Welcome address by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele to the Southern African Development of Community (SADC) Ministers of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation meeting in Durban

On behalf of the Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal, I extend a very warm welcome to you all. We are indeed honoured that we play host to this esteemed gathering of our ministers from the region, hosted by our esteemed South African Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

I trust that your meetings have been fruitful and your deliberations successful.

African solutions

As Africans we believe that our future lies in peace and stability. In achieving this fundamental goal we will find security in our homes and our communities, economic prosperity, growth and development.

As Africans we also believe that we will achieve far more when we are working together. Unity in all its forms, be it bi-lateral or multi-lateral co-operation in all the sectors of commerce, trade, spatial development and security operations all contribute to our overall mission of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and an African Renaissance.

In spite of continued Afro-pessimism and other challenges that emerge like the recent upsurge of so-called xenophobia, we as Africans have the collective will to deal decisively with any problem facing us. We have proved that ability time and again through the struggles for liberation and this forum is one of the new platforms for reaching new frontiers.

As you know our province borders on a number of SADC countries. We have therefore a number of strategic engagements under the auspices of transfrontier relations. We have, for example, links with Maputo in crime prevention programmes and with Lesotho around cattle theft and drug trafficking.

Therefore the deliberations of this august Body lie close to our heart.

The region's seriousness in implementing the SADC Organ objectives is seen in the development of what have what have been identified as 'delivery tools', such as the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security, the Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ (SIPO) and the Mutual Defence Pact.

It is of course a valid point to argue that the objectives, the Protocol, SIPO and Mutual Defence Pact are not worth anything if they cannot be seen to be in practical use.

Securing the region

To date the SADC sub-region has signed 22 protocols, which cover the entire spectrum of human security. Directly focusing on security are protocols on illicit drug trafficking; the control of firearms, ammunition and other related materials; mutual legal assistance in criminal matters; shared watercourse systems; tribunals; and politics, defence and security co-operation.

The nature of the relationships in the region is not only affected by the official publications depositories (OPDS) leadership, but also by other structures such as the OPDS Ministerial Committee. Charged with the task of co-ordinating the work of the organ and its structures as well as the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Plan (RISP), one of the biggest challenges of this institution will be balancing intra-regional political dynamics and external influence.

I am confident that these debates formed the basis of your discussions in the past two days. By you choosing KwaZulu-Natal as the venue for this auspicious meeting then you too have been convinced of the greatness of this province from our tourism offerings, nature lovers, animal lovers, golfers, and those looking to experience culture.

You may have started to see that KwaZulu-Natal, best reflects everything that is special about South Africa. Bedevilled by political violence in the eighties and early nineties, KwaZulu-Natal walked a much longer and harder road to peace and freedom than the rest of the country. It took sacrifices and compromises from political leadership to break those patterns of violent conflict. But more importantly I believe that it was unwavering hope of our people at community level to take us into this new era where disagreement does not mean war. Our miracle here is not only that we stopped fighting, but we have now made peace irreversible.

This province is on the move. The very fact that we have almost billions in investment here and more to come is by all accounts signs that we are moving in the right direction. There is good reason to be hopeful. However when one is in the middle of a marathon, your head faces down and your body demands you focus on those areas of pain and discomfort. Just like the tasks you have as the custodians of our region.

But in our province we are proud to say that we are not only focussing on the material aspects of our society, but have also successively implemented our African Renaissance programme. Recently we travelled to Maputo and brought back the remains of a son of KwaZulu-Natal, Moses Mabhida. Our heritage programme portrays our past and recognises the strides made by our heroes and heroines.

You are most welcome to this place of heaven. We hope that your time here will be enjoyable and fruitful, and that you will leave with us more hope and energy to run this race for our regions eventual political and economic freedom.

Thank you.