Address to the Annual General Meeting of The South Africa Society in Sweden by the South African Ambassador to Sweden, Ms Gladys Sonto Kudjoe on 15th March, 2003

Chairperson! Honourable members of the South Africa-Swedish Association, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is an honour for me to be invited to address the Annual General Meeting of the South Africa Swedish Association. I had the opportunity to meet the chairperson of the association a few weeks ago, at the Embassy. That meeting helped to enlighten me about the activities of this organization and the purpose of its existence. I also learned about the important relations that it has kept with the Embassy, especially in terms of cultural activities and assistance with information in a variety of fields.

As diplomats, in a foreign country we need to support organizations that are rooted on the ground. It is exactly through invaluable assistance from such organizations that we could defeat apartheid in South Africa and replace it with democracy. All of you will remember the united front against apartheid which was known as the Anti-Apartheid Movement. That organization helped to expose apartheid as the most evil crime against humanity since Nazism. I have reasons to believe that some of you were very active in that struggle in different ways. Therefore we all have cause to rejoice together for our victory.

 I have been made to understand that it has become custom or tradition that a South African Ambassador or Head of Mission is invited to your AGMs to give a briefing about progress on the latest developments in the country in a number of fields. I view such information sharing sessions as of utmost importance, given the interest you have on South Africa. I also view it as important given the standard of reporting by the global media on issues relating to South Africa.

I do not intend to bore you by giving incessant detail on every development in the past twelve months. Neither do I intend to appear as some Ms Know-all who is out to educate the ignorant. My approach will be more of an interactive nature, so that we can all emerge out of this meeting having gained a broader knowledge about South Africa, Sweden and also ourselves and interests. I will begin by citing some salient points with regard to progress and challenges that our country faces. I would like to be as brief as possible in order to afford more question time and possible discussion.

DOMESTIC PROGRESS:

1. POLITICAL:

Our democracy has continued to deepen and to advance towards maturity. This has been evidenced by our elections in 1999, which were free and fair. This has also been demonstrated by the paradigm shift in political

alignment. There is an increasing development away from politics that are primarily informed by race, tribalism or ethnicity to politics that are more informed by values, ideologies, goals and strategic repositioning. Above all of this our constitution stands out to provide judiciary service through the courts, whenever disputes and disagreements arise between or among political parties. The healthy state of our democracy ensures us with a vibrant opposition which keeps the government constantly on its toes.

The pleasure of democracy is that South Africans are free to speak out on any issues of their choice without any fear of reprisals. Our free press continues to play an important role in drawing the focus of the government to areas that need urgent attention.

2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES

From its inception in 1994 the new South African democratically elected government committed itself to the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and also the Growth, Employment And Redistribution of wealth(GEAR). These programmes were aimed at achieving social economic transformation and macro-economic stability. The structural changes entailed in these processes were also to take place within the context of our economy integrating itself within the global economy.

Due to disciplined fiscal and monetary policies, the country has managed to stay on the course of growth, with the Gross Domestic Product for 2002 estimated at 3,1. Gross fixed capital formation grew by almost 8% during this year. We have now had 10 consecutive years of positive growth.

Manufacturing grew by 5, 4% in 2002, the fastest growth rate since 1995. Our currency has wrested back all the losses it suffered in 2001. During 2002 it recorded its first annual gain against the US Dollar in 15 years. Investment grew by 6,3% in 2002 and the primary sector expanded by 3,7%, driven by solid growth in platinum group metals and the agricultural sector. As a result of investment in the manufacturing sector and growth in construction spending, the secondary sector expanded steadfastly in the first three quarters of 2002, helping to create employment opportunities.

Through tax reform, we have since 1999 cumulatively increased income of citizens by a total of R38, 1 billion. At the same time the introduction of minimum wages for domestic and farm workers should help improve the income of the most vulnerable workers.

As I have promised, I am not going to bore you with all the facts and figures. These can be made available to anyone who wants details. It is only important to say that South Africa is fast achieving success in its programmes. The balance of payments is healthy. A sharp rise in inflation which was caused by the depreciation of the rand is dampening due to monetary interventions by the Reserve Bank and the recovery of the rand.

All in all our economy continues to demonstrate resilience and dynamism that is the envy of many across the world. The strong growth performance of the South African economy and sound economic policies that are constantly applied have made possible a Budget that further shifts resources towards the needs of the poor and at the same time supports growth. This enables us to continue "pushing back the frontiers of poverty", as President Mbeki puts it, and expand access to a better life for all.

It therefore advances our policy of directly assisting the most vulnerable while increasing the number of people who participate in the economy.

Government spending on social services has increased by 35% in real terms over the past decade and now accounts for 58,3% of non-interest rate expenditure, up 52% a decade ago. It will have real growth of 6, 8% from April this year and 4,5% a year over the next three years.

Increased social grants and expanded unemployment insurance to workers such as domestic, seasonal and agricultural workers will help the most vulnerable.

To advance the government’s targeted poverty-reduction programme, the Budget provides R4, 1 billion to enable municipalities to supply free basic services, such as water, sanitation and refuse removal to the poor.

Rural development and urban renewal, especially in the poorest 13 rural and eight municipalities, will benefit from enhanced municipality infrastructure and basic services. Urban renewal will be promoted by tax incentives and advantages in the provision of housing.

The settlement of land restitution claims will be speeded up by additional R2, 1 billion over the next three years &emdash; an increase of 40% a year.

A big increase in resources for implementing government’s comprehensive strategy to fight HIV/AIDS means an additional 3, 3 billion to provinces over the next three years to extend prevention and treatment. This compares with total expenditure by government on HIV/AIDS of R214 million in 2000/01.

Crime prevention will be strengthened by a further R2, 7 billion over three years to in invest court security, reduce the number of prisoners awaiting trial and increase the size of the South Africa Polis Service.

An additional R13,3 billion in tax relief increases citizen’s income - meaning that since 1999 R51,4 billion has been given in tax relief directly to citizens.

The stimulation of economic activity will also be reinforced by increased government capital spending, measures that reduce the cost of financial services and transfer of homes, and incentives for investment in urban areas. Furthermore, R10 billion has been set aside over the next three years to promote Black Economic Empowerment, to be financed in part by a levy on the repatriation of illegally held offshore funds.

This year’s Budget as tabled before parliament by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Trevor Manuel demonstrates that the tide has turned in favour of even higher real increases in expenditure on social and economic programmes.

Speedy and effective implementation is needed to turn the resources and opportunities provided by the Budget into real improvements.

This requires the strengthening of implementation capacity in government; active participation of citizens in programmes to improve their lives; and shared responsibility by business.

We need to build a people’s contract for growth and development; a people’s contract for a better South Africa.

Government’s areas of focus in this regard are the following:

-Expanded service provision

-Improvements in the efficiency of the public service

-Black economic empowerment

-Greater all-round attention to the challenge of human resource development, to help reduce unemployment levels.

-Further work on the important matter of moral renewal

-Expanding our system of relations with the rest of the world

-Accelerating the process of the formulation and implementation of the first NEPAD projects and

-Advancing the African Union agenda, including the important issue of peace and security.

-Investment in the economic infrastructure and other measures

-Small and medium business development

-Micro-credit for productive purposes

-Job creation

According to the budget speech by Mr.Manuel, the economy is providing more jobs than it loses. This state of affairs has not been experienced in 6 years.

Black Economic Empowerment remains an important challenge for the decade. It has a central role in sustaining South Africa’s growth and improving the distribution of income. In the area of tourism South Africa is fast becoming the most favoured destination from all over the world. Tourism has grown by about 10% last year.

All in all our economy is growing steadily, jobs are being created and investment is accelerating. All of this has enabled the Minister of Finance to increase the budget on social spending especially in areas such as education, health especially HIV/AIDS, safety and security and social security grants.

More details in this regard are available in Mr. Manuel’s budget speech. I was only highlighting the most salient points with regard to socio economic issues in the country.

FOREIGN POLICY: Our foreign policy is premised on our commitment towards the creation of a new world order, a world of tolerance, compassion and caring, a world whose citizens will enjoy peace, prosperity and acceptable living standards. A world where human rights and dignity inform the domestic policy formulation for all governments in the world. We are constantly promoting these values both at bi-lateral and multilateral levels. Our approach towards these goals compel us to strive for political and economic integration of the SADC region, the African continent and the world as a whole. It commands us to engage globalization in such a manner that it benefits all, in such a manner that the world resources can be shared in an equitable and fair manner.

Success in this area has been evidenced by a number of joint economic projects in the SADC region, such as the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a game reserve which is said to be the biggest in the world. It incorporates the Kruger National Park and the two adjacent game parks of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The Trans-Kalahari highway links Windoek in Namibia to Johannesburg via Gaberone in Botswana. The Maputo corridor is a centre of centre of economic and tourism activity for South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. There are many many more of these regional projects. The logic behind is that South Africa cannot be an island of opulence surrounded by a sea of poverty.

The African Union was successfully launched in July in Durban last year, with South Africa as its first Chair. President Mbeki is one of those in the forefront in championing the development of its programme of development, right from the African Renaissance to the final stage of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). I assume that most if not all of you know that this programme is a continental programme which seeks to extricate the continent from dire poverty, underdevelopment, human oppression especially women and children, corruption, conflicts and wars etc. It seeks to replace these with democracy, peace and stability, investment and prosperity etc.

The most critical challenges are I our efforts to end conflicts and wars in Africa. Our approach is informed by our own experience in South Africa, that sustainable peace and stability and political solutions in a country can only come from the people of that particular country. Any foreign intervention should aim at facilitating dialogue between the warring factions. This has been our approach in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia, the Comoros, Zimbabwe etc. We continue to achieve quantifiable progress despite certain setbacks here and there. We have reasons to believe that the road we have taken is correct.

GLOBAL ISSUES: There are currently three hottest global issues to fill the front pages of newspapers. These are:

a) The possible US led attack on Iraq: On this we say no to war and in the same vein we say no to weapons of mass destruction. We say yes Iraq must disarm and the UN weapons inspectors must be given more time to ensure that Iraq is free of these weapons of mass destructions.

Last month a delegation of South African experts on weapons of mass destruction left for Iraq, to share South African experience in destroying weapons of mass destruction. This was prompted by an observation by the UN inspectors in Baghdad that Iraq was co-operating in terms of the process but not in terms of substance. We have reasons to believe that our assistance has been helpful. The Chief UN weapons inspector Dr Blix acknowledged the contribution of the South African delegation in his report to the United Nation’s Security Council.

b) Korea vs. US: Our position remains the same. All possible means of diplomacy must be explored with the aim of averting war. Korea must rid itself of these horrible weapons and recommit itself to the NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR ARMS TREATY, of which it is a signatory. Dialogue between the two Koreas must resume

c) The Middle East Crisis: South Africa fully supports the United Nations Security Council resolutions for a peaceful settlement between Israel and Palestine.

It is important to mention that the inclination towards war in the world has been fuelled by the September 11 Terror Attacks. This was followed by a call for the world to unite against terrorism. A call to which South Africa fully subscribes. We however object to any kind of unilateral actions by any country against another, as this will only weaken the United Nations and lead to confusion and chaos in the world.

CONCLUSION: I am merely mentioning these to indicate the new challenges that freedom from apartheid came up with. For any points of clarity I am available to answer questions and to listen to comments. Once again, through you Chairperson I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the existence of your organization and its relationship with our Embassy. May this relationship help us in achieving our goals.

I thank you.
MS GLADYS SONTO KUDJOE
South African Ambassador to Sweden