Your Majesty, His Majesty Mswati III
Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Namibia
Your Excellency, Lieutenant-General, President Ian Khama
Your Excellency, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Heads of continental and international organisations
Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Distinguished guests
I am honoured to join in celebrations marking the centenary of the Southern African Customs Union.
It is a meeting of friends and neighbours, and peoples who have so much in common, let alone blood ties in many instances.
We congratulate the government and the people of Namibia for hosting this historic event, and thank them for contributing this fine site for the new SACU Headquarters.
The road travelled by SACU since its formation in 1910 has been long marked by notable milestones.
We have progressed from a customs union designed by colonialism in the interests of the colonial powers, through an unbalanced system under apartheid, to a system where we can interact as free countries.
Yet, we are still to agree on a developmental architecture that will address the interests of our peoples.
We wanted a consultative decision-making process so that no longer will decisions be made by one member alone.
So we agreed on Article 15 �" that we shall consult with each other.
Because we remain an economic community with ambitions to engage the world, we agreed to negotiate as a unit and as a family.
We called, very importantly, for a Common Negotiating Mechanism in Article 31(2).
We acknowledged that a trade arrangement between vastly different economies would need a form of revenue sharing that would compensate for any price-raising or trade-diversion effects that might disadvantage some countries.
We recognised that in order to deepen our integration and promote development, it would be fundamental to pursue, amongst others, common approaches in industrial, competition and agricultural policies.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,
On this basis, we concluded the negotiations in 2002.
A new 2002 SACU Agreement was born.
It entered into force in July 2004.
We are now six years into the process of implementation.
Today, as we mark one hundred years of SACU, we must look at how to strengthen the arrangement, how to eliminate all vestiges of colonial systems of domination and dependency, and how to operate within a changing geopolitical environment.
Your Majesty, Your Excellencies,
As we celebrate this milestone, we are mindful of the challenges we face.
The dynamic of global growth has shifted to the developing countries.
Countries and regions of the world cannot ignore this shift.
It will shape the future international systems of finance, trade, production, and reconfigure the terms of global engagement.
The combined trade contribution of developing countries is 37% and is rising rapidly to 50%.
We must therefore engage with this international reality to enhance our collective development objectives.
Distinguished guests,
The key strategic question that developing countries, in particular, have to ask is: how should we best position our political and external trade strategies?
We feel strongly that SACU’s external strategy could include serious exploration of South-South cooperation, since this has excellent prospects for advancing our economic development.
Another factor to consider, as we celebrate today, is that there is a drive towards deeper integration in the Southern African Development Community.
This is a matter we must engage with seriously in regard to how it affects SACU and how SACU should respond.
A new approach to regional integration should focus on building SACU and SADC, principally, on the basis of common understanding and objectives with respect to a development-oriented regional integration.
The most powerful prerequisite for success is the commitment to action rooted in a common vision.
Such actions include the pursuit of an agenda that addresses our complimentary and differentiated needs, and that we position ourselves in the changing global economy, taking into account the imperative of South-South cooperation.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,
Now that we have such a fine site for our headquarters, we must look at the unfinished business of establishing, streamlining and strengthening SACU institutions, including the SACU Tariff Board, SACU Tribunal, Common Negotiating Mechanism, and the Secretariat.
We need to ensure that there is a viable way for SACU institutions to operate effectively.
This will help in better managing the alignment and coordination of SACU objectives as well as enriching the policy-making processes.
It is important that greater attention is paid to these in order to lend impetus to the integration agenda.
Another important part of the economic development agenda in SACU is the harmonisation of various institutional arrangements.
These include competition, agriculture, standard authorities; and dealing with behind-the-border barriers, ensuring closer customs cooperation, as well as with respect to sharing of capacity for effective formulation and implementation of policies.
Your Excellencies,
We must also remain true to our commitments particularly upholding Article 31, where we agreed to negotiate as a single bloc as a cardinal principle of our existence.
This will be absolutely important if the policy and legal coherence of SACU are to be sustained.
Most urgently, if we cannot pursue the unfinished business of the EPA negotiations as a united group, the future of SACU is undoubtedly in question.
Your Majesty, Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Southern African Customs Union was created as a tool of colonialism.
In 2002 we began the process of transforming SACU into an instrument for the development of the free and sovereign nations who are its voluntary members.
The year 2002 was the beginning of the transformation of SACU and we have not yet reached the end.
The policies, tasks and programmes I have talked about today would help us move forward in this mission.
We look forward to pursuing the excellent cooperation between SACU Member States that will result in meaningful developmental integration for its people.
Our mission is a prosperous and peaceful Southern Africa.
Let SACU be one of its key building blocks.
The Republic of South Africa wishes SACU every success in the accomplishment of the challenging tasks ahead.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
22 April 2010
