It is an honour and a privilege
for me to once again address this body. South Africa
attaches the utmost importance to the General Assembly
as the most representative and democratic organ of the
United Nations serving the international community.
We congratulate President Ashe and the Republic of
Antigua and Barbuda on his election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. We also
thank Mr. Vuk Jeremi. for the splendid way in which he
presided over the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session.
Let me begin by reiterating our condemnation of
the horrific terrorist attack over the weekend in Kenya,
in which a number of civilians, including a South
African national, were killed. We express our deepest
condolences to the Government and people of Kenya
and to all those families who lost loved ones, and wish
the wounded survivors a speedy recovery. We continue
to support the efforts of Kenya and the international
community aimed at peacekeeping, stability, democracy
and nation-building in Somalia.
The theme for our debate this year, “The post-
2015 development agenda: setting the stage”, is most
appropriate. In the year 2000, the commitment was
made by world leaders in the Millennium Declaration
to eradicate extreme poverty and adopt the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are measurable
and achievable targets that were specifically crafted to
address the most pressing development needs of the
most vulnerable countries. The full implementation of
the MDGs remains the key priority on the development
agenda for the next two years.
A development agenda for beyond 2015 should
allow individual regions and States the space to
address the development needs peculiar to their
circumstances and priorities. For Africa in particular,
the future development agenda should address poverty
eradication, income inequality and job creation. We
furthermore believe that the new development agenda
can be effective only if it is focused on all three
dimensions of sustainable development, namely, the
eradication of poverty through economic development,
social development and environmental sustainability.
We also wish to emphasize that any development
agenda beyond 2015 must be based on the principle
of common but differentiated responsibilities in
order to equalize the international playing field. We
raise this point out of our concern that the global
economic meltdown seems to have brought about new
developments that are detrimental to the developing
world, especially Africa. Some of the new developments
include the tendency to renegotiate the rules of the
game. New issues are being introduced as prerequisites
for development and partnerships and have, in fact,
become huge non-tariff barriers. They include the green
economy and clean technology. While those issues are
important for Africa and developing countries and need
to be attended to, the manner in which they have been
crafted restrains economic development, as they are
used as obstacles.
We also wish to emphasize our expectations that the
developed North and developing South will continue
to engage in a genuine partnership. In that regard,
the developed North countries should stand ready to
meet their commitment to contribute 0.7 per cent of
their gross national income to official development
assistance.
We are aware of the challenges in the North caused
by the economic meltdown, but we are of the view that
investing in development in the South, especially in
Africa, is of primary importance as a source of much-
needed sustainable development and stability in the
world. Attempts to delegate some of those historical
responsibilities to new emerging economies in the South
are unacceptable and unworkable, as such emerging
nations have their own historical challenges and
backlogs to deal with. Furthermore, any commitment
we make to the future beyond 2015 must build on
existing agreements, which include Agenda 21, the
MDGs, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and
the outcome document of the Rio de Janeiro Conference
on Sustainable Development. In the case of Africa,
they must build on the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development.
Development and security are two sides of the
same coin. The best way to ensure both is through good
governance and the promotion of democratic values in
all societies. Allow me, therefore, to register once again
our serious concern that the Security Council, almost
70 years since its establishment, remains undemocratic,
unrepresentative and unfair to developing nations and
small States, and disenfranchises the majority of the
States Members of the United Nations, which form the
majority in the General Assembly. We cannot remain
beholden indefinitely to the will of an unrepresentative
minority on the most important issues of international
peace and security.
There has been too much talk about the need for
reform, with too little action. We would like to challenge
the Assembly today by saying “Let us set ourselves the
target to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the
United Nations in 2015 with a reformed, more inclusive,
democratic and representative Security Council!”.
When discussing the Security Council, the matter
of the Syrian Arab Republic comes into focus. We have
expressed our dismay at the use of chemical weapons
in Syria. There is no cause that could justify the use
of weapons of mass destruction by anyone under any
circumstances. It is, however, our strongly held view
that any political transition in Syria must come about as
a result of the will of the Syrian people and not through
the force of arms.
We welcome the recent positive developments,
such as the decision by Syria to accede to the Chemical
Weapons Convention and the ongoing bilateral
consultations between the Russian Federation and
the United States. We support all of the diplomatic
efforts aimed at finding a solution to this matter. The
international community has an opportunity to use the
Syrian experience to ensure that matters of this nature
are handled correctly going forward, using existing
instruments within the multilateral system of global
governance.
Next year South Africa will celebrate its twentieth
anniversary of freedom and democracy. We will forever
be grateful to those in the international community,
including the United Nations, who stood beside us in
our long struggle for liberation. We look forward to
celebrating our anniversary of freedom with the United
Nations and to strengthening our partnership. A strong
partnership with the United Nations is critical for the
future we want for the people of South Africa.
We also take this opportunity to thank the United
Nations and the international community for their
support during the recent hospitalization of our beloved
founding President of the free and democratic South
Africa, His Excellency Mr. Nelson Mandela. We thank
them for all for their support and good wishes. The
United Nations declared 18 July, his birthday, as Nelson
Mandela International Day. That has become a catalyst
promoting service to humankind worldwide. We
thank the United Nations for that gesture. Our revered
former President continues to respond to treatment
at his home. His family and our people have warmly
welcomed the support he continues to receive from the
global community. We are humbled and very grateful
for that support.
As we celebrate our freedom and democracy, we
remain mindful that our struggle is not complete until
the people of Palestine and Western Sahara enjoy
their rights to self-determination. Just as the United
Nations stood by South Africa, we would like to see the
Organization be at the forefront of efforts towards self-
determination for the peoples of Palestine and Western
Sahara.
We are deeply concerned about continued illegal
settlement activities in the West Bank in violation of
international law. Such illegal settlement activities
jeopardize the realization of the two-State solution.
The Cuban people also hold a special place in our
hearts because of that country’s sacrifice for African
peoples in their quest for freedom. We will therefore
continue to struggle with them for their economic
liberation.
At its sixty-eighth session the General Assembly
will undertake critical work for the future of our people.
Let us tackle the work ahead in such a manner that when
future generations look back on this moment, they will
be able to say that the leaders of this generation laid the
foundation for the eradication of poverty, for building a
global society of equality, and for world peace.
Let me borrow from the words of our former
President Nelson Mandela on his inauguration day in
1994 when he said:
“We understand it still that there is no easy
road to freedom. We know it well that none of
us acting alone can achieve success. We must
therefore act together as a united people, for
national reconciliation, for nation-building, for the
birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all.
Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread,
water and salt for all. Let each know that for each
the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to
fulfil themselves.”