S van der Merwe: Closing of SA National NEPAD Strategy Workshop

21 April 2006

Chairperson;
Directors General;
Distinguished delegates;
Ladies and gentlemen

On behalf of the Ministry and Department of Foreign Affairs, we would really
like to express our gratitude for the work you have done and covered since
Wednesday and the progress you have made. It is important work and a great step
forward.

Just yesterday, through the bestowal of national orders, our President
honoured our heroes and heroines who have made countless sacrifices towards the
development of the African continent. I think we should continue to celebrate
their stories of conviction and of courageousness.

I have been very closely following the deliberations that have been taking
place at this particular workshop in formulating creative strategies towards
further advancing the goals and objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD).

I believe there have been very vibrant debates and discussions amongst
delegates have stimulated a concerted effort to ensure that we leave a legacy
that every African will be proud of. We have come a long way on our journey to
create the conditions necessary for sustained African social and economic
development and to be able to say with confidence that we have made concrete
advances to the realisation of the African Renaissance. And today, in the
greater part of the continent a progressive agenda is being advanced and will
truly help to develop respective regions, countries and nations.

And since it is at country, regional and continental programme it bodes well
now and in the future that so many of Africa's countries have taken the path of
democratic political and economic governance and have allowed themselves to be
subjected to best practices and to peer review. In the last few years, we have
seen democratic elections taking place in many parts; and we have seen the
peaceful resolution of a number of conflicts on the continent. The challenge of
course is the post conflict reconstruction; and with it a range of social and
economic initiatives that will serve to fortify an enduring peace and to ensure
the elimination of poverty.

And I think that is it really in this context that NEPAD is located.

Many of you and I would like to go back, would recall the early beginnings
of the NEPAD project. It was in Durban in March 2001 at the third African
Renaissance Festival that President Mbeki addressed the South African public in
this regard and in great detail on his thinking around the social and economic
initiative for the African continent as a whole. This seminal speech also
sought to analyse the world economy and to outline what Africans needed to do
to ensure an equal place in the sun.

I would like to remind us here of this initial vision, which was contained
within the Millennium African Recovery Plan (MAP) and I wonder if any of you
remember, and later became infused into the New African Initiative which
developed as a merger between the OMEGA plan and MAP.

Speaking in Durban five years ago, President Mbeki pointed to the dangers of
the continued marginalisation of the African continent within the global
economy and the resultant difficulties that included "the generation of
significant resources from the Continent itself to reverse this
[marginalisation] process."

The President also emphasised at that time: “To bring this human tragedy to
its end, it is necessary that the peoples of Africa gain the conviction that
they are not, and must not be wards of benevolent guardians, but instruments of
their own enlistment.

Critical to this he said is the knowledge by these peoples that they have a
unique and valuable contribution to make to the advancement of human
civilisation, that despite everything we have said, Africa has a strategic
place in the global community.

Of relevance to this meeting, which is focused on our country, is that
President Mbeki stressed the importance of Africa needing to reorganise herself
and that the focus should also be on country specific programmes. All things
have been mentioned in the outcomes report.

In as far as governance is concerned, he was confident that
"There exists a system of governance, with the necessary capacity, to ensure
that the state is able to discharge its responsibilities with regard to such
matters as development, democracy and popular participation, human rights and
respect for the rule law and appropriate responses to the process of
globalisation."

As we have said, which all of us know he went on to say Africa is rich in
agricultural, mineral and aquatic raw materials that have been exploited for
centuries for the benefit of others. These must be used to develop Africa's
economies and peoples."

The President also spoke about the importance of attracting "domestic and
foreign investment in the extractive sector of the economy" and for the
processing of raw materials as well as facilitating access of the value added
products into the markets of the developed countries. He also expressed the
need "to make all products from this value chain internationally competitive,
whether as consumer products or as intermediate capital goods" with the
emphasis being on Africa's resource base being utilised both to develop Africa
and to meet the needs of the global economy."

I have quoted from his speech at great length here because I think we also
need to ask ourselves as South Africans whether we have been true to this
vision and whether indeed we are focusing our attention in a very practical
manner to use both our human and natural resources to develop our country and
our continent and especially to expedite economic development.

Certainly a lot of what the President said needed to be government led as
indeed our reconstruction processes and initiatives such as Accelerated and
Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) are focusing on, but the
necessary partnership with the private sector and civil society can only
enhance these processes.

Thus the question of how far we have come and what needs to be done which is
part of this strategising could do with a reminder of the initial thoughts that
had helped to forge the Millennium Africa Plan that then combined with OMEGA to
become NEPAD as we know it today and how it came to be driven by African
leaders.

African leaders together came to an agreement that the future of Africa
would be shaped by widespread commitment to a strategy of NEPAD. A key element
of that strategy was building the capacity of the African economy, through
regional trade, in order to engage more successfully with the global
economy.

I believe that Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu in his presentation emphasised the
core business of NEPAD. It is useful as a further reminder to recall some of
the core principles underpinning NEPAD which are:

* Good governance as a basic requirement for peace, security and sustainable
political and socio-economic development;
* African ownership and leadership, as well as broad and deep participation by
all sectors of society;
* Anchoring the development of Africa on its resources and resourcefulness of
its people;
* Partnership between and amongst African peoples;
* Acceleration of regional and continental integration;
* Building the competitiveness of African countries and the continent;
* Forging a new international partnership that changes the unequal relationship
between Africa and the developed world; and
* Ensuring that all Partnerships with NEPAD are linked to the Millenium
Development Goals and other agreed development goals and targets.

These do not only offer a significant opportunity to scale up the response
to Africa's development challenges, but more importantly also imply a new way
of doing business. As was succinctly put by the Minister of Housing, Dr Lindiwe
Sisulu, we need to acknowledge, recognise and accept that, while development
partners have an equally important role to play, we are primarily responsible
for the actions and policy measures that are required to realise the objectives
of the NEPAD programme. It's all about us.

This message further amplifies sentiments expressed by our Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, at the South Africa-Africa
Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference in Kingston, Jamaica on 16 March 2005 where
she said,

"For the African Renaissance to become a reality, we must do what needs to
be done ourselves. Nobody will do it for us. Accordingly, we are determined to
send a message of hope to the African continent that through unity in action,
our historic mission must and will succeed."

Chairperson and distinguished delegates:

Your presentations and deliberations have given us insight into the real
challenges at stake. In particular, you critically reflected on issues such
as:
* The challenge to African countries of tapping existing potential,
* The need to open up space for greater ownership of policies and
programmes;
* The need for a greater focuses on how effective aid programmes are in as far
as they support and impact on development outcomes;
* And the need for a concerted and systematic build-up of national capacities
to ensure the attainment of such outcomes.

It was for these reasons that the first workshop in Port Elizabeth was held
for government entities and to begin the process of crafting a National
Implementation Strategy for South Africa (NISSA). The need to extend the work
on the Strategy beyond government alone has led to further consultation as
evidenced by this workshop.

We believe that the process has to be a consultative one and the
participation of the various sectors is vital to ensure a common sense of
ownership of the processes involved in the implementation of NEPAD nationally,
regionally and of course continentally.

Furthermore, it is imperative that NEPAD should maintain its focus on
helping to reach the goals of poverty eradication, sustainable development and
economic growth. For NEPAD to be sustainable in the long term, it has to make
an impact on the quality of lives of all Africans in the continent. Without
meaningful participation by and engagement with all stakeholders in society,
the momentum engendered by NEPAD cannot be sustained or take root amongst our
people.

The purpose, as has been indicated, is to take forward the process. In this
regard, the workshop has sought to finalise the elements of a National
Implementation Strategy for South Africa (NISSA) relating to engagement with
the NEPAD process at the national, regional, continental and international
integration.

Without a framework document guiding the work of all stakeholders, including
the provincial and local levels of government, as well as business and civil
society, we will continue to act without proper coordination and
integration.

Clearly as the reports and presentations at this workshop suggest, things
are happening, but we need to consolidate this work to avoid a fragmented
approach and a wasteful dispersement of scarce resources. Furthermore, it is
vital that the good work that is being done becomes known to the South African
people, so that they become full participants in these developmental
processes.

The task you were faced with at the beginning of this workshop were no doubt
difficult, bearing in mind the divergent roles and responsibilities of the
various sectors, as well as the varying levels of knowledge and
involvement.

However, I am informed that the presentations and breakaway sessions sparked
lively debate and discussion and were instrumental in achieving the objectives
of the workshop.

I am further gratified to note that you have made good progress in terms of
further developing this Strategy and validating the directions that were
outlined in the original conception of the strategy.

Let us remember that skewed accumulation of wealth, power, resources and the
unequal distribution of the benefits of globalisation have entrenched gross
inequalities.

For instance, we know that 70% of the world's poor are women and therefore
the fight against poverty must take into account the feminisation of this
poverty. Surely, there cannot be sustained development without the emancipation
and participation of women and the empowerment of the girl child in particular.
I hope that our new national strategy is going to take these inequalities into
account.

I am pleased, that in seeking to address our human resource capacity and
skills, higher education institutions have proposed a forum for support of
NEPAD projects.

I believe that infrastructure development has also been highlighted as
essential in being able to meet our developmental objectives. I am also
encouraged by the efforts to work towards an African trade and development
strategy and to a greater focus on exchange programmes.

The further exploration of partnerships between government, civil society
and the public sector so that they result in tangible working public-private
partnerships must be commended. This workshop should not be seen as an event in
isolation, but rather as part of an ongoing process. In this, it is encouraging
to witness the commitment of civil society and the private sector to the
process. Following on from this workshop, we will need to ensure sector
specific engagements on the strategy for example, with labour, as we prepare a
final draft that goes to Cabinet.

These engagements will also build on the work done in preparing a National
Self-Assessment Report and Programme of Action through the African Peer Review
Mechanism process of review that many of you have and are participating in.
Once Cabinet has approved this Strategy, we will need to work swiftly to
implement the final Plan.

The Plan will provide the specific measures and interventions that will be
needed to ensure implementation of the Strategy. An important aspect of this
will be the specific projects and programmes that we choose to highlight as the
NEPAD flagship projects for our Strategy.

Your work has provided a solid base for defining the specific roles we have
achieved, that we expect each stakeholder to play, such as national,
provincial, and local government, civil society, business and labour.

As Africans, we are faced with the urgent challenge of ending poverty and
underdevelopment on our continent. This is a massive task that will take many,
many years to achieve. Let us continue to find the answers to our questions and
the demands and responsibilities that these place on us in our developmental
efforts.

Your discussion will indeed make an important contribution in formulating
answers in reaching a NEPAD national implementation strategy for South Africa
and to realise our national, regional and continental goals of prosperity for
Africa's people.

I would like to thank you very much.

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
21 April 2006
Source: SAPA