Colleague Speakers, Ministers, Honourable Members,
Excellencies Ambassadors, Distinguished Guests
It is my privilege and great pleasure to welcome
you, the representatives of the Parliaments of Africa,
to South Africa and to our Parliament.
We thank you for accepting our invitation to come
together at a time of momentous developments on our
Continent, as Africa determined that its past will not
be allowed to limit our future, moves to shape its own
destiny and take its rightful place in the 21st
Century.
It is singularly appropriate that we meet in this
country, and these precincts, just before the OAU is
transformed and the African Union born. South
Africans, perhaps more than other people, have good
reason to appreciate the benefits of African unity.
The eradication of apartheid owes much to the
consistent support of the OAU, and the role it played
in ensuring a united African voice and support for our
emergence as a democracy.
The sacrifices of the people of Africa, including
the less of lives and attacks by the apartheid regime
played a significant role in the victory of our
liberation struggle.
Accept dear colleagues, as the elected
representatives of the African people, the thanks and
appreciation of one of the newest amongst you.
Over the last decade, there have been many meetings
of Heads of State and Ministers focused on building
bridges and working together for the betterment of the
African people. Yet we as Parliaments have not come
together to discuss substantive issues on matters that
affect our Continent.
The time is long overdue, that we should do so. We
need to share perspectives and exchange views, so that
we may collectively determine, our role as Parliaments
in ensuring that the voice of the people is heard, and
heeded, in this momentous period in our Continent's
history.
This land and buildings provide a symbolic venue
for our meetings. This is the very site of the first
colonial settlements at the tip of the Continent. It
is the place of the first slave market, and the first
colonial Parliament. It is here that the policy of
apartheid was determined and its criminal laws
enacted. And it was here in this very hall, that we
the first democratically elected representatives,
adopted South Africa's constitution.
We are proud now, to provide this venue for your
meeting to consider how we, as Parliaments, can
contribute to building the institutions of African
unity on a culture of Human Rights.
