L Sisulu: SA National NEPAD Workshop

19 April 2006

Directors-General,
Members of Civil Society, the Media and the Business Community,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) programme will be five
years old in July this year. Its Vision and Policy Framework Document was
approved by the Organisation of African Union (OAU) Summit in Lusaka in July
2001. NEPAD is a pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm
and shared conviction, that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and
to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of
sustainable growth and development and to participate actively as Africans in
the world economy and body politic. The programme is anchored on the
determination that we collectively can extricate ourselves and the continent
from the malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world.

This statement forms the preamble to the NEPAD programme because it aptly
captures why NEPAD became necessary and what it hopes to achieve.

We are here today from the public and private sectors, labour and civil
society to fulfil part of the vision of NEPAD that I have just outlined. Our
leaders have clearly outlined priorities and conditions for development and we
are here to give effect to their implementation. The dynamics that characterise
our inter-relations should take a back seat when we collectively deliberate the
plight and aspirations of those who look upon us for a better life. I am
referring to the powerless and vulnerable poor masses of our people that
continue to endure conditions of poverty, disease and hunger. In relation to
their need, these people, ladies and gentlemen, have very modest expectations
and we should not fail them.

The main objective of this workshop is to share ideas on what we can all do
to advance the objectives of NEPAD in the interest of servicing our various
constituencies. I have no doubt that we will learn from each other and share
the load of delivering on the expectations of our leaders and our
constituencies.

We need to determine how we are going to internalise the NEPAD values,
principles and objectives in our various spheres of work. All our organisations
and departments will do well first by understanding and adopting of NEPAD
programmes and re-aligning them with our work plans and by so doing deepen the
ownership of NEPAD by us all. During the break away sessions, you will define
the role you envisage playing to engage and advance the objectives of
NEPAD.

Ladies and gentlemen, never before has the African continent produced such a
comprehensive home grown development programme, which has forced itself onto
the forefront of the development agendas of the United Nations, the G8 and
regional groupings from Asia, Europe and the Americas. The Secretary-General of
the United Nations created the Office of Special Adviser on Africa and mandated
it to co-ordinate global advocacy in support of the implementation of NEPAD and
to act as Focal Point for NEPAD within the United Nations (UN) system. As a
consequence, the UN structures in Africa were encouraged to reflect and advance
NEPAD in their engagement with the continent. This was shortly after the
General Assembly of the United Nations had recognised NEPAD as the framework
for Africa’s development in September 2002.

Interest in NEPAD at continental and international level is unprecedented.
In the words of the UN Secretary-General, “the central challenge is to grasp
the opportunity and maintain the momentum”. In order for us to work together to
realise the objectives of NEPAD, we all need to buy-in and have a clear
understanding of what NEPAD is and what role we can collectively and severally
play in our various organisations.

Apart from anything else, the media and our communications units can create
increased awareness of the ideals of NEPAD. The rest of us can support their
communication and advocacy strategies by demonstrating quick deliverables to
those who wait for service.

While our circumstances place on us various advantages, circumstances
similarly places on us the burden to lead in the implementation of NEPAD. We
have the political will, we have a government infrastructure that creates the
possibility and above all, we are graced with a uniquely vibrant private
sector. Through private sector investment in NEPAD infrastructure projects we
can create an environment conducive for investment in the continent. You will
agree that the fundamentals as well as the risks and costs for doing business
in Africa are slowly but surely being addressed.

You are aware, ladies and gentlemen, that human capacity and capital are the
pressing resources required to implement NEPAD projects. We have a bit of both.
With human capacity, there is no reason why the NEPAD infrastructure projects
that have funding allocations by the African Development Bank should continue
to stall. We talk of African ownership of Africa’s development agenda - we can
clearly demonstrate this by investing in NEPAD projects in Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) such as the e-schools project and the East
Africa Submarine Cable; in the many energy projects such as Inga, Mepanda Uncua
and Cabora Bassa; in the water and sanitation; transport infrastructure
projects; telecommunications; agriculture and health; and of course ladies and
gentlemen, what can be more important than housing.

With regard to creating conditions conducive for development, we are
encouraged by the unprecedented determination with which our leaders are
tackling conflicts on the continent. They are committing troops, their time and
even their countries’ limited capital resources to deal with these
conflicts.

They have fully mobilised the international community on Africa’s
development. Our co-operation with the G8 has been continually strengthening
since Kananaskis in 2002. We also work closely with the European Union (EU),
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Asian
countries in the advancement of NEPAD.

Ladies and gentlemen, the document that will emerge out of this workshop
will be presented to Cabinet for consideration. Once it is approved, we will
have a NEPAD Implementation Strategy for South Africa, which is already being
branded NISSA.

That strategy should reflect our envisaged roles as national, provincial and
local government role players and civil society and business actors. We know
that NEPAD projects are by their nature largely multi-country projects. We have
representatives here from Provincial and Local Governments and civil society
organisations who are eager to internalise and advance the objectives and
implementation of NEPAD. They may find it difficult to relate to NEPAD and to
reflect it in their own work plans. As a result, the National NEPAD Strategy
that will emerge out of this workshop must address and clarify the role they
can play to interlink with NEPAD.

As for the National Government Departments, your meeting this morning must
have also given you clear ideas about how you may align your Departments’ Work
Plans to reflect and advance the objectives of NEPAD.

I am told that this workshop will also deliberate on what a NEPAD project is
for our purposes. In January this year, during the 14th Summit of the NEPAD
Heads of State and Government, who are charged with the responsibility of
implementing NEPAD, the question of what a NEPAD project is also came up. The
NEPAD Heads of State and Government consequently agreed to meet in June in
Dakar, Senegal, to deliberate, among others, on what a NEPAD project is as
opposed to a national project. The work you do here will help us prepare as a
country for this important summit.

Ladies and gentlemen, having said this, you have all already participated
meaningfully in giving expression to NEPAD. Almost all of you here (Provincial
Governments, National Government Departments, Parliament, the Private Sector
and various civil society organisations including academic institutions,
research institutions, professional organisations, etc) have participated in
the national African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process when you completed
the APRM Questionnaire. The National APRM Secretariat received your
submissions, analysed them, produced technical reports on the four APRM
thematic areas of Democracy and Good Political Governance; Economic Governance
and Management; Corporate Governance and Socio-economic Development.

According to the current time-table of South Africa’s National APRM
Secretariat, the Country Self Assessment Report and Draft National Programme of
Action will be submitted to the APR Secretariat and the Review Panel before the
end of June this year. You, as citizens of South Africa, will be asked to
comment on the Draft Country Self Assessment and the Programme of Action before
the end of September this year, after which it will be presented to the APR
Forum of Heads of State and Government participating in the APRM.

The APRM is an innovation by African leaders to submit themselves for review
by peers in the areas outlined above.

Twenty-six countries have already acceded to the APRM Memorandum of
Understanding. This is about half of all African countries. The pace of peer
reviews is accelerating. In the coming few years, the peers will have assisted
one another to adopt policies, standards and practices that lead to political
stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated
sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of
experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including
identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building.

As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, NEPAD is not a theoretic approach to
development. It is a pragmatic programme with tangible deliverables. You should
feel proud of your contribution thus far, as Heads of Organisations,
Institutions and Government Departments, to give meaning to NEPAD principles
and objectives.

African leadership is being utilised in the prevention, management and
resolution of conflicts. The conditions conducive for development are being
implemented. There is now a partnership rather than a donor-recipient
relationship with our development partners – it is also in their interest that
we eradicate extreme poverty in the developing world; the NEPAD sectoral
programmes are being implemented; we have started aligning our work plans to
reflect the ideals of NEPAD whilst the national APRM process is due to be
concluded in the next few months. All these are the results of a new way of
thinking by the majority of African people.

Nevertheless, as Minister Dlamini Zuma puts it “we are fully aware that the
expectation of a just and non-discriminatory international and economic social
order has yet to be realised”. There are still major differences between the
fortunes of countries of the North compared to that of countries of the South.
We must work hard to change this. We must also work hard to fundamentally
change the material conditions of our people on the ground, which remain
dire.

Detractors will always be lurking but within five years of NEPAD, the record
speaks for itself. I urge you to give effect to the ideals of NEPAD in your
various roles. We owe it to our constituencies, future generations and our
leadership. Let us work hard to bequeath an enduring legacy in their
honour.

I wish you well in your deliberations.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Housing
19 April 2006