Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola has called for a review of the African Union’s (AU’s) First Ten Year Implementation Plan (FTYIP) of Agenda 2063 (2013 – 2023) as a tool to contribute to greater integration.

He says it requires the finalisation of standards across the African continent, as well as the streamlining of supply chains.

Lamola was speaking during the opening session of the first ordinary session of the sixth parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP), on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the PAP Precinct, at Gallagher Estate, in Midrand, on Monday.

“Much depends on the progress that we make at the national level to adopt the relevant legislation that will allow the commencement of preferential trade for instance, on trade in goods. Encouraging progress is being registered on the agreed five priority areas, being finance, transport, tourism, communications, and professional sectors,” he said.

The FTYIP is the first in a series of five ten-year plans over the 50-year horizon of Agenda 2063’s time frame.

The purpose for developing the ten year plans is to identify priority areas, set specific targets, define strategies and policy measures required to implement the FTYIP of Agenda 2063.

“We welcome the new members of the PAP, whom I believe have undergone a capacity-building session this past weekend. I would like to share some reflections, which will include the work that will be done during the session. These reflections should help us to advance our programmes on the continent as we share best practices on various issues, as we consider various Model Laws that will be debated during the Session, which forms the basis of our work as the envisaged legislative organ of the African Union,” Lamola said.

Another area that can be exploited in order to realise the aspirations of the African peoples, according to Lamola, is collaboration with the African Diaspora, which he says can help build much-needed skills for future careers on the African Continent and contribute to the transfer of technology.

“Citizen engagement is another area that could be strengthened, and I would like to encourage you to consider standing on platforms/mechanisms for youth engagement, as well as civil society, because of its research capacity and the promotion of accountability, which is at the core of the work of Parliamentarians,” he told delegates.

Lamola also said that the PAP had an important mandate of contributing to the strengthening of the culture of democracy, good governance and the rule of law on the continent.

“Some of our countries have held elections this year, still more are expected to hold them in 2023. We need to interrogate the responsibility of the PAP as an institution in supporting the AU. The High-Level Parliamentary dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance that you are scheduled to have during this session as well as the roundtable on advancing democratic governance, will contribute towards that effort,” he said.