founders of the African National Congress drank from his well of ideas. One of the founding mothers of the ANC and later the ANC Women’s League, comrade Charlotte Maxeke, was his student in Cleveland, Ohio. She was completely inspired by his ideas on African liberation from colonialism and development that was not hindered and stagnated by imperialism.

If we do not take steps to make the African Union a vibrant union, rather than a club for fraternal socialising, what tribute are we paying to the patriots who led our continent in courageous struggles for independence from colonialism and imperialism? I am thinking of great leaders such as Nkwame Nkrumah, Ben Bella, Modibo Keita, Patrice Lumumba, Joshua Nkomo, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyata, Edwardo Mondlane, Oliver Tambo, Samora Machel, Chris Hani, and many other African leaders who sacrificed their lives not only for the liberation of their individual countries, but for the return of the African heritage to its heirs, the sons and daughters of Africa over the whole continent, from Cape to Cairo, from Morocco to Madagascar.

These are the leaders who made the OAU, the forerunner of the AU, and particularly its liberation committee, functional, and able to help us achieve the freedom we enjoy in South Africa today. We who are beneficiaries of that freedom need to ask ourselves the question: ``Why do we need the African Union?’’ What is it, if it is not just a fraternity club? Is it not an imperative fostered in all of Africa, by the emergence of the world where we as individual states dare not go it alone without holding one another’s hands as we march forward in the development of our countries?

Africans must face the world. We are living in a difficult world, whose social, economic, and political landscape is being planned and developed by others, rather than by us. It is being developed by those who are powerful and much stronger than us, by those who are proud and obstinate, by those who know no respect for human dignity and the rights of other people, by those whose lives and thoughts are propelled by the barbaric principle of the survival of the fittest. Time is running out for us. The powerful and the strong, the Gullivers of this world, are on the move. The spectre of recolonialisation of the world and the creation of a new type of empire hovers over the peoples of Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East ominously. We dare not forget our very near past when the peoples of all these parts of the world I have mentioned struggled with every means at their disposal to free themselves from colonialist domination, which had led to the looting of natural resources for the enrichment of the European continent; for the creation of a golden heritage for the likes of Blair and his henchmen and henchwomen. There are henchwomen also.

We dare not forget that that very colonialisation and subjugation of the African people and our brothers and sisters who experienced the same adversity in other lands, provided an opportunity for the wholesale hunting down of the healthiest and most able-bodied sons and daughters of our continent, Africa, in particular; and their transportation to America to provide slave labour, which was the most outstanding factor besides the almost complete elimination of the indigenous people of that country, which led to the accumulation of the wealth in the United States today.

It is therefore no wonder that today the United States of America and Britain are standing out prominently with bundles of money in the one hand, and machine guns in the other, commanding the reshaping of the world according to their will. It is in that context that the African Union is imperative for Africa, not just as a club for friendship and socialisation, but for defining and designing our responses to the challenges of our continent ourselves, without looking to someone else to do it for us.

Let us not be dazed to slumber by the thought of the dollar and the pound. If we do not have capital for Mitsubishis, Caterpillars, and other kinds of construction machines, let us use our picks and shovels, hammers and chisels. Let us use our human muscles. If we do not have capital for tractors and trailers, let those who have hoes use them, let those who have spades use them. Let those who have picks, use them, let those who have ox- drawn, horse-drawn or donkey-drawn ploughs, use them. Let us till the soil. Let us construct our roads and dams even with the most basic resources.

Let us despise no kind of resources. Let us use all means at our disposal. Therein lies the rediscovery of the peoplehood of Africa. As we congregate in labour, as we share skills and benefits across the borders of our respective countries, we shall rekindle the spirit that must motivate African unity and the African Union and Nepad. Then the spirits of the forebears of the idea of African unity, the spirits of our fallen leaders, shall beckon us with pleasure. I think of leaders such as the ones I have mentioned in this regard.

Lastly, as we go into the Christian holy week, beginning on Sunday, I know it is not a time of enjoyment, but I would wish all those who are Christians, and all of us, a time of celebrating one of the greatest martyrs who has lived in this world, who when facing his torturers, tormentors, did not wince, but faced them straight. I mean Jesus Christ. Thank you. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Thank you. Hon Sigwela, before you leave there, could you just permit me to put something to you. You have used the phrase ``barbaric principle’’. Barbarism is actually a departure from principle, and I wonder whether you are comfortable with the phrase, or whether you would like to … You still have 46 seconds, maybe you would want to …

Mr E M SIGWELA: I would respond by saying that the people who use some of these practices call them civilised principles. But in our own perception, and in so far as they are imparted on us, we find barbarism. How else can we define the crushing of babies with bombs? How can we define that? It occurred both in Afghanistan and now in Iraq, and the possibility exists that we might also experience the same thing if we do not wake up as Africans. [Applause.]

Debate concluded. Report adopted.

CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY PARLIAMENT OF PROTOCOL RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE AFRICAN UNION

Mr W G MAKANDA: Deputy Chair, hon members, this House is called upon to ratify the protocol relating to the establishment of the peace and security council. Accordingly, I implore you to do so in order to enable the African Union to execute its responsibilities of maintaining peace and stability on the Africa continent that has been gravely afflicted with internecine wars, social, economic and political upheavals.

Article 2(1) of the protocol establishes the peace and security council as a standing decision-making organ for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts pursuant to Article 5(2) of the Constitutive Act. It further states that the security council will be a collective security and early warning arrangement to facilitate a timely and efficient response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa.

I must mention that the Peace and Security Council of the African Union does not replace or duplicate the functions of the United Nations Security Council. It is intended to complement the UN Security Council by preventing, managing and resolving African conflicts consistent with the principles of the world body. Article 3 sets out objectives for which the council is established. These are, among others, and I quote:

To promote peace, security and stability in Africa, in order to guarantee the protection and prevention of life and property, the wellbeing of the African people and their environment, as well as the creation of conditions conducive to sustainable development.

As far as anticipation and prevention of conflicts are concerned, in circumstances where conflicts have occurred, the peace and security council shall have the responsibility to undertake peace-making and peace-building functions for the resolution of these conflicts; promote and implement peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction activities, and consolidate peace and prevent the resurgence of violence.

African conflicts and sociopolitical instability are rooted in the colonial milieu in the scramble for colonies and spheres of influence in Africa by the European powers who carved the continent into artificial geopolitical entities, without regard for ethnic and national boundaries, which exacerbated the policy of divide and rule, and fanned ethnic and tribal animosities that have plagued the post-colonial era, thus undermining peace, good governance and political stability.

The imperial imperatives created a parasitic relationship between the metropolis and the periphery in terms of which the economic and social interests of the colonies became subservient to those of the metropolitan economies. Political institutions for the sustenance of this status quo were superimposed on the indigenous people who could not evolve their own political institutions or develop and nurture their own cultural heritage. This skewed relationship has been handed down as a legacy in which Africa is trapped. The disparities in wealth, technological know-how, levels of development and productive capacity create chronic inequalities and dependency on the North, which poses an exacting challenge on the African leadership and the people to extricate themselves from this vicious cycle.

These are the historical conditions which underpin African problems of governance, underdevelopment and poverty, political instability and chronic conflicts. Economic development and an accelerated growth rate are the keys to the resolution of the problem. The Nepad programme of the African Union is the vehicle for the economic and political transformation of the continent in partnership with all stakeholders domestically, with the developed North still wielding enormous power and sway in our domestic economies. The Nepad statement articulates the organ’s vision thus, and I quote: This initiative is about a new partnership in which African leaders accept the responsibility and accountability for doing what is right to restore peace and political stability in the continent, as well as to create conducive conditions for investment, entrepreneurship, economic growth and development.

The central message in this statement is the involvement and the leadership of Africans themselves, who must take the responsibility to shape their own destiny. We may soon discover that the North-South partnership cannot be taken for granted because there will be times when our priorities and imperatives do not coincide. This calls for innovation, creativity, very hard work and self-reliance. Our Constitution mandates us to ensure that, and I quote:

National security must reflect the resolve of South Africans, as individuals and as a nation, to live as equals, to live in peace and harmony, to be free from fear and want and to seek a better life. This view goes beyond the narrow confines of conventional state security. It encapsulates our vision of poverty eradication and a prosperous future for our people which guarantees maximum security for all.

The ANC’s 51st national conference resolved that, and I quote:

Our international policy conforms with the principle of our national policies based on good governance, peace and stability, human rights and creating a better live for all by creating a better world.

The January 8 statement of the national executive committee at the 91st anniversary of the ANC maps out the road to be traversed by committed cadres in building a winning South African nation.

I must reiterate the centrality of multilateralism in conflict prevention, management and resolution. As I speak, two superpowers, who are founders of the United Nations and authors of its charter which enshrines the principle of collective responsibility and multilateralism in resolving conflicts, have cast that sacred document away, and embarked on brazen aggression against a weak, disarmed, sanction-battered, broken nation of Iraq. They have unleashed the full might and fury of their state-of-the-art weapons of mass destruction against unarmed women, children and babies. They have deliberately aimed their sights on a civilian hotel inhabited by international journalists not embedded with their invading hordes. The whole world is predictably outraged by this infamy. It is calculated to shock and awe the victims of this holocaust and leave the rest of the watching world overwhelmed, paralysed, helpless and in a state of despair in the face of the exhibition of so much military might.

We cannot afford to slide into that mould of despair. Historical precedents teach us that social upheavals, however fierce and catastrophic, retain in themselves counter forces that must ultimately dissipate that convulsion. The world will survive this latest aggressive imperialism and those who drive it will go the way of all mad men - they will perish like all their predecessors. The mass protest movement by peace lovers in the US, Britain and the world at large bears testimony to this immutable truth.

Our Government is committed to the principle of multilateralism in resolving conflicts. We are mandated by the SADC and the AU in our conflict resolution talks in the DRC and Burundi and great strides have been made in peacekeeping missions in those countries. Our troops have acquitted themselves admirably. Our UN ambassador has engaged governments and opinion- makers of note in a brilliant feat of diplomacy to stop the Iraqi war. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs relentlessly pursued the path of conflict prevention by engaging the would-be invaders of Iraq as well as the Iraqi authorities to ensure that they comply with resolution 1441. We shall continue to uphold multilateralism in resolving current conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and in all future conflicts. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr C W EGLIN: Mister Speaker, as deputy chairman, I would like to return to the subject before us, which is the issue of a Peace and Security Council for the African Union. And I say that we are …

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Order! Continue, hon member, continue, continue. I was merely trying to help you to get a more orderly House.

Mr C W EGLIN: I hope you will give me more time then.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Yes.

MR C W EGLIN: Mister Speaker, we have before us an extraordinary, important protocol. It creates a structure which will play a vital part in contributing to bringing peace and stability to our African continent. Peace and security are valuable objectives in themselves, but they are also, as recognised in Nepad, critical preconditions for economic growth and human development on our continent. Put bluntly, without peace and stability, there will be no economic growth, no foreign investment, no human development, no African Renaissance and no attainment of either the millennium or the Nepad economic objectives.

However important the Peace and Security Council is going to be on its own, it will not ensure the end of conflict and the dawn of peace on our continent. These would depend on a range of factors: the calibre of our leadership, the depth of our democracy, the quality of our governments, the state of our human rights, the accommodation of our diversity, the socioeconomic conditions in which our people live and the extent to which they have hope and confidence in their future.

Now, the protocol in a number of provisions recognises the relevance of what I call these nonconflict factors in securing peace and stability, but perhaps they have not gone far enough. It is for this reason members will have before them an additional clause to this in which the House is asked to express certain views. That is that security must reflect the resolve of South Africans as individuals and as a nation to be free from want and fear and to seek a better life. That is a statement from our Constitution. We believe that statement should be the guiding light to our South African Government representatives on the Peace and Security Council when they are trying to implement the policies of that particular council.

The House is making it clear that we are directing our Government to make this clause of our Constitution a guiding light for them when deciding how to behave on their Peace and Security Council.

I want to come back to the actual protocol before us. Where is the Peace and Security Council located constitutionally? It is a structure and, quite clearly, it is an organ within the African Union. The powers and functions and the way it conducts its activities, must be conducted within the framework and in conformity with the principles and procedures of the African Union and set out in its Constitutive Act. So, it does not stand apart. It is not a loose affair, it is an integral part of the African Union and is committed to the same principles and the same procedures as the African Union.

Secondly, how does it relate to the United Nations? Here it is quite specific; it says it is guided by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In fact, it goes further, in Article(17) it says:

In the fulfilment of its mandate in the promotion and maintenance of peace, security and stability in Africa, the Peace and Security Council shall co-operate and work closely with the United Nations Security Council, which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

So, it is a supportive and co-operative arrangement. It is not one that seems to negate the role of the United Nations. What it is saying is that Africa is not just going to sit back and wait to see what happens. Africa is going to take its own initiative to see what it can do to take both preventative and peace-making action. In a sense, it is almost a parallel to Nepad, that does the same thing, but in the developmental field.

There are various specific principles that are relevant to this Peace and Security Council that may not apply to others that are significant if you look at the overall view of what it should be doing.

First of all, it is committed to peaceful settlements. That is the fundamental principle on which it starts. It also says it is going to deal with early responses. It is not going to wait for things to happen. It is also going to see that there is respect for the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedoms and the sanctity of human life and international humanitarian law. These they see as preconditions. It is going to see to the interdependence between socioeconomic development and the security of people’s estates. To us, I think, as South Africans, these are very important ingredients of the wider role that it should play in seeing that there is peace and security in Africa. Secondly, the question may be asked by members who are not fully conversant with this: How is it composed? There will be 10 members, two for each region, who will serve for two years each. There will be five members who will serve for three years each. They could be re-elected and the intention is that the five members who served for three years will tend to be what is called the locomotives of the process.

How do they take decisions? They will do this on the basis of consensus, where they can achieve it; by a simple majority if they cannot achieve it and it is merely a procedural matter, but by a two-thirds majority if it is a matter of principle or of importance. What is interesting is that, in order to be a member, you have to comply with certain conditions. These are commitments to the principles of the union, capacity and commitment to shoulder responsibilities, and willingness to take up responsibility, and contribution to the peace fund that is to be established.

What is interesting is that there is almost a Nepad peer review system that says there shall be periodic review by the assembly as to whether the members of the Peace and Security Council are complying with the preconditions for their membership and what action should be taken.

The next one is: Are there any novel features about this? I think there are two particular ones. One is the introduction of what is called The Panel of the Wise. It is intended that there should be a panel of five wise people, these being eminent Africans who were elected for that three-year period. They will be responsible for giving whatever advice they think is appropriate to the Peace and Security Council, either at the request of the council or on their own initiative. How effective this is going to be, I do not know, but it is a novel concept. When you actually take advice from out of the political arena, you give this role to the five wise people.

The other unique proposal that is to be set up is an early warning system. It will not just be a case of waiting for things to happen, but the concept that one should have an early warning system and an organisation that will look at all the socioeconomic and political factors that could lead to violence and conflict in Africa and, in anticipation of that, start taking corrective action. So, there will be a formal body and that is the early warning system which will be looking at Africa in its totality to see whether in fact we are running into serious problems.

The next one is the question of military force, and how it is going to operate. It will basically function by means of having a stand-by military component. These stand-by military components will stay in their states, but they can be called up by resolution of the council in order to give military service in respect of a conflict. And so all of the states are going to have to be obliged to start in their own countries training and equipping and getting ready bodies that will serve as stand-by forces, should they be required in the interests of the African continent as a whole.

This finally leads me to the point of funding, because here you have an AU organisation that is in a parlous financial position in which is owed over R41 million from its members in unpaid dues. How is it going to be funded? Clearly it is going to have to find additional funds. The intention is to set up what is called a peace fund. This will mean that each of the bodies in the union will have to pay more into the general revenue. Others who serve on the Peace and Security Council will have to pay a special fund and they will have to bear a considerable part of the cost of the military training and the military operations that are taking place.

In conclusion, may I say we note the opinion of the law advisers that this protocol does not conflict with our domestic law, it is not in line with our international law. Because the Democratic Party believes that the proposal to set up a Peace and Security Council is not only in the interest of South Africa, but is in the interest of Africa as a whole, we have pleasure in supporting this protocol. Mrs I MARS: Thank you, Chairperson. In my earlier address to this House, I pointed out that the African Union represents Africa’s best chance of achieving peace, stability and security on this continent. It is no secret that conflict of various forms has bedevilled Africa’s growth and development over many decades.

Regardless of the reason behind them, of which this House is only too conscious, is the fact that wars between neighbouring states, post- liberalisation civil wars and ethnic conflicts are to a large extent a dehumanising and tragic way of life for many of our people on this continent.

Yet, with the advent of recent democratisation processes and a realisation that negotiated solutions rather than armed conflict should prevail, Africa is slowly and steadily making progress in ending conflict. In some instances the conflicts have ended already and in others progress is being made and negotiations are continuing.

The hon Eglin made a very important point by saying that this council will act as an early warning system, so that conflicts in future can be averted rather than having to subsequently, after all the human tragedy, deal with going back to a process of establishing peace and security for people.

The OAU and more recently the African Union have played their parts in this process, but in the case of the latter it has to date been limited due to its very recent establishment. Nevertheless, the African Union and its Peace and Security Council have a tremendous and great potential for securing that which we need most in Africa, and that is peace and stability on the continent so that progress and development can take place.

The establishment of this council is therefore imperative so that it can function and implement its mandates as set out by the founding principles of the African Union. The IFP therefore supports the recommendation of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs that Parliament approves the protocol that will establish the council. However, the IFP was rather surprised that the actual protocol - and the hon Eglin has pointed out a number of these issues - presented to Parliament did not make very specific provision for the issue of human security, and emphasises state security. One can easily understand that competing positions and demands during negotiations around the protocol could lead to a compromise where human security - and please note this is in inverted commas - were partly ``sacrificed’’, so to speak. This is an issue we have to continue addressing and draw attention to.

We South Africans have learnt from our own violent past that human security is often more important and more needed than just state security. During the apartheid years there really was very little that threatened the territorial integrity of South Africa as a sovereign state, despite what the total onslaught advocates wanted us to believe. Human security was threatened by the internal actions and repression by the state establishment.

It is for this reason that our Constitution makes it absolutely clear that South Africans are to be viewed individually and collectively as a nation when it comes to security matters. Our own experiences shaped this constitutional position.

It is a lesson that can easily be applied to the rest of Africa. Undoubtedly, many Africans experienced and are still experiencing daily threats to their human security in states that are sovereign and under no external territorial threat. These people must be protected and served by the African Union and its Peace and Security Council and it must not just be the state that is protected.

The IFP therefore supports the recommendation of the portfolio committee that the implementation of the protocol be guided by a broad, holistic approach to human security in its various forms. As expressed in the addendum, we agree that state security is always a very important feature and should be safeguarded, but it should not be done by excluding the wider human security. If state security is viewed in conjunction with human security and treated with the same level of commitment by all participating African states, it is our position that the potential for lasting peace and security on the African continent can be realised to a far greater extent than what has been the case up to now. I thank you.

Dr B L GELDENHUYS: Chairperson, the previous speaker indeed made a very valuable contribution to this debate.

Voorsitter, na die dood van Amerikaanse soldate in Somalië het dit duidelik geword dat lande van die industriële wêreld nie meer bereid gaan wees om soldate te stuur om op Afrika-bodem te sterf nie. Die menseslagting in Rwanda, in 1994, het onteenseglik bewys dat die internasionale gemeenskap nie veel omgee vir lewensverlies in Afrika nie. Dit word, met ander woorde, by die dag duideliker dat Afrika self verantwoordelikheid sal moet aanvaar vir die voorkoming en beëindiging van konflikte op die vasteland.

Die bekragtiging van die protokol wat verband hou met die stigting van ‘n vredes- en veiligheidsraad van die Afrika-unie, kon nie op ‘n meer geleë tyd gekom het nie, en hopelik sal alle lidlande van die Afrika-unie die protokol so gou as moontlik bekragtig. Die beoogde raad vir vrede en veiligheid van die Afrika-unie is ‘n ideale instrument om konflik te voorkom, of om dit te beëindig. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Chairperson, after the death of American soldiers in Somalia it became clear that countries of the industrial world would no longer be prepared to send soldiers to die on African soil. The genocide in Rwanda, in 1994, undeniably indicated that the international community does not care much for loss of life in Africa. It becomes, in other words, clearer by the day that Africa itself will have to take responsibility for the prevention and the termination of conflicts on the continent.

The ratification of the protocol which relates to the establishment of a Peace and Security Council of the African Union, could not have come at a more opportune time, and hopefully all member countries of the African Union will ratify the protocol as soon as possible. The envisaged council for peace and security of the African Union is an ideal instrument to prevent conflict, or to end it.]

The protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union acknowledges the fact that `` …no single internal factor has contributed more to socio-economic decline on the continent, and the suffering of the civilian population, than the scourge of conflicts within, and between, our states’’.

It goes without saying that armed conflicts pose one of the most serious challenges to African development. Throughout the last decade at least five major conflicts occurred per year, peaking at 11 in 1998. Military expenditure has diverted large sums of government money towards armed conflict, instead of it being spent on education, health services or infrastructure. Zimbabwe’s military excursion into the Democratic Republic of Congo cost that country more than US$1 million a day. Nobody will invest in a conflict-torn region. No wonder that those countries plagued by armed conflict have the lowest economic growth rate on the continent. Before peace dawned mercifully on Angola, it had a growth rate of only 0,2%. Burundi’s growth rate amounts - although, perhaps amounts is a misnomer - to -2,4%; that of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country with enormous economic potential, boils down to -4,6%. The growth rate of Rwanda equates to -2,1%, and that of Sierra Leone -4,6%.

Although the proposed safety and security council will play a major role in ending conflicts on the continent, the main reasons for armed conflict will have to be addressed as well. These, inter alia, include ethnicity, religion, arbitrary colonial boundaries, and the exploitation of a country’s natural resources by another country.

When drafting the protocol, it was pointed out that membership of the Peace and Security Council would be an issue of responsibility, and not benefit. Hopefully, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union will execute their responsibility of preventing conflict on the African continent in a much more effective manner than the UN Security Council did in the case of Iraq.

The protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union - and the hon Colin Eglin referred to this - provided for a Panel of the Wise to support the efforts of the Peace and Security Council. Article 11(2) of the protocol stipulates:

The Panel of the Wise shall be composed of five highly respected African personalities from various segments of society who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of peace, security and development on the continent.

I can think of no others to better fit the aforesaid requirements than our own Nobel laureates Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and F W de Klerk. Hopefully, one of them will be nominated to represent the SADC region on the Panel of the Wise. The New NP supports the ratification of the protocol.

Mr M E GEORGE: Comrade Chair, members of Parliament, I also rise on behalf of the ANC to support the protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. I want to start by saying that, for us to succeed in pushing back the frontiers of poverty, we need peace and stability not only in our country, South Africa, but in the whole continent. We must make sure that the days of military coups and states that are military-run by dictators are over in Africa. The role of defence forces anywhere in the world, including Africa, must be to defend the inhabitants of their countries.

Summing up the problems of the African continent, our President, who is also the first Chairperson of the AU, said, and I quote:

There can be no sustainable development without peace. We must end the senseless wars on our continent which have caused so much suffering to our people and turned many of them into refugees.

These conflicts undermine democratic governance and stifle the economic and social development which Africa so badly needs. This means that some of the basic preconditions for the development of Africa are peace, security and sound political governance on the continent, with a special emphasis on the rule of law. Hence one of the significant plans that came out of the launch of the AU in July 2000 was to create a Peace and Security Council of the African Union with the aim of promoting peace, security and stability on the continent, as stipulated in the objectives of articles 5.2 and 3(f) of the AU Constitutive Act.

The endeavour has yielded good results. The first extraordinary summit of the AU assembly which was held recently in Addis Ababa wound up by adopting a number of resolutions on conflict prevention, management and resolution. The summit agreed to establish a Peace and Security Council with the power to intervene in the continent’s conflicts. However, the good progress thus far might be stalled. Only two out of the potentially 51 countries have ratified this resolution, and those are Mali and Algeria.

The Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security considered the following concerns, challenges and suggestions for the speedy ratification of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. One of the questions posed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs during a briefing by her department on the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union on the continent was, ``Why has South Africa, as the first Chair of the African Union, not yet ratified the protocol as tabled in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution of 1996?’’ The Minister rightly replied that there are processes that needed to be followed before South Africa endorsed the protocol.

However, as the President has also pointed out, the operationalisation of the Peace and Security Council is a matter of urgency. The concern here is that, according to the AU’s charter, conflict resolution could only be in the form of a call to member states to end internal and external conflicts. Without members endorsing the protocol there could be no successful convention on peace and stability. All those constructive resolutions which were adopted at the first extraordinary summit of the AU in Addis Ababa on 4 February would be futile. It is therefore imperative that the AU member states support the proposed council before the body’s first formal summit in Maputo in July 2004.

There is another concern that the 15-member AU Peace and Security Council, which is similar to that of the United Nations Security Council, might diminish the role of the United Nations in promoting security and stability on the African continent, especially now that the unilateralist America and Britain, regarding the Iraq crisis, have undermined the United Nations. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has pointed out that there exists a compatibility of common policies of the United Nations with those of the AU. Therefore the AU’s Peace and Security Council will work closely with the United Nations’ Security Council to ensure a co-ordinated approach to disputes and conflicts on the continent. So, there will be no conflict between the African Union and United Nations bodies.

Since both bodies aim at finding solutions to disputes and conflicts, it is of vital importance that their actions complement each other for effective results. It is in this context that close co-operation between the United Nations Security Council and the AU is of immense value. The provisions for international law in the Constitution, chapter 14 section 231(1), and the United Nations Charter, article 53, endorse the regional establishment of peace and security councils.

In the same vein, it should be highlighted that local policing and global security are inextricably linked. I mention this because there were questions which were raised by some members when we debated the issue. The issue was whether South Africa does have the capacity, in the light of the shortage of police that we have, to help in post-war situations in other parts of the country. If you look at what is happening in Iraq now, especially after the fall of Saddam Hussein, you can see that the soldiers and the army are not able to police the situation because that is not their job. They are not trained for policing. That is why there is this chaos that you now find in Iraq.

The AU initiative to combat terrorism and the spread of firearms are issues that are directly dealt with by the SA Police Service. The additional financial burden that could be experienced by the SA Police Service when they are actively involved in the AU Peace and Security Council issues that are relevant to policing is said to be covered by the peace fund to be established by the AU.

Another challenge is that of credible leadership because you need credible leadership in order to succeed. There have been accusations and the AU has been labelled by sceptics as an old wine in a new bottle or skin, and some have asked whether it’s a name change or game change. The sceptics wonder whether anything else will change after 8 July apart from the `O’ which has been removed from the organisation which represents African states. I would appeal to people and all African states to support the initiative so that we can advance our own agenda in the continent.

The sceptics also labelled the AU as having inherited a toothless organ from the dictators’ club of the OAU. However, the AU is not simply a continuation of the OAU by another name. The AU is based on collectivity and unity. That is why Minister Nkosazana said that the African Union is going to be a community of the people of Africa. The establishment of the Peace and Security Council will give the AU significant powers such as to force nations which are involved in war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity to relinquish some of their sovereignty. This makes the AU more effective in resolving and preventing wars, unlike the OAU which stressed noninterference in the internal affairs of member states.

Also, the adoption of Nepad, which is championed by our President, is a programme for Africa’s social and economic development, and it pledges improved economic and political governance for the people of Africa. Through Nepad, the AU recognises that Africa requires policy measures to address the political and social vulnerabilities on which conflict is premised. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Adv Z L MADASA: In this debate I would like to focus on what I believe is one of the causes for the conflicts on the continent, ie institutional weaknesses in some member states.

Part of the preamble of the protocol reads:

… aware also of the fact that the development of strong democratic institutions and culture, observers of human rights and the rule of law are essential for the promotion of collective security, durable peace and stability as well as for the prevention of conflicts.

It goes without saying therefore that one of the contributing factors for ongoing conflicts on the continent is the weaknesses of states in that they do not have strong democratic institutions. Indeed, some MDC commentators in Zimbabwe believe that weaknesses in the constitution of that country are the main reason that the Zanu-PF government has been able to harass the opposition with impunity. If the Zimbabwe constitution had aspects of checks and balances found in our constitution, for example the independence of the judiciary, it would have been difficult for the Zanu-PF government to interfere with judicial appointments, detaining opponents without trial, and so on.

Now we continuously witness the opposition in Zimbabwe being force-fed with repression, whilst the establishment of the Peace and Security Council is an important step for peace and development on the continent. Unless member states embark on constitutional reforms in applicable cases we will not be able to have everlasting peace and security.

The African Union therefore must still address the causes of the conflicts and not just extinguish fires. The proactive thinking of President Mbeki to convene a meeting of presidents of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania recently, is a welcome move. It is in line with Article 3(a) of the protocol, which states that one of the objectives of the Peace and Security Council is to promote and to consolidate peace. The massacre of innocent women and children in the Eastern DRC is horrifying and deplorable despite the dramatic reduction of the number of victims compared to earlier reports.

All in all the ACDP supports the ratification of this protocol. Thank you.

Mr P H K DITSHETELO: Chairperson, the African Union is a fledgling institution designed to bring about peace and security on the continent and in member states, amongst other things related to the socioeconomic development of Africa.

We all know where Africa comes from. The continent’s past is riddled with civil wars that came immediately after Africa regained its independence from colonialists. This state of affairs has created instability and insecurity ever since. The establishment of the erstwhile Organisation for African Unity has had a minimal impact in bringing about peace and security in member states. The OAU rules and protocol on peace and security were, by and large, not respected, as witnessed by the ongoing wars that plagued part of the continent. In short, some of the African member states, including foreign countries that funded these troubled states, created conditions that made it difficult to give Africa an opportunity to enjoy her freedom.

This reality necessitates that a protocol relating to peace and security be established. As a result it is not only important, but also crucial for the AU that its safety and security protocol is loudly read and communicated to member states as part and parcel of their constitutions. This protocol should also indicate the implications for violations in terms of what measures should be adopted in this regard should any undesirable situation occur. The success of the AU would to a certain extent not be judged by the implementation of Nepad, but by how peaceful the continent has become since the inception of the AU. We must also caution that indeed Nepad would be implemented, but this does not necessarily mean that we can predict its success. But we can certainly predict its failures; not because we want it to fail, simply because we would have neglected one of the key success ingredients, which is peace and security. We are optimistic and confident that the AU will live up to expectations.

The UCDP supports the protocol’s establishment. [Time expired.]

The SPEAKER: Thank you, Chairperson. Thank you, hon members. I hope you’ll also be applauding when I finish. [Laughter.]

Chairperson, it is not surprising that the two priorities of the African Union are the Pan-African Parliament and the establishment of the Peace and Security Council because this protocol that we are now ratifying is an important tool in the consolidation of the union.

Traditional notions of security largely shed by the Cold War are viewed as a state’s ability to counter external threats. Moreover, threats to international peace and security were also usually perceived as threats from outside the state. This is reflected in Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter that defines the threats to international peace and security.

Arising from a number of factors and conditions there are now considerable shifts in the thinking about security. Historically in Africa, for example, such shifts may be traced to internal struggles of African people against colonial rule and occupation whether in Algeria, Cape Verde, Angola, Namibia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe or South Africa.

People’s views on security were shaped by their experiences of colonialism, neo-colonialism and patriarchy. More important in shaping understandings of security in the region was the complex processes through which internal and external forces combined to dominate and subjugate people. So, the typical view of the enemy or the aggressor coming only from outside the geographic boundaries of a state could not apply. The enemy, as has already been indicated, was within the state and the conditions under which people lived every day placed them in chronic insecurity. Such experience introduced into debates issues such as whose security matters, and under what conditions, and what the moral, ethical and legitimate basis is for what is now termed a just war.

I refer here not to the current concept of regime change that masquerades as a just war, but to our own struggles and that of the African peoples for their own liberation.

An understanding of what constitutes a just war determines how violators of human rights and perpetrators of violence are dealt with afterwards. These perceptions and experiences were important not only in shaping how liberation and women’s movements mobilised against oppression, but also in determining issues related to reconstruction, development and reconciliation in newly independent countries.

Notable in Africa also was the way in which women’s movements linked the struggle for national independence and security to the struggle for equality and social equity. But the persistent marginalisation of countries in Africa from processes of economic growth and development reinforces perceptions of exclusion and vulnerability. For these reasons development, poverty eradication and the reduction of social equality were increasingly linked to conflict resolution, peace building and state building in Africa. These processes have contributed to the shift in international thinking from security of the state to security of the people. This shift includes the idea that states ought not to be the sole or main referent of security. Rather, people’s interests or the interests of humanity as a collective become the focus.

In this way security becomes an all encompassing condition in which individual citizens live in freedom, peace and safety, participate fully in the process of governance, enjoy the protection of fundamental rights, have access to resources and the basic necessities of life, including health and education, and inhabit an environment which is not detrimental to their health and to their wellbeing.

Thus the eradication of poverty becomes a prime factor in ensuring the security of people as well as the security of the nation and the state, as well as international peace. Such an understanding of human security does not replace state security with that of people. Rather, it is an attempt to see the two as interdependent. This means that security between states remains a necessary condition to the security of people, but that national security itself is not sufficient to guarantee people’s security. For the latter the state must provide various protections to its citizens, but individuals also require protection from the arbitrary power of the state through the rule of law and emphasis on civil and political rights as well as socioeconomic rights.

Significantly, such new thinking on security takes place alongside the development of renewed initiatives focusing on regional and continental co- operation and regeneration in Africa. A convergence in how we understand issues of security in the lives of people is already evident in the founding document of the African Union, in Nepad, in the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co-operation in Africa and now in the Peace and Security Council. However, the African Working Group considered that it is necessary that in the implementation of the Peace and Security Council we bear in mind our own South African perspective.

The South African Constitution states that national security must reflect the resolve of South Africans as individuals and as a nation to be free from fear and want and to seek a better life. This broad holistic approach to security recognises the various non-military dimensions of security and is rooted in our collective experiences of insecurity. Therefore, it is important that insecurity facing Africans is in itself multidimensional and thus the Peace and Security Council needs to have a multidimensional approach to security in order to ensure that especially the response of its early warning component is timely, effective and efficient. In that way we can secure state security as well as the personal security of the African people. [Applause.]

Dr S E M PHEKO: Mr Chairman, for economic and technological development our continent needs peace and stability. A culture of observance of human rights and the rule of law requires conditions of peace and security. The PAC therefore supports unequivocally the Peace and Security Council, its objectives, principles, functions, etc. We hope that details of implementation will be looked into carefully. Pan-Africanists, many of whom brought about the OAU, not only believed that an Africa high command must be formed for the liberation of Africa, but that later this force would be used to defend the gains of Africa’s revolution against colonialism.

Indeed, the adoption of the protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union is an outcome of the ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union. One can only ask what differences there would be between the Peace and Security Council of the AU and the Security Council of the United Nations in view of two member states of the UN who attacked another member illegally without the approval of the United Nations Security Council. It is disappointing that the ratification of the protocol is so slow when there are so many conflicts that disturb peace and security on our continent.

The PAC, however, supports the ratification of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. Thank you.

Miss S RAJBALLY: Chairperson, the MF supports the establishment of the Peace and Security Council, noting that it is in line with our national Constitution that is representative of South Africa as a whole, our values, beliefs and procedures. The MF fully supports the need of such a body that shall be a standing decision-making organ for the prevention and management of resolutions and conflicts. Holding such a position the MF hopes this body may be accorded the respect and adherence to make it an efficient source of management of its affairs. It is hereby necessary for all member states to take an oath of commitment and adherence to this protective organ of resolution and management.

It is hoped that this body shall not be disrespected as the UN has been by the defiant action that currently has been taken by the United States and Britain. It is necessary that this body be inculcated as an instrument of guidance and concern. The MF feels that our ratification of this is enormously important in leading the way for other states throughout Africa. The importance of the Peace and Security Council is a must and its content must extend confidence to staff in inculcating its aims and duties effectively. The MF supports the establishment of the Peace and Security Council. Thank you, Chairperson.

Mr O BAPELA: Chairperson, on 26 June 48 years ago, our forefathers met in the Congress of the People in Kliptown and proclaimed in the document which today remains the anchor of our political vision, called the Freedom Charter. How I wish that all of us could read it again and again to gain political wisdom and a broader political vision from it. As we ratify the protocol related to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the AU, the Freedom Charter continues to guide us on our political vision. To quote from the last clause of the Freedom Charter, it says: ``There shall be peace and friendship.’’ And it goes further in the text as follows:

South Africa shall be a fully independent state which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations; South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation, not war.

So they proclaimed and how true it is that much of what they said in 1955 remains relevant today. How one had wished the world would live up to this challenge, the challenge humanity chose when it created an instrument in 1945 - the United Nations - to settle disputes through negotiations and not war. We pride ourselves on being amongst people and nations who stood our view and insisted that a multilateral approach and international law be respected, and argued and still argue for the respect of bodies that are charged with responsibilities to resolve our disputes through negotiations. We are fortunate in Africa because we have committed ourselves to strengthening institutions of multilateralism to resolve our disputes through negotiations and not war.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union comes at a time when international systems of multilateralism are being undermined and disregarded by the strong and powerful. Africa, however, is the silver lining in the dark clouds hovering above us. There is a letter which I will quote from, written by Susan and Tim Lint of Michigan in the United States of America. It reads as follows:

Today is a beautiful, early Spring day in Michigan. Not much green showing yet, but the smell of the cold earth awakening as the warm sun touches it under the cover of brown leaves in the woods is almost unbearably lovely. Daffodils have put their spears up in sunny corners and the sense that new life will soon burst forth is palpable. I walk in the woods surrounded by safety and beauty and of course, I weep there caught in the horrible contrast of this life with the sandstorms and pounding rain of death taking place at the very same time in Iraq.

This letter is written by two people and is touching. It also teaches us that besides our own national patriotism, there is international patriotism that transcends borders. It is patriotism for the creation of a better world. Do we all have such deep patriotism as the Lint couple?

Yes, there are problems in Africa which the President and the Deputy President have responded to in terms of how we should engage in resolving them. The point of departure is: how do we go about solving these problems? The establishment of the Peace and Security Council, therefore, is one of the instruments that will begin to engage on those particular programmes so that we find an everlasting peace.

The DRC and Burundi negotiations have taken place and are today bearing fruits, not through shouting, denouncements, smart sanctions, exclusions or a unilateral way. How we do succeed or are succeeding in the DRC and Burundi is through multilateralism and negotiations, and not war.

Today we pride ourselves - as other speakers had elaborated upon - on the peacekeeping activities in Burundi and DRC in pursuance of peace. Other challenges of conflicts facing the continent beyond Zimbabwe are in the DRC, Burundi and Sudan. We just experienced a coup that took place in Central Africa in March of this year. We have a dispute going on in Côte d’Ivoire. People of Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Eritrea have gone through the worst. Swaziland just next door has a constitutional crisis and a lack of democracy. Western Sahara is not yet free as a country.

Other challenges facing the continent are issues of health, poverty, lack of development, shortage of water and exploitation of our resources not to the benefit of Africans in their development. Those are some of the challenges we are facing as Africans.

Amongst the objectives of the protocol on establishing the Peace and Security Council are to promote peace, security and stability in Africa in order to guarantee the protection and preservation of life and property, the wellbeing of the African people and their environment, as well as the creation of the conditions conducive to sustainable development.

Another of the objectives is to anticipate and prevent conflicts: In circumstances where conflicts have occurred, the Peace and Security Council shall have the responsibility to undertake peace-making and peace-building functions for the resolution of these conflicts. With peace comes development. With development, it means we will be able to push back the frontiers of poverty in Africa. With sustainable development, it means a better life for Africa’s people.

The ANC conference which was held in Stellenbosch on peace, stability and an end to conflicts in Africa illustrated that the struggle for peace and stability in Africa constitutes one of the major challenges facing the AU. Progress is made in the resolution of conflicts through the involvement of multilateral institutions.

As a result, a number of countries are engaged in peace processes, and some are in the process of reconstruction and development following long- standing conflicts. There are still a number of countries, however, engulfed in civil strife, as I had earlier indicated, and conflicts that these countries have will be detrimental to the meeting of the objectives of the African Renaissance. In conclusion, poverty and the legacy of colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism are the root causes of many conflicts on the continent. As we establish this protocol on the establishment of the Peace and Security Council it is one of those instruments that will also be able to create peace so that indeed the frontiers of poverty are pushed back.

The ANC and our Government will continue to involve themselves within the multilateral institutions of the region and the continent in pursuance of peaceful and speedy resolutions to conflicts on the African continent. Therefore, the ANC supports the ratification of this protocol. I thank you. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

Protocol approved.

The House adjourned at 11:29. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister for Provincial and Local Government:

 Reasons for the Declaration of a State of Disaster in the Magisterial
 Districts of Swellendam, Montagu and Robertson: Western Cape Province,
 in terms of section 2(4) of the Civil Protection Act, 1977 (Act No 67
 of 1977).

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Assembly:

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, dated 8 April 2003:

   The Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism, having considered the request for approval by Parliament of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, referred to it, recommends that the House, in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, approve the said Protocol.

 Request to be considered.

1. Report of the Standing Committee on Private Members’ Legislative Proposals and Special Petitions on Petition of Mr B D Brown, dated 2 April 2003:

   The Standing Committee on Private Members’ Legislative Proposals and Special Petitions, having considered the petition of Mr B D Brown, referred to it, recommends that the request of Mr Brown not be acceded to.

 Report to be considered.