01
Jul
Program Director Dr. Zondi,
Vice chancellor, Professor Makhanya,
Executive Director for Cooperate Communication and Marketing, Mr. Mohamed Shaikh,
Excellencies,
Representatives of government institution,
President of the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Mr. Seth Phalate and members of the business community,
Representatives of civil society, friends and distinguished guests,
Dear students,
Programm Director and Executive Director of the Institute for Global Dialogue, Dr. Zondi, thank you so very much for your warm welcome and kind words of introduction. I am happy to say that the initial funding for the Institute that you so masterfully chair was provided by the German government and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
I am grateful for the invitation to address this audience at this renowned university that is successfully pursuing educational excellence every single day. I have had the good fortune to attend many debates, lectures and musical events at UNISA, and I should mention that my daughter is taking her practical and theoretical piano exams here. She thus will soon be a proud UNISA alumni!
Vice Chancellor, Prof. Makhanya, thank you for the very important remarks regarding our bilateral relations and embedding them into an EU-African context. Indeed, South Africa and Germany are major players in their respective regional organizations. Given the headlines Europe – specifically the EU – is currently making, allow me to start off with an additional remark on your topical observations.
Today, some reduce Europe to the challenge of bailing out Greece and stopping it from defaulting on its debt. This is a challenge indeed. I will not go into the complexity of this issue, but limit myself rather to a few general remarks.
The EU has achieved much. It has served us and it has served the global community well. Above all, it provided peace for over 70 years on the continent. Despite some structural flaws, all members benefit from our shared values and our political and economic union. Nobody is perfect and sometimes we struggle to live up to our values. But the EU and the Eurozone are both immense success stories.
The Eurozone is such a complex structure because it is a system – I could even say an unparalleled model – of transnational governance. The members of the Euro-area have transferred their monetary sovereign rights to the European Central Bank. But the member states still dominate the fiscal and economic policy of the Euro-area.
In such a structure, it is of utmost importance that semi-sovereign states adhere to the rules they have given themselves to keep the common monetary and economic area intact. Because, if you separate decision-making power from accountability, opportunity from risk, you cannot succeed. That was the main cause of the global financial crisis. Of course we can and will act in solidarity amongst EU members, but there can be no mutual liability in Europe as long as the individual member states themselves remain responsible for fiscal and economic policy.
So the most important question for the Euro area is: Can we adhere to the rules which prescribe fiscal consolidation and structural reforms in the Euro area?
I believe we can.
Europe has a clear agenda to improve economic performance with three main priorities. First, we intend to make sure that government spending grows more slowly than tax revenue, that government spending must not grow faster than GDP does. This will enable us to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio.
Second, we will continue to implement structural reforms.
Third, we are boosting investment wherever we can. We are setting up a new investment fund in Europe, which aims to spur private investment of about 300 billion Euro.
We have been putting this agenda into action in Europe for quite a few years now, sometimes more successfully, sometimes less, but we are headed in the right direction. And the formula is working. Those European countries that have already implemented real reforms are starting to see their efforts bear fruit.
Countries that have successfully completed their assistance programmes – like Ireland, Spain, and Portugal – are growing faster than other countries. Unemployment is starting to decline as well.
I firmly believe that working together this can be achieved in Greece as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear students,
As an ambassador to South Africa – and genuine friend of this wonderful country – I am the eyes, ears and mouth of Germany in South Africa, where I have had the privilege to serve for four years. It is my profound task to understand how SA defines its interests, where SA and German interests meet or differ, to build on common approaches, and pave the way for defining and reaching common goals. And to do so with all South African stakeholders – authorities, civil society, educators, researchers, leaders and members of NGOs, CEOs, miners, unions and people from all walks of life.
I have travelled the country extensively and enjoyed the most generous hospitality of many South Africans. My observations and impressions remain nonetheless incomplete and, of course, will reflect a German perspective.
Germany and South Africa may be almost 10,000 km apart, and they certainly are different nations with different histories. Yet, we share plenty of common ground. One does not have to go all the way back to 1652, when Jan van Riebeck arrived near Cape Town with 90 settlers, a number of which were Germans of Calvinist and Lutheran faith.
I would like to take you back 25 years – if you are a student here at UNISA you were most likely a toddler back then, some of you might not even have been born. 25 years ago two events occurred within 90 days of each other and changed the face of the globe.
In November 1989, 28 years after it had been built, the Berlin Wall was taken down brick by brick without a single shot being fired, and in February 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment, walking to freedom from Robben Island, Pollsmoor and Victor Verster Prison.
The unification of Germany, symbolizing the end of the Cold War, and the establishment of the new democratic South Africa, ending Apartheid, are two iconic events etched in our collective memory.
In 1996, when Nelson Mandela visited Germany for the first time in his official capacity as President of South Africa (his second visit to Germany within four years), he emphasized that “South Africa and Germany shared and peacefully shaped a significant moment in world history”. And, he added, this entails a responsibility to forge our future cooperation – bilaterally, as well as by assuming international responsibilities.
The success and enormous benefits of these historic events are indisputable. And yet, for you, the generation born shortly before or after the fall of the Berlin wall, born shortly before or after the first free elections in South Africa, this is history. As you are about to step into professional life, you might be asking “what do these events mean for me?”
It is a legitimate question. And one you will no doubt answer for yourself, doing so within a much broader framework of realistic opportunities than ever before. A central element of that is your vibrant democracy, and today, the spread of information technology which further empowers you to speak up and demand a say in your own future.
This distinguished University became a pioneer in distance education in 1946 and thus provided many an education they otherwise would not have been able to obtain.
It was a cradle for those who became the symbol of the struggle for justice, diversity, and the steady, long march to freedom. This university can be proud of alumni like Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada, Edwin Cameron, Pius Langa and many others who have significantly, and in a most admirable way, contributed to freedom in South Africa and in many other African states.
Today you must continue to build the new South Africa by trusting in yourselves, in the awareness of the richness, as well as the burdens, of your history. Each country must decide how to educate, examine and explore its own difficult past. But it should be done with authenticity, dignity and compassion, so that old and young may learn from the lessons of the past and create a society of mutual respect and understanding, devoid of the hatred from the past.
The recent debate in South Africa surrounding the removal of the Cecil Rhodes statue from the UCT campus and the debate about the nation’s past that this invokes, speaks to this challenge. The debate illustrates how much the past is still with us, in fact, it is a debate as much about the detrimental past as it is about the present and future challenges.
And it demonstrates how it will continue to influence us for some time to come. Taking an honest and hard look at history can be an exacting task. It took Germany a long time to face up to its detrimental past and it is an ongoing process to teach the new generations about the causes and ramifications of the Holocaust.
One lesson learned by both our nations is that the way forward is forged neither through forgetting nor revenge, but through truth and reconciliation. In this spirit, we are united in building on the lessons of the past while making sure that the past does not steal our present. I am confident that the current debate in South Africa will lead to a deep, engaging, honest and nuanced deliberation that will result in profound benefits for the future development of this country.
To be sure, the consequences of South Africa’s difficult past can still be felt today, despite the many and impressive gains that have been achieved. South Africa’s strong and vibrant democracy has achieved much in a relatively short time. You have a remarkable story to tell, one that should inspire countries not yet at peace with themselves to embark upon their own walk to freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Yet, nobody knows better than South Africans themselves, that they face major obstacles and that there is no time for complacency. Like you, Germans know what it takes to rebuild a country, to reintegrate a divided nation, to mend fences and seek new opportunities.
The problems facing South Africa, however, are far more daunting than the task of unifying a divided Germany. We recognize the monumental tasks confronted by the people of the new South Africa: to build a society of equal opportunity for all, to cope with the integration of large groups of citizens previously locked out of meaningful education and employment, and to keep the economy running and improving at the same time.
At this pivotal moment in South Africa’s transformation process, Germany is committed to supporting your unwavering efforts to build and enhance the just and fair society you are striving for. Our partnership is not running short on ideas and programs. We must implement them at a hurried pace to keep up with multi-faceted demands on our partnership.
Progress is rapid and demands are high. We strive to meet these ambitious aspirations. The last Binational Commission between our respective countries hosted by South Africa last November in Pretoria paved the way to reinforcing our cooperation in nearly all areas.
In doing so, we must acknowledge that our bilateral cooperation is embedded in a global environment. Today, we are partners in a highly connected world – economically, politically and in nearly every possible area.
What matters in today’s global economy is to find partners worldwide who are willing and capable of participating in the international value chain. Today, very few companies manufacture high-end products by themselves. 42 percent of all goods exported from Germany have actually been prefabricated in other countries.
Germany benefits from this – and so do other countries. For example, as part of their integration into the international value chain, German car manufacturers assemble more vehicles – and create jobs – outside Germany than domestically, including here in South Africa.
I emphasize this because it is against this background that Germany is one of South Africa’s largest bilateral trade and investment partners. Since 1998, the stock of German investments in South Africa has steadily increased, amounting to more than 6 billion Euro (81 billion Rand). By volume, Germany is South Africa’s second biggest trading partner today.
But this is not what primarily matters to us. What does matter is that German companies do not focus on extracting natural resources. Instead, they focus on and are the number one foreign investor in the production and manufacturing industry, in the most skills intensive industries.
Just one example: There is only one major German mining company operating in South Africa. It pales in comparison to the size and turnover of the global companies you may know. But even though small in size, Lanxess unites an entire value chain here in South Africa. The chrome mine close to Rustenburg is tied to one of the world’s most modern high-tech plant in Newcastle – also build by Lanxess. There, alongside a plant in Durban, all the resources are processed – 100% beneficiation in South Africa.
Over 600 German-South African companies manufacture and produce in South Africa. At this point, I would like to warmly welcome the President of the Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Seth Phalate (who also is a Board member of the Institute for Global Dialogue) and commend the Chamber for the substantial and excellent work it has been doing.
All of you may be familiar with the names of famous German companies such as VW, Mercedes Benz, BMW and Siemens. These are the giants. Yet most of the 600 German-South African companies operating in South Africa are small and medium sized enterprises. Such companies are the backbone and driving force of our economy and our best export product. And they can become the backbone and driving force for employment in South Africa as well.
This is exactly the reason why we work together with the new government Department for Small Business Development. Because it is the small- and medium-sized, often family-managed companies, that are dynamic and creative, create jobs and are the best guarantee for balanced and sustainable risk-taking. They are quite unlike some mega-banks and multinational companies that take excessive risks, putting jobs and sometimes even the company’s very existence on the line.
German companies – like any other company – are not manufacturing and producing for charity, but for doing business, for making a profit. Yet, at the same time, as highly responsible corporate citizens, they contribute in no small part to South Africa’s economic success, in no small measure to achieve the aspirations of the National Development Plan (NDP).
They directly provide over 90,000 secure jobs and many more in the supplying and service sectors, transferring skills, promoting and improving vocational training in high-tech fields, engaging in social projects and thus helping to eradicate poverty and inequality. Goods and products are made in South Africa by German-South African companies with state-of-the-art quality, delivered by South African artisans and successfully compete in all global markets.
I cannot stress this point enough. It is the competent and highly-skilled young South African workers who produce and manufacture these world-class goods; the VWs, the Mercedes Benz and BMWs, the Siemens turbine and many other products. They are empowered because education, vocation and training (VET) is an indispensable part of what German companies do in South Africa. Such a well-functioning VET-system is the best investment into the most precious resource of any country: its young generation.
Our development cooperation complements these efforts by building TVET colleges, compiling new syllabi and bringing industry and academia closer together. The South-African –German Year of Science in 2013/14, supported generously and in a most impressive way by Ministers Pandor and Hanekom and their Department, pushed this educational, scientific and research agenda further forward.
Education is what builds a nation. As important as BBBEE or any other form of affirmative action may be, it does not create artisans nor self-employed entrepreneurs on its own. Primary and secondary school, TVET-collages, on the shop-floor training and universities do. This is why learning and shop-floor training is so essential and worth every investment – so that students and artisans become good not only on paper, but also in the workplace.
If I were to belong to the first generations of high school graduates not having lived under Apartheid, access to high quality education would be the most important benefit, the major achievement and most sacred legacy of the long march towards freedom for me. I know you value this as I would – and do.
This is the decade of the artisan. South Africa has a young workforce and thus the potential to increase its number of qualified young people. This is an advantage that could immensely contribute to successfully tackling the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment and carry the South African economy to a prosperous future.
Germany on the other hand – as other European partners – is in need of skilled labour. Young, qualified South Africans could cater to this need. They already do by working for German-South African companies in and outside of Africa. If South Africa successfully realizes its educational potential, it will enjoy the demographic dividend. This is a huge factor for the most promising future.
The German government is in many ways contributing its share to support South Africa’s youth to develop its talents and skills, to reach its true potential – and to learn German. This is done at universities and colleges, but it starts in primary school.
Just one example: German Schools in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg allow for talented pupils – whose families do not have the necessary means – with the opportunity to attend their school from 5th to 12th grade. The German government supplements, through grants, the parents’ school fees so these talented children from townships can study at the schools. The program has been in place for 20 years.
Over the last years, the financial contribution of the German government provided for this program amounted to 2 million Euro per year. Last year, approximately 350 South African pupils enrolled in German schools here in South Africa. So whereas I am the Ambassador for Germany, these talented youngsters are truly Ambassadors for and to both our countries.
This is not as well known as it should be, but these schools are an ideal platform for facilitating intercultural exchange, dialogue and friendship from an early age, when such exchange and related experiences fall on the most fertile ground. They form a vital and very useful component of our foreign cultural policy.
If education and skills are essential in order to create and benefit from international comparative advantages, so are free trade and investment opportunities. For that to happen, trading partners need to build and foster trust, create confidence and maintain close consultations.
It is only in such an environment that comparative advantages and local content can successfully compete in the global marketplace. Under these conditions, South Africa becomes a more diversified and industrialized nation – implementing the National Developments Plan’s excellent vision.
As a BRICS partner, South Africa is on its way to opening up new markets. So is Germany – and so are plenty of other countries. Diversification is a necessity in an ever-changing world. Diversification — at least in our understanding – however, does not mean abandoning solid and reliable, as well as mutually beneficial and trusted partnerships.
Geopolitical shifts and economic diversification are not zero-sum games. It would contradict the lessons learned after the Fall of the Wall and of apartheid were the international community to create new divisions, artificial antagonisms or new protectionist walls.
In an increasingly global environment, we must ensure that the benefits of global growth are shared equitably. Social cohesion is key if we want to prevent inequality from becoming the trendsetter and undermining the benefits of globalization. The worrying discovery today is that economic growth does not by itself solve all problems.
The challenge, then, is for the governments on the continent to figure out how to make growth synonymous with growing employment, rather than simply being a measure of increased investment in increasingly efficient factories, farms and harbours. Growth must mean more than using less and less labour for each unit of output.
After the long mining strike in South Africa, I was asked what I would suggest to do differently in South Africa. An intriguing question, but one I leave for South Africans to answer. Also, because there are major strikes in Germany as well. Obviously, these disagreements can only be solved through dialogue amongst social partners. The sooner, the better. Even legitimate strikes are unpredictable and precarious situations from an economic point of view. They are not about who wins, but about who loses less.
They are a last option and at the same time a warning signal that both sides have failed. Failed to reach an agreement and that they therefore need to return to the negotiating table with new ideas and a more vigorous attempt to overcome disagreements. Fostering social cohesion and sharing growth more equitably therefore requires a dialogue between all stakeholders.
On a more general note, South Africa has a rich tradition and an impressive record of social dialogue. And South Africa, like Germany, is one of the countries that has a national institution for consultations amongst all key social partners. It is a forum where the country’s social and economic challenges can be addressed through open and trustful dialogue. That is a huge asset. To make it work effectively, however, can be a daunting task. It requires unwavering commitment and solidarity, the leadership and willingness of all stakeholders to compromise.
Germany will continue sharing its experiences on social dialogue, labour relations and social initiatives – like the introduction of a national minimum wage. And perhaps one day, co-determination may be a subject to embark upon together.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear students,
South Africa is an important, indispensable partner to promote stability in Southern and sub-Saharan Africa. Without stability we will not enjoy development, and vice versa, without development we will not achieve stability. If Africa is to become a continent of the future and of growing opportunities – as we want it to be – then we need to overcome remaining challenges and risks.
In order to pave the way towards a new global order, we need to work across our continents and indeed throughout the world. There cannot be a sustainable and effective new global order without strong African partners. And we need African solutions to solve African challenges – as well as global challenges.
The first challenge that comes to mind is African economic integration. Only about 11% of African trade is amongst Africans. In the EU over 60% of the trade is intra-EU trade between the EU member states. This gave us a tremendous boost in economic growth. I see plenty of potential on the African continent for this to happen as well.
We need “African solutions for African problems”. The AU is more robust, mature and assertive than its predecessor, the OAU, with meaningful institutions to tackle the continent’s array of peace and security challenges. Germany is the third-largest contributor of financial support to the AU. And foreign donors still pay more than half the AU’s overall budget and for most of its peacekeeping operations.
This is a challenge the AU has taken up. At the same time we cannot ignore the fact that Europe’s and Africa’s security are inextricably linked with one another. The Libya crisis was a case in point. To make the point vividly clear by using geography: the most northern capital in continental Europe, Helsinki, is two times closer to Tripoli than Pretoria.
Migration is another challenge that we need to tackle together. We cannot let our common goals be divided by artificial boundaries. While respecting African ownership on the African continent, the AU and EU, together with other actors, need to consult and co-ordinate early. They need effective preventive actions to avert imminent conflicts.
No single institution – or country – can address the numerous peace and security challenges alone. Today a number of partnerships and various divisions of labour are required. A primary goal should be achieving better coordinated responses to specific conflicts, and ensuring the better practice of conflict prevention – rather than competing with each other over turf and jurisdiction.
The global architecture forged after WW II served its purpose mostly well, but it served a different time and a different world. We need a balanced representation of Africa in a reformed United Nations, in particular in the Security Council if we want to achieve a new, legitimized and sustainable global order that reflects and harnesses the realities of the 21st century. We share these common objectives with South Africa and African countries.
Germany is a member of the G4-group of countries (with Brazil, India and Japan) which aim towards a reformed Security Council that is more representative of today’s realities, while enhancing the UN’s overall performance and effectiveness and efficiency.
Perhaps the most pressing global challenge affecting us all is climate change. We need an Africa using renewable energy sources abundantly available on the continent – solar, wind, hydropower. Can it be done? I am representing an industrial state, not any industrialized state, but one that is a pioneer in promoting renewable energy. Germany, not exactly a country blessed with sunshine all year around, abundant wind or hydropower, is in the vanguard of implementing an energy transition.
The promotion of renewables is also part of Germany’s global responsibility as an affluent consumer country to reduce man-made global warming that disproportionately impacts poorer parts of the world, especially crop yields in Africa. Germany’s energy transition has brought about a tremendous change in the mind-set of our population. Today, renewables in Germany account for well over 20 percent of its electricity generation.
If it can be done in an industrialized state like Germany, it can be done elsewhere. It was, after all, the genuine partnership between African, European and the LDC countries, including all small island countries, which turned a prolonged COP17 meeting in Durban in 2011 into a success – against all odds.
Since then, the German-South African Energy Partnership, signed in February 2013, has added to an already accomplished and impressive list of practical projects – too many to be listed here, underlining the win-win nature of our extensive bilateral collaboration. We successfully integrate development cooperation and private sector efforts, tailored to the needs of our South African partners. This cooperation between an industrialized state from the North and an emerging economy from the South makes our cooperation so exemplary and so valuable. So, yes, it can be done.
So why is Germany, why is the German government, why are German companies and NGO’s so deeply engaged in South Africa?
Because South Africa matters. Of course it matters to you as South Africans, but it also matters to us. At the 11th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture here at UNISA in 2013, the Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Dr. Ibrahim, put it this way: “Your are the most advanced – economically, industrially – country in Africa. We look in admiration to your wonderful struggle to freedom. We look at your founders, founding fathers, the great Mandela, he is our hero … So we expect a lot from you. And we will not refrain from being critical when we see you wavering and misbehaving because you matter to us. You are the locomotive. You are supposed to pull this region forward, economically, socially and culturally.”
In some ways South Africa considers itself to be a developing country. In many ways, however, South Africa has overcome the typical challenges of a developing country and turned into an innovative global development partner.
South Africa is the only African member of the G20, holds a prominent position in many international fora where it aims to coordinate with African partners to formulate an African agenda. Its infrastructure program also pushes for regional integration as a tool to enhance development.
As an important regional player, as a G20 member and as an influential international voice, we also see South Africa as a like-minded partner in overcoming global challenges such as climate change, promotion of trade and investment, enhancing responsible use of raw materials, food security. We do not believe in building new walls and divides, be they East-West or North-South, but in inclusive partnerships between countries of all hemispheres to reform and adapt the multilateral system to new realities.
Dear students,
The visible walls of division, the Berlin Wall and the wall of Apartheid, have fallen. Do not forget the fallen walls of the past, the physical as well as the mental barriers. If you don’t know where you come from, you will not know where you’re going. Learn and continue building on the lessons of the past while making sure that the past does not steal your present.
I urge you to be alert and not create new walls and build artificial antagonisms that hamper rather than advance cooperation and growth as a society.
Your education, curiosity, willingness to cooperate and compete internationally is the best way to achieve your personal goals, as well as a cohesive, fair and just society. Education is what builds a nation.
Your exposure to new places, people, languages and ideas is invaluable. It helps shape a new generation of leaders with a truly global outlook. In today’s world, where geographical boundaries gradually disappear this will help you to meet the challenge of organizing our societies in their absence.
And cherish the partnership with Germany where and whenever you can. In many ways, and comparing our constitutions, we share the same fundamental interests and values and we follow like-minded approaches. Let us work together to live up to them.
Finally, as Nelson Mandela so well put it, international participation comes by virtue of sharing international responsibilities. Leadership is both – a responsibility and an unparalleled opportunity. And in the 21st century this means to accept a share of the burden of solving common problems by abiding by a set of international rules.
In this spirit we will turn challenges into opportunities and opportunities into achievements.
Thank you.
Source: http://www.southafrica.diplo.de/Vertretung/suedafrika/en/__pr/Speeches-Freitag/2015/06-24-Unisa.html?archive=3519722