It is the African continent that concerns us the most though Minister, as South Africa’s development is inextricably bound to it’s future success. ID therefore supports the government’s current initiatives to bring peace and stability to many of the war ravaged countries. We must, however, ensure that our defence force sticks to its mandate of peacekeeping and does not become embroiled in any conflicts. On a personal note, Minister, I spent three months traveling through the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998. It pains me to think of the warmth and hospitability of those people who I stayed with in the jungle, and the fact that they are now probably part of the three and a half million people who were killed in that bloody conflict. The fact that we can now even consider holding elections in that country is a miracle and testimony to the hard work of South Africa and other actors in restoring peace to that country. ID is concerned, however, with the Final Report of the Panel of experts on the illegal exploitation of Natural Resources and other forms of Wealth of the DRC which was submitted to the UN Security Council in 2002, and names a number of South African companies as committing atrocities. In fact, South African companies were the second highest violators of all countries involved in the Congo. ID would therefore like to know what the government is doing in following up on those violations, as we cannot on the one hand negotiate as a government, but on the other hand allow our companies to act with impunity. In fact in a speech in February of this year the DRC Ambassador Bene M’Poko, stated that Congo is the only country to have acted on its companies named in that report and that no action has been taken by any other country. ID therefore implores the Minister to act on this issue so that we can send a message that we will not tolerate human rights abuses from any South African in Africa. Only in this way can we truly be said to be taking forward the African Renaissance.

I thank you.