Address by South African President Jacob Zuma to the Pan-African Parliament

[XXPANTHAXX]

Address by the President of the Republic of South Africa, His
Excellency, Mr Jacob Zuma, to the Pan African Parliament; Gallagher
Estate, Midrand 26 October 2009

Your Excellency, President of the Pan-African Parliament, Dr Idriss
Ndele Moussa;
Your Excellency, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Jean
Ping,
Honourable Ministers, Deputy Ministers,
Members of the diplomatic corps,
Honoured Members of the Pan African Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen;

I feel greatly honoured and privileged to address the First Ordinary
Session of the Second Legislature of the Pan-African Parliament.

On behalf of the Government and people of South Africa, I would like to
extend a warm welcome to all participants in this inaugural session.

I would also like to congratulate the new Bureau on its election to
office; in particular the new President of Pan-African Parliament.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the formation of the Pan-African
Parliament in March 2004.

It is a date that will be recorded in history as a pivotal moment in our
efforts to ensure that the peoples of Africa determine their collective
future.

The establishment of the Pan-African Parliament was informed by a vision
to provide a common platform for African peoples to be more involved in
decisions on the challenges facing the continent.

These decisions affect people directly.

We therefore need to find ways and means for people to be part of the
processes that have an impact on their lives.

The Pan-African Parliamentarians are the elected representatives of the
peoples of Africa.

We remain committed to the aim of the Pan-African Parliament to evolve
into an institution with full legislative powers, whose members are
elected by universal adult suffrage.

As a forum representing the parliaments and peoples of Africa, the
Pan-African Parliament has a major role to play in deepening democratic
ideals and ensuring respect for the rule of law, and equality throughout
the continent.

We need to pose the question: What does it means to deepen democratic
ideals, and how do we ensure respect for the rule of law?

Importantly, do we all have a common understanding of what these
concepts mean?

This Parliament needs to help elucidate these concepts, so that this
common understanding becomes entrenched on our continent and in
individual countries.

Excellencies and Honourable Members;

It is fundamentally important that we encourage other member states to
ratify the Protocol establishing the Pan-African Parliament.

The Pan-African Parliament is the only continental institution that has
such broad representation of the public representatives of Africa.

It is this institution that constitutes a single collective voice of the
ordinary people of our continent.

They are, in the main, voiceless in many existing forums, be they
political, economic, cultural, religious or traditional.

It is therefore an appropriate institution to exercise oversight to
ensure that governments pursue African Union programmes at the
continental level and national programmes within individual countries.

It must speak on behalf of the peoples of Africa, and diligently pursue
their common interests.

As the host country, South Africa is determined to provide the best
possible conditions for this assembly to successfully discharge its
mandate.

Excellencies, and Honourable Members;
Five years ago, members of the Pan-African Parliament adopted the slogan
“One Africa, One Voice”.

The pertinent question is how do we realise this ‘one voice’ without a
serious debate on the matters of life and death that face our continent?

We have not been able to discuss properly many of these problems,
particularly the outstanding issue of conflict and war.

This slogan means we need to give concrete expression to our commitment
to the continuation of the Pan-Africanist agenda pursued by the founding
leaders of post-colonial Africa.

This is to be realised through the harmonisation and coordination of the
policies and laws made at national and regional levels, and by promoting
a sense of unity and common destiny among the people of Africa.

At the 12th Summit of the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament was
mandated to develop a mechanism to ensure sound and effective contact,
as well as the full participation of the peoples of Africa within the
integration processes of Africa.

This mandate truly speaks to the confidence that we all continue to have
in the Pan-African Parliament as one of the lead agents in the
democratic project in Africa.

Once again, the question we must answer is what is our common
understanding of the democratic project in Africa?

During the week of the 5th to 9th of October 2009 the Pan-African
Parliament hosted important consultative meetings focusing on gender
issues and the promotion of the work of the Pan-African Parliament
through different African Parliaments.

I would like to congratulate the Pan-African Parliament for the
initiative as well as successful deliberations held.

We look forward to implementation of the outcomes of the Conferences.

I firmly believe that the outcomes thereof will guide the Honourable
Members in fruitful and vibrant deliberations during this Session.

Excellencies and Honourable Members;
This Parliament has many weighty matters to consider during its term.

Critically, it has to ensure that its deliberations strengthen the
continent-wide effort to promote development, economic growth, peace,
stability and democracy.

On four of these issues – peace, stability, human rights and democracy –
the Pan-African Parliament can no longer delay a detailed discussion
leading up to specific resolutions and recommendations to the AU.

If these issues are not discussed, there would be very little point for
the existence of this Parliament

When it rises, this assembly needs to be able to point to progress in
advancing these goals.

It needs to demonstrate that it is not merely a forum for debate, but an
institution that forms an essential part of the renewal of our
continent.

While we have achieved much since our people threw off the colonial
yoke, we face many challenges.

Though we have achieved much in just the last few years, we cannot
become complacent.

Africa’s people remain among the poorest in the world.

This is despite our continent being richly endowed with natural
resources.

Our people remain exposed to disease and malnutrition, with high rates
of child mortality and declining life expectancy, despite significant
medical advances and improved health care provision.

Parts of our continent are still plagued by war and conflict, political
instability and the removal of governments by unconstitutional means.

In such circumstances, development is stifled and economic activity
severely curtailed.

It is the ordinary people who suffer – the very people that we in this
assembly represent.

This is an indictment of all of us, individually and collectively.

We therefore have a profound responsibility to do everything we can to
answer these challenges, and to build a better life for our peoples.

We proceed from an understanding that it is not sufficient for each
national parliament to diligently undertake its work.

While it is possible for any one country to improve its situation, it is
by working together that we can achieve that which our people need.

For this reason, among others, we are encouraged that the Pan-African
Parliament will soon be able to transform itself from an advisory into
a legislative body.

We look forward to the day when the peoples of Africa can send their
representatives to the seat of this Parliament to fashion laws that will
bring about a tangible improvement in all their lives.

Honourable Members,
Those who are gathered in this assembly are the most potent embodiment
of democracy in Africa.

Among your responsibilities is to further instil democratic values and
deepen democratic practices across the continent.

Already, the Pan-African Parliament has played an important role in
contributing towards fair, free and transparent elections in a number of
countries.

It needs to broaden this element of its work, which must include
adopting standards for the holding of elections, so that the right of
people to choose their own governments democratically is not undermined.

Important as elections are to the democratic process, they are but one
element of a range of political, social and economic activities that
must enable people to determine their own future.

We need to encourage people to organise, mobilise and work for their own
advancement.

We need to support the development of grassroots structures and sectoral
organisations.

It is our responsibility to build people’s power, not only within these
walls, but in every place on this continent where people live and work.

Honourable Members,
This Parliament is also an embodiment of African unity.

Its mere existence is a confirmation that the vision of African unity
that motivated so many of our continent’s greatest leaders remains
undiminished.

The question of unity is what the founders of the OAU worked to achieve
over many decades.

It is the matter this Parliament cannot avoid discussing at all times to
support the efforts of the AU.

In this way, through this Parliament, the people of this continent will
find a way to participate in the ongoing discussion on the African union
government.

History has bestowed on us the responsibility to make a reality of that
vision of unity.

In all our engagements, we should seek to preserve unity among our
nations and advance a unified programme for development.

This Parliament is an important part of the political integration of our
continent.

It will become increasingly important as we proceed towards the
formation of a union government for Africa.

As we pursue this important objective, we must pay greater attention to
the economic integration of our continent.

It is in this area where Africa’s greatest untapped economic potential
is to be found.

Our economic development is hampered by the barriers we ourselves have
constructed along the lines of the colonial maps.

As a consequence, we find ourselves divided into more than 50 different
markets, with a multiplicity of trade and investment regulations,
manufacturing standards, currencies, and jurisdictions.

Our electricity, transport and telecommunications infrastructure is
fragmented, and often not compatible.

We do not collaborate in scientific development and technological
innovation.

Most of our countries have a greater volume of trade with countries
across the ocean than with those with whom we share the same soil.

It is a standing joke that there are some places in Africa where one has
to fly to a European capital in order to catch a flight to a
neighbouring country.

These are the very practical constraints to the progress of our
continent, and the liberation of our peoples from the tyranny of
underdevelopment.

Excellencies and Honourable Members,
South Africa is privileged to host the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup from
June next year, which will be the first time that the tournament is held
on African soil.

We hope that this historic event can be used as a driving force for
African unity.

We hope that all of Africa will embrace this occasion as an opportunity
to showcase our continent in all its diversity, richness and vibrancy.

To the Honourable Members of this Pan-African Parliament, the
representatives of the people of this great continent, we thank you for
the opportunity to address you and wish you well in all your
deliberations.

I thank you.