Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, at a Seminar to mark national Human Rights
Day, hosted by the South African Ambassador in The Hague, Netherlands
21 March 2006
BUILDING THE AGE OF HOPE: HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA'S SECOND DECADE OF
FREEDOM
I would like to begin by commending and thanking our gracious host,
Ambassador Mkhize, for having taken the initiative to convene this seminar.
There are few South Africans more directly familiar with the subject of human
rights than our Ambassador, who amongst her many achievements has served as a
Commissioner of our Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), trustee and
founding member of the National Anti-Violence Trust, and Chairperson of the
Peace Commission of South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID). I would also like
to thank you all for joining us here today in The Hague as we join South
Africans around the world in celebration of South Africa's National Human
Rights Day.
Links of History, Commerce and Human Rights
The southern tip of Africa has always been a meeting point. From the
earliest hunter-gatherers, to the arrival of European explorers, our home has
always been a crossroads. It has been the meeting place of East and West, of
Europe and Africa. It has brought together cultures and histories from across
the world and forged a powerful mix of pride, tradition, innovation and
expression.
There can be no question about the special links that bind the people of
South Africa and the people of the Netherlands. When one of our more than 120
000 annual visitors from the Netherlands stands atop Table Mountain, or at the
meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, they reach back not only to
the time of Jan van Riebeeck and the Dutch East India Company but to the very
cradle of humankind and all the millennia in between.
Ours are links of history, some painful, some positive - of culture, of
language, of commerce, and of a common commitment to progressive governance,
human rights and the upliftment of all people. From the time of Queen
Wilhelmina, who at age 18 expressed her solidarity with the struggles of the
Afrikaner people against British colonial domination, to the support of the
Royal Family and so many ordinary Dutch citizens, for the movement to bring
true democracy to South Africa.
This deep partnership was underscored last October when the Netherlands and
South Africa signed a new Declaration of Intent, under which the Dutch
Government will be channelling more than 30 million Euro (about R225 million)
in annual development aid to South Africa, to assist in the deepening and
widening of social and economic rights.
Human Rights Embedded in the New South Africa
Ours is a country of exceptional diversity, with as wide a melting-pot of
cultures, languages and beliefs as any in the world - 11 official languages,
nine provinces and every major religion. Influences from as far afield as
India, Malaysia, Europe, Central and North Africa and the Americas. Little
wonder then that so many South Africans have lived with the perception of
separate histories in one country â when in fact we have but one history,
shared by all South Africans. Much as we share the responsibility to build a
successful common future, so too do we carry the duty to build a common
understanding of our past.
"We must construct a people-centred society of freedom in such a manner that
it guarantees the political liberties and the human rights of all our
citizens." It was with these words that President Nelson Mandela opened the
first sitting of the democratic Parliament of South Africa, on 25 May 1994. It
was the embodiment of four decades of struggle for basic human rights and at
the same time laid the foundation for the character of our modern
democracy.
In 1994 there were many around the world who said of South Africa that ours
would be only short-lived success â that the 'Madiba Magic' would fade and
disappear. Not only did it not fade, it has grown to serve as the bedrock upon
which we have built a culture of human rights of which to be proud. Mr Mandela
is the father of our nation, yet there were those who predicted that his
long-term contribution would be limited as he is but one man. The reality is
that the values of his life have been embraced and adopted by our nation.
Already there are children, born in the era of South Africa freedom, who have
grown, secure in the knowledge of their own rights. They know what it is to
have freedom of choice, of speech, of assembly and of belief. They know, in
ever-growing numbers, what it is to be free from fear, from hunger, from
disease and from privation â but it has not always been so.
Let us, for a moment, go back 46 years, to a day in which newspaper headlines
shouted of South African police opening fire on 20 000 peaceful protestors; of
69 dead and more than 180 injured; of a national state of emergency and a
country in disarray. Sharpeville was a turning point in the fight against
apartheid and was to become a symbol of courage, conviction and absolute
resolve.
Our nation stands today as a living and growing tribute to the virtues of
inalienable human rights. A society in which political equality, for all
people, has been hard-fought and hard-won.
16 Years of Progress in Human Rights
Our commitment is to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014. Much progress has
already been made and we have already moved beyond traditional human rights
into the realm of positive rights. More than 12 million poor South Africans now
have access to a free basic supply of 6000 litres of water a month. More than
5.5 million of the most vulnerable South Africans â the very young, the very
old, and the physically challenged, now benefit from social assistance in the
form of grants and pensions. More than 1,4 million houses have been built to
shelter families who would otherwise have nowhere else to live. Schools,
universities and training institutions have become more affordable and more
accessible. Basic conditions of employment have been set and enforced â
ensuring better working conditions and more equitable wages.
Building the Age of Hope
South Africa is experiencing the single longest period of sustained economic
growth since the end of the Second World War. South Africans are now the eighth
most optimistic people in the world and more than 84% of our citizens believe
that there is a happy future for all races in our country. It is this greatness
of spirit, this exceptional capacity for tolerance and unity that has set in
stone our South African commitment to human rights.
Proclaiming the dawning of a South African Age of Hope, President Mbeki, in
his State of the Nation Address in February, laid out the challenges that
remain to be addressed for us to ensure that the Age of Hope leaves a legacy of
poverty alleviation, job creation and social upliftment. Foremost amongst these
specific and targeted interventions will be the Accelerated and Shared Growth
Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA). Driven and championed by our Deputy
President it will see public sector investment rise from 6% to 8% of GDP,
annual economic growth rising from the current 4,9% to 6% and sector-specific
interventions strategies starting over the next six months in tourism and in
business process outsourcing.
Perhaps the single greatest achievement of our new democracy however has been
the growing national consensus that has been forged across the political
spectrum â of pride in our shared South African identity and determination to
provide a permanent answer to our national question, through the creation of a
truly non-racial society.
Conclusion
The contrasts between the South Africa of March 1960 and the South Africa of
March 2006 could not be more pronounced. In place of global headlines about
repression and violence, South Africans today are making news as world leaders
â from the Oscars to the cricket ovals, from boardrooms to cyberspace and even
outer space.
We acknowledge with great thanks the historical and ongoing contribution
made by our partners, like the Dutch, to this success. We renew our commitment
to our shared values and common respect for human rights. Above all, on this
National Human Rights Day, we vow to affirm the sacrifices made by those who
came before us, by ensuring that South Africa builds its Age of Hope in our
second decade of Freedom.
Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
21 March 2006
