adminThank you very much Minister of Home Affairs of Zimbabwe. Programme director. Your Excellency and Cde President Robert Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Your Excellency Vice President Mphoko of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable Ministers, Your Excellences Ambassador of Zimbabwe to South Africa and Ambassador of South Africa to Zimbabwe.
Senior officials of government from both Zimbabwe and South Africa, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, members of the media, good morning to you all.
Allow me to begin by conveying to you Cde President my personal appreciation and delight for inviting us to this beautiful country, the Republic of Zimbabwe. Let me also extend our profound gratitude to the people of Zimbabwe for their warm and colourful welcome extended to us on our arrival.
I equally wish to convey to you Cde President and to the people of Zimbabwe, the warmest greetings of the government and people of the Republic of South Africa.
Your Excellency, as you welcomed us you, correctly touched on the historical and fraternal bonds between our two countries.
Indeed, these bonds were cemented during a difficult time of our liberation struggle when we fought in the same trenches till you got your independence. Soon after your independence, you gave shelter, education and unrelenting support to our sons and daughters.
The role played by individual nations including your own, Comrade President in our struggle, is already part of the tapestry oddly woven to display the special linkages between our countries. Every time we meet we need to remember this rich history in case we forget where we come from and who we are.
This history defines us and it is a history that needs to be told and retold. Your Excellency, Mr President, we meet here today at a time the world is facing many challenges. Our own countries have not escaped these challenges.
The global economic environment has been unfolding and highly fluid due to declining commodity prices and volatile currency fluctuations, stifling GDP growth.
Our deliberations will be incomplete if we do not take a moment to also reflect on the global operational space we find ourselves in and its impact on our economies.
While still on the topic of external factors beyond our control affecting our economies, it would be an omission if I do not mention that our region has been hard hit by the devastating El Nino-induced drought, which has impacted negatively on livelihoods and quality of life.
An estimated 14 million people are affected, of whom 23 million require immediate emergency assistance. Many sectors have been affected including food security, agriculture, livestock, livelihoods, nutrition, health and water and sanitation and hygiene.
The drought has also in some cases seriously eroded decades of hard won developmental gains putting great strain on the fiscus of most Governments.
Most recently, South Africa has experienced her first rains, but this in no way means the end of our woes and the economic crisis we find ourselves in.
Ladies and gentlemen, not all is gloom and doom. On a positive note, in the multilateral arena, we just returned from the 21st Session of the UN General Assembly where we welcome the appointment of the new UN secretary- general, Portuguese former Prime Minister Mr Antonio Guterres.
He will assume his duties in January 2017, taking over from Mr Ban Ki-Moon who served in the position for over a decade.
Also of importance was the implementation of the new UN Development Agenda 2030 adopted by the UN and its synergies with the African Union Agenda 2063. The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) represent a clear demonstration of the commitment of the international community to achieve a better world.
Also worth mentioning is the TICAD Summit that was held in Kenya in August 2016 where US$30 billion were pledged towards Africa’s development.
Also of note is the 8th BRICS summit held in Gowa, India in October 2016. The BRICS leaders reaffirmed their support for Africa’s implementation of its various programmes in pursuit of its continental agenda for peace and socio-economic development.
In this regard, I’m pleased to announce that the BRICS’ new development bank is establishing its Africa regional centre in Johannesburg. The NDB will begin operations with US$50 billion, which will expand to the full US$100 billion in the next five to 10 years.
This will go a long way towards continental development.
Your Excellency, closer to home in August 2016, we completed a successful 36th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Mbabane, Swaziland under the theme; “Resource mobilisation for investment in sustainable energy infrastructure for inclusive SADC industrialisation for prosperity”.
The summit more importantly, called for the implementation of the 2015 Harare decision on industrialisation and creation of vibrant economies to create jobs and fight the scourge of poverty in the region.
We need all resources mobilisation towards insuring the sustainable development of our economies.
High on that list being industrialisation, infrastructure development and investing in diversification of our economies, also recouping our national development plans towards tangible benefits for our people who are looking up to us with genuine expectations for sustainable solutions and better livelihoods.
This, we will not achieve working independently and in isolation. There is therefore a need for consented efforts, collaboration and synergies towards a collective vision of fighting the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality in our respective countries.
Jointly we need to pursue the creation of a stable, peaceful and prosperous region our continent Africa and a better world. In this respect, Zimbabwe has been instrumental towards realising the dream of a prosperous African continent that is it’s self-sufficient and able to assume its rightful place in the global arena.
This was evidenced during His Excellency’s chair of the AU. Your contribution as chair of both the SADC as well as the AU has put the region and the continent on a different platform of economic and political stability.
Your Excellency, the bilateral, I am encouraged that our two countries already have been growing and very warm relations now managed under the Bi-National Commission, which is being duly inaugurated today.
I’m convicted Comrade President that the inauguration of the Bi-National today will take our relations to a different level and we must exploit this opportunity as two countries who have very close historic relations with the kind of economy, that if they acted in unison, they can create a different economic activities in the region.
It is even more important that we are inaugurating it fully aware of the economic challenges that face both countries and therefore guided by that reality, we have to operate differently than we have been operating before to meet these challenges.
It is my wish Mr President that utilising the BNC mechanism, we should at our level strive to provide the strategic impetus to drive this Bilateral relationship to significantly higher levels. Our colleagues should know that as we talked in one to one, we have taken a very serious decision in this direction that we are going to be hands on, we are not going to be arm’s length on the issues because we want to see changes rapidly.
It is also our fervent wish that we should work together to explore a variety of issues to further deepen our co-operation driven by our historical ties.
As we do that Mr President, we need to pay a particular focus on economic co-operation. Our business communities stand ready to play their part if as Governments, we create (a) conducive environment for ease of doing business including, but not limiting to the establishment of a one stop border post for facilitation of free movement of people, goods and services, policy certainty among others.
After all, that is directly in keeping with the aspirations of the African continent that we should ease the borders to allow the economy to flourish in the continent.
Also important is the need to continue to promote the already existing people to people linkages especially through tourism, sports and culture. Our two countries should continue to strive to become leading examples on the continent in pursuit of a peaceful political stable and prosperous Africa.
We need to redouble our efforts to assist sister countries facing conflicts and security challenges.
Your Excellency in conclusion, our engagements must help to deepen bilateral political economic and social co-operation between our respective countries and contribute towards regional integration.
Your Excellency, thank you once more and we look forward to the report of the ministers that must indicate our desires that we want to take our relations to a different levels.
Thank you.
Online Reporter