Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa: Heads of Mission Conference

Address by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on the occasion of the Heads of Mission Conference, OR Tambo Building, Tshwane

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane,
Deputy Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Nomaindia Mfeketo and Mr Luwellyn Landers,
Ambassadors and High Commissioners,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.

Dumelang! Sanibonani! Good Afternoon!

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to address this esteemed gathering of our country's Heads of Mission.

As a country, government and people, we owe a debt of gratitude to you and your loved ones for travelling far from home to present South Africa to the world.

We value you as a fine cadre of patriots seized with the task of pursuing the implementation of the National Development Plan through international cooperation. You are entrusted with the responsibility to build partnerships in pursuit of an equal, just and prosperous South Africa, a better Africa and a better world.

As we meet to review the work of our missions across the world and chart the way forward, we should draw inspiration and learn lessons from South Africa's most outstanding and accomplished diplomat, the late ANC President Oliver Reginald Tambo.

As we meet during the month of Oliver Tambo's birth, we hope you will follow his lead in building global alliances to save our people from the indignity of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

It was 40 years ago this month that Tambo told the UN General Assembly that:

"We will create a South Africa in which the doors of learning and culture shall be opened to all. We will have a South Africa in which the young of our country shall have the best that mankind has produced, in which they shall be taught to love the people of all races, to defend the equality of the people, to honour creative labour, to uphold the oneness of mankind and to hate untruths, immorality and avarice.”

We hope that as you resume your work in your host countries, you will consider the situation of our youth and the urgent need to empower them through skills, employment and enterprise development.

You, our Ambassadors, are well positioned to lobby our social partners in the global community to empower our youth to be the best that humankind has produced. As chair of the Human Resource Development Council, I am closely involved in efforts to promote the education and skilling of our young people.

We urge our missions to work with us in identifying, facilitating and coordinating scholarships and training programmes for our youth.

Through the Youth Development and Career Expos that the Presidency champions, we visit disadvantaged communities in villages and townships and advise them on study, business and employment opportunities.

We have teamed up with many South African business and organisations to increase the impact and relevance of these events. Now, we look to our missions to connect these youth development expos with global partners so that we can widen our reach.

Confronted with the challenges of the present, we can draw courage from the significant victories that OR Tambo and his comrades achieved for the people of South Africa during the polarised era of the Cold War.

Thanks to the force of his persuasion, his compassion and exemplary conduct, the international community lent moral and material support to our just cause. We look to you to explain to our international partners our position on critical matters of national, continental and global importance.

We look to you to assure them of the goodwill of the people of South African and that the challenges we face today only serve to strengthen our resolve to succeed. Oliver Tambo built alliances across political and ideological divides.

He worked tirelessly to mobilise different groupings around shared programmes of support and solidarity. It was thanks to his alliance-building efforts that the anti-apartheid movement led one of the largest and most effective global campaigns of the 20th century.

From Moscow to Washington, from Lusaka to London, from Havana to Delhi, OR Tambo met with heads of state, union leaders, diplomats, business people, activists, cultural workers and sports people.

He found ways for them to participate and contribute. As we undertake the tasks of rebuilding our country, we need to emulate him. We must build alliances with fraternal parties and social formations across Africa to pursue the growth and development of our country and the continent.

We must build alliances with other countries, with political parties, with international organisations and leading global figures in our effort to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society.

Excellencies,

On Tuesday, the President provided a broad overview of our domestic and international successes, as well as our challenges.

He encouraged you to work steadfastly in your host countries to pursue investment and growth opportunities for South Africa.

He insisted that we all have a keen grasp of the National Development Plan and our nine-point action plan to reignite economic growth.

The President emphasised the crucial link between our diplomatic efforts and the transformation of our economy and the development of our people. Part of the responsibility of the Presidency is to promote trade and investment in South Africa.

I recently returned from Vietnam and Singapore where we sought to deepen trade and investment relations. Our hosts were extremely receptive to our message that our macroeconomic policies are sound, that we have a dynamic, diversified economy and that we are an attractive investment destination.

We are improving the ease of doing business, providing incentives and other forms of support to investors and investing heavily in our economic infrastructure.

The government and business representatives we meet in many countries appreciate that we have a robust and vibrant democracy.

They recognise that we have strong democratic institutions that promote accountability and the rule of law. They understand that we are an integral part of Africa, and that our growth trajectory is linked to intra-African trade and development.

In all our international engagements, we are impressed by the numerous opportunities that exist for cooperation in the transfer of skills, technology and experience.

Many of the countries in which we have missions have overcome the kind of challenges that we currently face through effort, ingenuity and the support of others.

We need to learn from them.

We need to ask what research, resources and technology our host countries can contribute to support industrialisation, mineral beneficiation and agro-processing in South Africa.

We need to draw on the expertise of these countries and design programmes that will enable us to share knowledge and skills.

We need to engage in the painstaking work of untangling the administrative impediments that often hold back the import of South African goods into our host countries.

We need to find ways to expose businesses in these countries to the opportunities that exist in South Africa and facilitate their investment in our economy. Tourism is a significant area of potential growth and employment creation.

Our missions have a critical role to play in encouraging the citizens of their host countries to visit our country and experience its hospitality, natural wonders and rich cultural diversity. We have also identified the ocean economy as a growth opportunity.

We are continuously looking for international partners who can contribute to the skilling of South Africans in areas like port management, aquaculture, oil and gas exploration and ship building.

We are using our membership of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, which we will chair from October 2017, to unlock the potential of the ocean economy.

This will further provide us an opportunity to enhance cooperation, build new enterprises and create jobs for our people.

We have visited a number of countries to study how their state owned enterprises have been effective instruments in lifting their populations out of poverty.

We are studying the architecture, governance and financing of these SOEs so that we may improve the performance and impact of our own. We invite our missions to study the approach to SOEs in their host countries and share with us what works and what doesn't.

Apart from SOEs, what lessons can you share with us on how your host countries are dealing with the challenges of slow growth, poverty, unemployment and inequality?

Of course, South Africa does not only import knowledge and experience. We are often called upon to share our capabilities in areas like mining, public administration, conflict resolution and constitution making.

An institution like Nedlac is widely recognised for the role it has played over two decades to build consensus between business, labour, government and community on social and economic policy.

Building on its achievements, we expect that deliberations currently underway in Nedlac will soon result in agreement on a national minimum wage and far-reaching measures to promote greater labour stability.

Through my involvement in the South African National AIDS Council, I have seen the impact that the international community can have on critical areas of social development.

While South Africa funds the bulk of its HIV treatment programme with its own resources, global funders have contributed much to research, awareness and other support to people infected and affected by HIV.

Despite our many successes, the fight against HIV and TB must still be intensified further.

In the context of declining global funding, we call on you as our representatives abroad to continue to create awareness and mobilise resources to strengthen the fight against HIV and TB in South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

Excellencies,

In you, our global representatives, South Africa has a rich and irreplaceable depository of knowledge, experience, insight and capability.

As we meet here, we must ask how South Africa can more effectively use your collective exposure to a dynamic and changing world to grow our economy and empower our people. We must ask how we can encourage you, equip you and support you.

Because working together, we will succeed in moving South Africa forward.

I thank you!

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