South Africa, 2013

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.”