Continent ‘at core of SA foreign policy’ ahead of Africa Day

THE theme of Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane’s budget vote speech in Parliament yesterday was “The Africa We Want”.

With Africa Day approaching on Monday, Mashabane emphasised that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation had ensured that Africa remained at the core of South Africa’s foreign policy.

South Africa is preparing to host the 25th Summit of the AU in Sandton next month, and key to its deliberations will be Agenda 2063, which lays out the vision for the continent. Most of the minister’s speech was devoted to African issues and the need to find African solutions to African problems.

This comes at a time when South Africa has come under fire from around the continent for the spate of xenophobic attacks. South Africa’s embassies have had to spread the message that it is only a minority of renegade elements who have turned on their African brothers and sisters, and that these actions are condemned by the government in the strongest terms.

Mashabane said: “International migration and its root causes is a challenge we must overcome in this century. Africans should not be travelling miles and miles, often at great risk, just to put bread on the table.”

This was a reference not only to African economic migrants criss-crossing the continent in search of a better life, but also to those who continued to die aboard crowded and less than seaworthy boats headed to Europe.

The migration challenge made it imperative that the AU address the root causes of migration, which were largely economic and social. In order to improve the living standards and work opportunities on the continent, there would need to be greater political and economic integration in the five regional communities.

Mashabane specified the need to conclude the negotiations on the SADC-EACComesa Free Trade Area by 2017, and for the department to prioritise economic diplomacy.

In order for inter-state economic engagement to become more robust, the AU would also need to do more to bring about peace and security.

Mashabane highlighted the need to operationalise the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises, envisioned as a force of 1 500 soldiers which can be deployed within days in a crisis situation.