Heading for Better South Africa and Better World<\/p>\n
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who will attend the
\nAsian-African Summit to be held in Jakarta from April 22 to April
\n23, as a cohost along with Indonesia, has become a prominent
\nleader not only in his own country but also in the world. Below
\nare excerpts taken from his speeches on different occasions.<\/p>\n
Since time immemorial, the overwhelming majority of our people
\nhad known nothing but despair. They knew, as an incontestable
\nfact that tomorrow would not be better than yesterday; it was
\nalso fixed and given that the following day would be even worse.
\nBut then, April 27, 1994 came and things changed radically and
\nirrevocably for all South Africans.<\/p>\n
For the black African majority, a new dawn suddenly broke.
\nStill, after they had cast their votes, they walked away from the
\npolling booths with nothing in their stomachs and pockets and
\nreturned to their run-down shacks, their children listless from
\nbunger while thugs prowled the unlit dirt road of the shantytown,
\nready to pounce on their victims with no mercy.<\/p>\n
Yet, on that day, they had a spring in their step because they
\nknew that the dawn proclaimed the coming of a new day. Though
\ntheir hands carried the emptiness to which generation of
\ndeprivation had accustomed them, their hearts and minds were
\ntilled with a new-found sense of hope -but also an attendant
\nfeeling of dread, lest that hope turn out to be but a mere
\nmirage, an illusion created of an intensely felt wish.<\/p>\n
The experience of many decades had taught us to understand
\nthat the poor black community of our country valued a just peace
\nas deeply as they valued their lives. It had taught us that their
\nsense of pride as human beings made it impossible for them to
\njoin in a mass slaughter of other human beings, even to satisfy
\nthe base instincts of vengeance and retaliation to settle scores.<\/p>\n
Over many decades, we had seen that the masses would always
\nrefuse to become racists simply because they were subjected to
\ncruel racists rule. When a hero in their midst, comrade Chris
\nHani, was murdered in cold blood, they refused to fulfill the
\npoets prophesy that the blood-dimmed tide would be loosed to
\ndrown the ceremony of innocence.<\/p>\n
They stood in the lines to the ballot booths alongside those
\nwho had been their oppressors and never uttered a single word of
\nanger; nor did they jostle the white person next to them because
\nthey felt that their time to be the new masters had come. Blacks
\nand whites stood together, acting together voluntarily for the
\nfirst time in our history, together to give birth to a new
\ninterest of all our people.<\/p>\n
When the leadership of the black African majority said to them
\nthat - despite the fact that their children, their brothers and
\nsisters, and their mothers and fathers had been slaughtered in
\nBoipatong and elsewhere on the many killing fields in our country
\n- as leaders, they were obliged to pursue a peaceful process to a
\njust peace, the masses agreed and urged that the dialogue chamber
\nshould bring forth the gift of a just peace to the nation.<\/p>\n
It was for these reasons that they had fought, ready to
\nsacrifice their lives -, for the just peace and the sense of hope
\nthey saw as necessary conditions for their survival. Those among
\nus who are fond of threatening violence to promote their causes
\nshould learn this, that our people are ready and willing to
\nsacrifice themselves once again to defend the peace and keep
\nalive the sense of hope that enables them to behave in
\nmysteriously miraculous ways.<\/p>\n
The transfer of the burden of despair became part of the
\nreality that the new democratic order had to address. It became
\npart of what had to be done to achieve what President Mandela had
\nforetold when he spoke about the expansion of the frontiers of
\nhuman fulfillment and the continuous extension of the frontiers
\nof freedom.<\/p>\n
Almost 10 years since its liberation from white minority rule,
\nour country still faces many challenges. Many of our people are
\nunemployed. Many of our people continue to live in poverty.
\nViolence, in all its form, continues to plague the people,
\nespecially those who are poor and live in socially depressed
\ncommunities.<\/p>\n
In his 1994, State of the Nation Addressed, President Mandela
\nsaid: \"We have learned the lesson that our blemishes speak of
\nwhat all humanity should not do.\"<\/p>\n
The point we have sought to make in referring to the
\nchallenges we continue to face to is that the blemishes of which
\nMandela spoke continue to disfigure our society.<\/p>\n
Africa<\/p>\n
South Africa has made a number of interventions that have
\ngenerally contributed to peace, stability and security in several
\ncountries on the continent and beyond. These include Angola,
\nComoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho (1994,
\n1998), Rwanda, Burundi. Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia\/Eritrea
\nand Sudan.<\/p>\n
South Africa became the first chair of the new organization,
\nthe African Union (AU) at the Durban Summit in July 2001, at
\nwhich the New Partnership fro Africa's Development (NEPAD) was
\nlaunched as the union's socio-economic program.<\/p>\n
One of the most important challenges for the future of the
\norganization is to ensure that the integral organs of the new AU
\nsystem, particularly the commission, the Pan-African parliament,
\nthe peace and security council, the economic, social and cultural
\ncouncil, and the African Central Bank are put into effect, an
\nthat an institutional culture is encourages whereby the rule-
\nbound structures are effectively used by African states to
\nadvance the development of the continent.<\/p>\n
South Africa has, since 2001, sought a sustained engagement
\nwith the G-8 to keep Africa and the concerns of the South on the
\nagenda of the grouping's annual deliberations.<\/p>\n
South Africa has promoted an understanding that the
\ninternational financial architecture should promote economic
\nadvancement of developing countries, not impede it.<\/p>\n
In its capacity as chair of the development committee of the
\nWorld Bank, South Africa has made an important contribution to
\ntranslating the monetary consensus on financing for development
\nand the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD)
\ndeclaration into an international implementation framework based
\non constructing cooperation and mutual accountability between
\ndeveloping and developed countries.<\/p>\n
UN reform challenges<\/p>\n
There is a worldwide concern about what role the United
\nNations would play in the resolution of the Iraq, Israel and
\nPalestine conflicts.<\/p>\n
Dramatic of spontaneous events have provided answers to this
\nconcern. However, such events have raised vital and disturbing
\nquestions about the very future of the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Central among these is the questions as to whether the United
\nNations has a future as a strong and effective multilateral
\norganization, enjoying the confidence of the peoples of the world
\nand capable of addressing matters that are of concern to all
\nhumanity.<\/p>\n
It will be extremely difficult to resolve this issue if the
\nUnited Nations' role in the world conflicts without answering the
\nquestion about the future of the UN as a legitimate expression of
\nthe collective will of the peoples of the world.<\/p>\n
Important shifts in the global balance of power and global
\nobjectives have taken place since the UN was established 50 years
\nago. Yet this organization has not changed substantially in terms
\nof its structure and more of operations to reflect these changes.
\nThis has served as a recipe for an inevitable crisis, a disaster
\nwaiting to occur.<\/p>\n
Global poverty and underdevelopment are the principle issues
\nthat face the United Nations. Billions across the globe expect
\nthe General Assembly to address this challenge in a meaningful
\nmanner. The poor of the world expect an end to violence and war
\neverywhere.<\/p>\n
Multilateral institutions are going through a stage of great
\nconfusion and redefinition. How can we ensure that the Security
\nCouncil's decisions have the legitimacy and support of the
\nmajority of the United Nations? As long as the Security Council
\nis dominated by the victors of the Second World War, obviously we
\ndo not have a representative body.<\/p>\n
What we say today may not be heard because we do not have the
\nstrength to ensure that our voices are heard. Tomorrow, we may be
\nobliged to say, \"No more water, the fire next time.\" As the fires
\nburn, the United Nations will die, consumed by the flames. Will
\nthe hopes of the world's poor also die, as they did at Cancun,
\nMexico, not so long ago?<\/p>\n
We must act together to say through our words and actions - as
\nindividual countries and as the United Nations - that there will
\nbe water next time, not fire.<\/p>\n
Country Profile: South Africa<\/p>\n
checked<\/p>\n
Independent and Original Thinker<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/heading-for-better-south-africa-and-better-world-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }