What is left of press freedom in Morocco? The first six months of 2008 have been marked by an avalanche of trials and repressive judicial and administrative decisions. At the same time, promises by Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi’s government to reform the press law have still not materialised. No bill has yet been submitted to the chamber of deputies.
“We are very worried by the deterioration in the press freedom situation in Morocco,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The mistrust that journalists feel towards the government has been reinforced by an increase in the number of prosecutions brought against them and the many other obstacles they have to face.”
Journalists were stunned when reporter Mostapha Hurmatallah of the weekly “Al Watan Al An” was returned to Casablanca’s Okacha prison on 19 February to finish the seven-month sentence he was given in 2007 for publishing the content of an intelligence agency memo. It made them aware of the danger they were all in.
Moroccan journalists have always had to worry about their safety. They now know they can go to prison if what they report challenges the official version. Hurmatallah’s editor, Abderrahim Ariri, got a suspended prison sentence but the eight army officers who allegedly leaked information to Hurmatallah were given long jail terms that have been seen as a warning to all who cooperate with the media.
Before being sent back to prison, Hurmatallah told Reporters Without Borders that his first spell of 56 days behind bars had left him with a “bitter taste” although conditions in prison had been relatively acceptable. “When I set about becoming a journalist, I never imagined that I might end up in prison because of what I wrote. This has been a brutal experience. I was very moved by all the campaigning on my behalf in Morocco and abroad, but prison is prison.”
There was no response to the request for a pardon that his family sent to King Mohammed and now he is due to be freed in July on completion of his sentence. However, on 18 March, the King did pardon blogger Fouad Mourtada, who had been sentenced to three years in prison for creating a spoof entry on the social networking website Facebook in the name of the king’s brother – a case which, despite the pardon, has traumatised the Moroccan blogosphere.
The courts rarely rule in favour of journalists, who increasingly doubt the judicial system’s independence. In March, the editor of the Arabic-language daily “Al-Massae”, Rachid Nini, was sentenced to pay six million dirhams (approx. 550,000 euros) in damages and a fine of 120,000 dirhams (approx. 11,000 euros) in a lawsuit brought by four judges. No court had ever ordered such a high damages award before. The case is due to be heard by an appeal court soon.
“Al-Massae” photographer Karim Selmaoui was questioned by members of the national department of criminal investigation in Casablanca for more than two hours on 16 June about a photo in the newspaper’s 28 May issue of a woman being manhandled by police during a demonstration. The police superintendent who appeared in the photo received threats after it was published.
Selmaoui told Reporters Without Borders he was interrogated about the circumstances in which he took the photo and how it came to be published in the foreign press. He was also questioned at length about his former work relationship with the French weekly “Le Journal”, especially as regards to the photos it used for its stories about the Moroccan government. “One can live without the press, but one cannot live without being safe,” one of the policemen told him.
Just as the trial of “Al Watan Al An”‘s editor and reporter caused a stir in 2007, the high-profile trial of Hassan Rachidi, Rabat bureau chief of the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera will start in July. He was charged him with “publishing false information” on 13 June because, according to the government, he deliberately omitted any reference to a government denial about the toll of dead and wounded in recent clashes in the southern city of Sidi Ifni.
The authorities seem to have no doubt about his guilt, as his press accreditation was withdrawn immediately after the charges were announced. In May, the government withdrew Al-Jazeera’s licence to broadcast directly by satellite from Morocco. This meant that its staff had to stop producing a daily news programme about the Maghreb countries which it had been broadcasting live from its Rabat studio. Rachidi will face a possible one-year prison sentence when his trial starts on 1 July.
Another current case concerns a request by Ahmed Herzenni, the president of the Consultative Council for Human Rights (CCDH), for a summary ruling to stop the Arabic-language daily “Al Jarida Al Oula” from continuing the series of previously unpublished interviews it began on 9 June. Senior Moroccan officials gave the interviews to Fairness and Reconciliation (IER), an entity that was dissolved in 2007 and replaced by the CCDH, and Herzenni insists they are confidential government documents. He is to argue his case in court on 18 June.
The trial of Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, the publisher of the weeklies “Tel Quel” and “Nichane”, is also due to resume in Casablanca on 3 September. He faces up to five years in prison for “disrespect for the king” under article 41 of the press law.
When a Reporters Without Borders delegation met with government spokesman and communications minister Khalid Naciri on 30 April in Rabat, he expressed a desire to introduce a new press law that would be “advanced” and “based on consensus.” According to Naciri, the proposed new law is still being discussed.

Member parties present at the General Assembly of the Africa Liberal Network, held on 15 May 2008 in Belfast
– Congratulate the President of the MDC, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, for his ongoing commitment to democracy and human rights
– Warn the international community of the risks entailed by President Robert Mugabe’s abuse of power
-Express their solidarity with Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai for the run-off presidential election to be held on 27 June 2008
-Call upon SADC and the broader international community to oversee and safeguard the elections
-Condem the numerous acts of intimidation and the violations of human rights perpetrated by the Zanu-PF government.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned about the extent of the humanitarian crisis that is developing across Gauteng as a result of violent attacks on foreign nationals. A number of deplorable attacks over the weekend have reportedly led to the death of 12 people and the displacement of thousands more. We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected, displaced and traumatised by this tragedy.
In order to prevent this situation from deteriorating any further it is clear that the time has come to pursue a targeted intervention. Such an intervention should involve a two-pronged approach, with strategies both to contain the violence itself, and to relieve the suffering of those displaced by the attacks by setting up refugee camps in the affected areas.
The first step in this process is for the Minister of Home Affairs, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to pull her head out of the sand and acknowledge both the causes and the extent of the crisis. Government’s attempts to formulate an adequate response and workable solutions to this stalemate hinge upon a full acknowledgement by the Minister that this is indeed an emergency, rather than the workings of a so-called “third force” or a rag-tag of unspecified “criminal elements”.
The Home Affairs Minister has a long history of denial of the extent of the humanitarian crisis caused by unregulated and predominantly illegal migration into South Africa, the majority of which stems from Zimbabwe. By presiding over one of the largest human migrations of the last quarter century, without any comprehensive plans on how to cope with the influx of millions of people into South Africa, government is largely responsible for helping to create the necessary conditions for the development of the current crisis.
During the course of last year a DA investigation at the Beit Bridge border post found that thousands of people were crossing into South Africa daily, with little or no adequately-formulated state response to the influx. We warned that a humanitarian crisis was imminent unless a series of measures – such as the establishment of a refugee camp there – were considered by government; our calls were dismissed as exaggerated and unwarranted.
It was clear then, as it is today that we are in need of innovative solutions to address this situation. The current ad-hoc approach to dealing with displaced foreign nationals in Gauteng is clearly not working, hundreds of people are gathering at police stations or other public facilities that are simply not equipped to cope with even their most basic needs. What is therefore required is the establishment of refugee camps in the worst affected areas so that people can be given access to food, shelter and medical care where required.
The establishment of these camps would also allow government to access the expertise and resources of UN agencies, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in attempting to address this escalating catastrophe, as well as enabling aid agencies to render assistance to migrants in a relatively safe and regulated environment. These agencies could also prove invaluable in helping us to cope with the strain placed on our already over-stretched resources.
The South African government owes it both to citizens and to foreign nationals alike to ensure that it now commits itself to dealing not only with the immediate symptoms, but also with the more complex causes of the current xenophobia crisis.

The topic of this theme report, “for an inclusive society”, goes to the heart of the challenge that the Democratic Alliance faces in South Africa.
We describe our mission as: “the open, opportunity-driven society for all,” which is our way of defining the “inclusive society”. We have to achieve this in the context of a deeply divided society, in which ethnic and cultural differences are far more complex than simplistic racial categories suggest, but which still largely coincide with the contours of poverty and wealth.
If this vision is achieved it will be a feat that, to my knowledge, has not been accomplished anywhere in the world in a comparable context.
Since being elected leader of the Democratic Alliance a year ago, I have reached the following central conclusion: Unless liberals in a plural and unequal society such as ours, can find credible ways of accommodating diversity and addressing poverty, the ceiling on our growth will remain very low. The need to deal with poverty and diversity requires addressing majority aspirations and minority fears. These often seem contradictory imperatives, but they must be attained simultaneously for the liberal project to succeed. The same challenge faces liberalism worldwide if it wishes to extend beyond its established enclaves.
It is also worth saying at the outset that the term “liberal” is widely misunderstood and actually used pejoratively by many in South Africa. That is why I don’t generally use the term. It confuses more than it clarifies. Rather than spending time salvaging a label, I prefer to build the values, which is why we refer to the open, opportunity society, which I will define in more detail later.
To say that we have some experience of the politics of dispossession and identity in South Africa is an understatement. Apartheid was a perverse form of identity politics because most individuals were not free to choose their group identity. It was imposed on them by a system of racial and ethnic classification designed by a minority deeply fearful of their own survival in what was perceived as a hostile context.
Race became the primary marker of “identity” and dispossession. This entrenched a legacy of extreme inequality, and has created a particularly challenging environment in which to establish the open, opportunity society. The vision of free individuals loyal to the constitutional order, with equal opportunity under the rule of law is more compatible with a relatively homogenous society with a stable middle class majority – in other words a society where the playing field is more level.
During apartheid, liberals shared the vision of an inclusive South Africa with many in the African National Congress, the exiled liberation movement. This vision was most powerfully set out by Nelson Mandela in his 1964 statement from the dock before he was given a life sentence for treason. He said:
“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Nelson Mandela’s vision was essentially a liberal one, and one that I believe is being betrayed by his successors in the ANC today. But before I get to that, I would like to set out the Democratic Alliance’s vision for an open, opportunity society for all, which I believe is the only recipe for inclusivity in a divided society.
The open, opportunity society is one in which every person has the right, the space and the capability to be herself, develop herself and pursue her own ends as an equal and fully legitimate citizen. The phrase brings together three key concepts – individual freedom; opportunity with responsibility; and equality before the law. These three concepts underpin our understanding of how individuals, the state and society should relate to each other. In particular this relationship depends on limiting the exercise of power. The inability to constrain the power of their rulers is one of the key reasons that societies in transition fail to become consolidated democracies.
One of the main lessons from our first decade of democracy is that it is easier to build an open society than an opportunity society. Expanding opportunities are a function of extended and improved education and skills in a context of job-creating economic growth. But the creation of such conditions takes time, probably at least two generations, if all the policy conditions are right. And time is usually not on the side of liberals in emerging democracies where the expectations of the dispossessed are as high as their faith in their liberation leaders to deliver on their promises.
Failure to build the opportunity society sufficiently quickly soon threatens the open society, as groups mobilise on ethnic/class lines in the contest for access to resources and jobs. When this happens political leaders entrench their power behind collectivist rhetoric, using the state as a vehicle for patronage to reward those who keep them in power. Inevitably, the distinction between the party and the state is eroded. The power elite find scapegoats (usually other “groups”) to blame for any perceived problem or failure. The power of group and ethnic mobilisation, reinforced by class divisions and cronyism, explain the stranglehold that many failed leaders have on the electorate in divided societies.
This is the path towards the “closed, patronage-driven society” the very anti-thesis of Nelson Mandela’s vision of an inclusive society.
By the time that the electorate realises that it has been betrayed by the party they once thought embodied their struggle, it is too late. The boundaries between party and state are blurred to the extent that the ruling party’s elite controls every institution that should actually hold their power in check. In this context, even if citizens are still able to vote their government out of office, power does not change hands, because the key institutions of coercion (the police and the army), are merely an extension of the dominant politician and his ruling elite who refuse to give way. This is the situation that Zimbabwe finds itself in now.
In 1994, when South Africa held its first democratic election, we were hailed as the continent’s great hope. The notion of South African exceptionalism was born. Many believed that, given the success of our negotiated transition and our comparably strong economy, we would be a beacon of democracy and good governance for the rest of Africa.
This prognosis certainly looked good on paper. The Constitution that emerged from the multi-party negotiations is one of the most inclusive and liberal in the world. It embodies the elements of the open, opportunity-driven society.
But, as Barack Obama said in his speech in Philadelphia recently, there is always a disjuncture between the ideals of the Constitution and the reality of the time. This is true even of long established democracies, such as the USA, which have undertaken institution-building over generations and finely tuned the checks and balances on power.
This disjuncture is even more apparent in new democracies that adopt international liberal principles in their constitutions. Unless leaders understand and genuinely accept the need for limitations on their power, there is a danger that the schism between the ideals of the Constitution and “the reality of the time” actually widen instead of narrow. This has happened in many emerging democracies and is a danger facing South Africa today.
The new ANC President, Jacob Zuma, claims repeatedly that his party is more important than the Constitution. He has gone so far to say that the ANC is ordained by God and that it will rule, and I quote, “until Jesus comes back”. He has openly said that the ANC should not allow another party to govern Cape Town, the only City in South Africa that is not under an ANC government, but ruled by a fragile six-party coalition.
The result is that the open, opportunity society promised in our Constitution is being slowly undermined by the leadership of the ruling party. Instead of vigorously protecting the institutions that limit state power, the ANC is locked in an internal battle for control of them, to advance factional political ends. Instead of ensuring access to opportunity for all, the ANC is concerned with creating opportunities for the politically-connected to whom favours are owed. The result, if left unchecked, will be the full-blown pattern of centralisation, cronyism and corruption that has been the ruin of other divided societies seeking to make the transition to democracy.
Can this decline be reversed? In our last general election in 2004, 12.5% of South Africans (mainly from minority communities), supported our alternative of the “open, opportunity society”. Voters from minority groups, fearful of majority tyranny and single party domination, are more receptive to our message, although even amongst minorities, the power of ethnic political mobilisation is very strong because it is perceived as the best means of securing identity interests, such as language and culture. This is one of the key reasons the opposition in South Africa is so fragmented, and why it is proving extremely difficult to bridge these divisions. The more uncertain and insecure voters become, the more the opposition vote tends to fragment along ethnic lines, a reality that liberals must take cognisance of if they want to make progress.
But, despite this, it is far more difficult to convince the majority of South Africans, that the open, opportunity-driven society is the best way of improving their lives too. The cogency of racial mobilisation and solidarity is still too powerful for that.
Is it possible to transcend the legacy of division and dispossession? This task is very difficult, but not impossible. As a start, liberals must accept that “identity” politics is a powerful force that cannot be ignored. In fact, it must be embraced within the open, opportunity society project.
If liberals wish to be less misunderstood and more accepted they must find ways of identifying with a range of groups who are easily alienated by what they perceive as the liberal culture of superiority. Liberals love the rhetoric of openness, but in divided societies often set themselves apart as a rational, analytical and dispassionate elite that has little contact with the trials and tribulations of ordinary people.
In order to move out of this trap, liberals in divided societies must “live their values” beyond the confines of a cosy club of like-minded people who think, speak and look much the same. They must build genuine bonds of friendship, care and common interest with people across all communities. This involves immersing oneself in situations that liberals often find difficult and culturally confusing. But this is one of the ways that we can start a process of value convergence on the things that matter to all human beings.
At the political level, this process is reflected in coalition building, which is in its infancy in South Africa. The six party coalition in Cape Town spans racial/ethnic/ and religious differences rather than ideological divisions. In this context, it has proved possible to propose policy options rooted in the values of an open, opportunity society, and get broad based support for them from across the coalition spectrum. This has been a particularly important case study in finding a platform for shared values that transcend race and ethnic interests.
This process has proved particularly challenging for many liberal stalwarts who often perceive every adaptation as a dilution of principle. If the choice is between building a broad-based opposition to challenge a hegemonic elite or remaining a small, overwhelmingly white and ideologically pure liberal party, I generally choose the first option.
Conversely, however, it is pointless to abandon our core values and principles merely to attain power. Without policies rooted in principles and values, power is worthless. But it is a matter of complex judgement where to draw the line, and it is far easier to do so in theory than it is in the complexity of daily practice where compromises are necessary to build and sustain fragile coalitions between parties who may be unfamiliar with liberal tenets.
In societies shaped by centuries of racial nationalism, this is a particular challenge. If liberals in divided societies wish to grow in numbers, they have to convince nationalists that the open, opportunity society offers a better alternative for their aspirations too. But liberals also have to accept that this is a difficult transition involving significant adaptations in political culture on all sides.
Another key conclusion I have reached during my brief term of office is that the liberal project in divided societies is more likely to be built from the bottom up, than driven from the top down. That is the key reason that I have chosen, at this stage, to remain mayor of Cape Town and not assume the role of Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. If Cape Town succeeds in building a broad-based and viable alternative to the racial nationalism of the ANC, “open, opportunity society” coalitions can be extended to provincial and even national level in successive elections starting in 2009 and become the catalyst for a total realignment of politics. Such a realignment should also comprise the many members of the ANC whose vision of a democratic South Africa is being betrayed by their own party’s current trajectory.
However, this alternative is not a foregone conclusion. Often, coalition partners prove to be each other’s worst enemies, especially during elections, when the temptation to maximise individual advantage by mobilising an exclusive ethnic base trumps the importance of working together.
In building a base of common values and policies, we also have to confront many tough issues that cause deep controversy. One of the most complex is how South Africa should deal with the centuries-old legacy of racial inequality.
The ANC’s answer to racial inequality is to drive race quotas in a policy known as “representivity”, which appears beguilingly fair at first glance.
But it requires the re-introduction of covert racial classification which is anathema to liberals, not least because it has become a fig-leaf for political cronyism and has nothing to do with empowering the dispossessed majority. It also entrenches the view that people who don’t share the same racial background are fundamentally different, and that only like can represent like (defined in racial terms).
Ironically, in criticising these policies we have been accused of being anti-change and of protecting white privilege, when precisely the opposite is true.
Our alternative approach recognises the importance and value of diversity, but we seek to achieve this by extending opportunities, in a variety of ways, not manipulating outcomes by methods that quickly degenerate into political patronage. In practical terms, an example is the University of Cape Town that pioneered methods of measuring potential to succeed in capable students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and offered them access to university on this basis, rather than determining access solely by matric results.
We have applied the same principle to awarding contracts in the City of Cape Town. Through extending opportunity, rather than manipulating outcomes, the percentage of contracts awarded to black entrepreneurs went up in one year by ten percent over what the ANC achieved, despite the fact that we scrapped their punitive quota system. In my own party we are running programs to develop a diverse new generation of leadership.
For liberals, an even greater challenge than dealing with diversity is tackling poverty and inequality. Traditional liberal policy approaches for the promotion of economic growth and expanding opportunities have little immediate impact when great numbers of people do not have the education or skills needed to use the emerging opportunities.
Addressing this conundrum takes sustained economic growth and 20 years of simultaneously improving education. And few developing democracies adopt policies that achieve these dual objectives, partly because impatience leads people and their representatives to support short term populist solutions, often with disastrous results.
In this context, many believe the demagoguery of leaders promising an escape from poverty through blaming and punishing the middle-class, rather than retaining and harnessing their capital and skills for the benefit of society as a whole.
Societies that have managed to turn around endemic poverty are those that have achieved the highest growth rates over the past 50 years. Not all of these countries can be described as politically liberal, but they have all made economic growth the overriding focus of policy making.
This point is made not to justify illiberal political regimes. It is to contrast this with some emerging democracies that succumb to the fallacious belief that curtailing economic freedom and increasing restrictive state intervention is a quicker route to narrowing economic inequality.
To limit the need for the wrong kind of state intervention, liberals must propose a credible role for the state in growing the economy and assisting people who cannot find a foothold in the economy on their own.
The question is how to do so in a way that maximises opportunity, self reliance and personal responsibility rather than creating permanent dependence.
And this challenging question is usually where the analysis ends. Many liberals stop short of making practical suggestions in this field. So let me go where angels fear to tread. But let me also say that the creation of complex welfare systems is not the answer. These interventions fail in developing countries because of a lack of state capacity, extensive corruption, and the establishment of a cycle of dependency that people find difficult to break.
Rather, state intervention must extend the opportunities and choices people have to improve their own lives. Some of the options that my party is investigating for our own policy research include:
Distributing education vouchers to parents who then have the freedom to choose a school for their children and the added capacity to pay. This incentivises schools to improve standards to attract these students.
Additional bursaries to pupils who show promise after the foundation phase of schooling. This also creates an incentive for good performance.
Opportunity vouchers to the poor and/or unemployed to subsidise further training costs or start a business;
Free basic services (water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal) – which we already provide in Cape Town;
Tax breaks for companies that create new jobs to encourage labour-intensive industry;
Transferring, at greatly reduced or at no cost, state land and housing to people who then have a foothold on the first rung of a market economy;
Prosperity zones where small employers are freed from labour market constraints;
Cutting the red tape that hinders the start up of small business;
Increasing and enhancing competition in the banking sector to ensure that capital provision occurs at all income levels; and
A basic income grant to protect people from extreme poverty.
In conclusion, there are three points worth emphasising:
1. All of these interventions are only possible on the basis of a stable, productive and expanding tax-paying middle class. The flight of capital and skills is the greatest threat to the liberal project in emerging democracies, including South Africa.
2. Liberal philosophies must become concrete and practical if they are to win support from ordinary people with real fears about their personal security, be these based on perceived threats to their identity, safety or their material circumstances.
3. Finally, this is a great challenge, but one that the liberal parties in the developed world must face as well. They are not protected from the global forces of identity politics and poverty, and will have to face them as well. South African liberals today are playing a pioneering role in this quest.
Thank you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me first of all to state very clearly that I am not an expert on the topic I will be addressing. Just like all of you I am a concerned citizen of the earth, and through my responsibilities in life I am also a concerned leader. I get worried when I read what the scientists have discovered through careful and responsible research. I worry about the immediate future, but then I am also deeply mindful about what the future could be. Will there be a future for my great grandchildren? What sort of planet will they come into? The thoughts I share today come out of these concerns.
We have to listen to what the scientists are telling us, but as individuals, we also have to adopt new lifestyles if we are to allow our planet to survive, meaning that we have to play our ole as guardians of planet earth. Only through this will we allow future generations to share in what we enjoy today. It is about every single one of us, the rich and poor, the multi-nationals and the isolated local farmer, the West, the South, the consumer and the producer.
We are all in it together for we are now all agreed that indeed we live in a global village. In the Seychelles, where I come from, we were brutally awoken to that reality when the tsunami hit Asia and the Indian Ocean. Millions of miles away from the epicenter, we were affected, people lost their lives, buildings and bridges were destroyed. From that sad day in December 2005, whenever we hear of any earthquake in Asia we are more attentive. But the earthquake did not bring only fear in our people, it also enriched our vocabulary, for today the word tsunami is a creole word! Every person now knows what a tsunami is, and this brings with it sympathy and caring for those affected.
The most obvious impact of climate change, as the scientists have been telling us, will be warmer/colder temperatures, more humid conditions and a rise in sea level. Extreme temperatures around our planet will change it completely in the long term, making cold regions warm and perhaps making some arid regions more humid, all with effects on vegetation and lifestyle.
But, for our imagination, it is the consequences of a rise in sea levels that are more immediate and the easiest to grasp. Those of us who live on small islands, as we do in the Seychelles, can imagine quite easily what it could be like. We live close to the sea. It is never out of sight and never, never out of mind. You don’t need to have the imagination of a science fiction writer to picture what could happen if the sea level rose by two metres.
In our region of the Indian Ocean, some places are particularly vulnerable. It has Bangladesh, one of the flattest countries on the earth, among the most densely populated and already among the poorest. We have the Maldives, which is a country of low-lying coral islands only a couple of metres above sea level at the best of times. These two are extreme examples but other places are at the mercy of sea level rise too.
There are many coastal regions of South-east Asia and Africa that are low enough to be affected and certainly the islands of the Indian Ocean too. Seychelles is a good example. Some of our islands are flat coralline islands, just like the Maldives. Our main islands are granitic and with peaks that rise steeply above the sea, but, and this is a big but, over 70% of our people live on the low coastal strip around these high peaks and up to 90% of economic infrastructure and activity is located on this low coastal strip. So we would be very much at the mercy of a rise in sea level such as is being predicted.
We don’t really know how the rise in sea levels will be manifested. Will it be a slow, almost imperceptible rise that will only be noticed as coastal plants begin to die when the level of salt water beneath the soil increases; or will large waves begin to wash ashore more frequently, inundating coastal lands, killing crops and tearing up infrastructure?
It goes without saying then that a rise in sea-levels will have devastating consequences on the economy of such areas which are vulnerable. Human settlement, agriculture, tourism, industry, fisheries and services will all be affected.
The consequences will of course be profound for poverty alleviation and economic growth in these vulnerable areas. Homes and livelihoods will be destroyed. The scope for economic activity will be reduced and production will face serious setbacks. But, in all this, uncertainty reigns. What will be the effect of rising temperatures in the atmosphere on sea-temperatures? What effect will this in turn have on fish stocks, which are a prime source of food and revenue for our region?
A recent study by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in San Diego University, reveals that large areas of the oceans, especially in the tropical zones, hold low levels of oxygen. They are saying that the reason behind the dwindling levels of oxygen in the ocean is closely linked to global warming. Warm waters hold less oxygen than cold ones. The prediction is that these ‘Open ocean oxygen minimum zones’ (OMZ) will extend through global warming, thus having a major effect on fish stocks. Already the research has shown that in relative terms oxygen levels are 15% poorer in the north Atlantic and off west Africa. The rise in sea temperatures some years back caused major coral bleaching, and had a catastrophic impact on coastal fishing in my country.
‘Adaptation’ to the effects of climate change is becoming a familiar phrase, a buzz-word even. Of course, countries have to begin to consider adaptation strategies very seriously. There are possibilities to be considered for planning, if the country is large enough to provide room for development away from the immediate threat of the sea. Even slight adaptations in planning agriculture or buildings could make a difference of a hundred years or so in how much an area or a facet of human life is affected.
But while we pursue adaptation, let us spare a thought for those areas where you cannot even think of adaptation. For Bangladesh and the Maldives, there is not even any place to run to. The same applies for some areas of Seychelles and other small island developing states (SIDS).
So before we think of adaptation, I would like to spare a word about tackling climate change. Nowhere have I seen it said that climate change is irreversible or unstoppable. The causes that have been given for climate change in the context in which we are talking have mostly been related to human activity. There is already a lot of attention on changing the types of activity that cause climate change, although we have not seen the kind of change that is necessary to make a difference. The world has just started giving its mind to this problem. So I want to say, let us not divert our attention. Let us spread and multiply the efforts.
I know we cannot turn back the world. We cannot un-invent the motor car. We cannot un-invent factories and airplanes. But I believe humankind can change these inventions in order to survive.
There is one word that sums up enormous possibilities for changing human behaviour and human activity, including in the very difficult matter of climate change. That one word is EDUCATION. I don’t believe we have exhausted the possibility of education in tackling climate change. Generations can learn to change. Here I want to give an example of wildlife clubs established in my country. They have now become real agents for change. By appreciating nature, children are now growing up with the attitude of conservation instead of destruction. Whereas 20 years ago dolphins and turtles were seen as food sources, today our children understand that destroying these animals means destroying our planet and ourselves. If the world takes the task seriously, it can muster the resources that are required to educate people to tackle climate change. It is very hard of course, but adaptation may not be easier. And for some, it is not an option.
It is obvious that if we want a continued existence on our planet earth, the world has to act together. Preserving our planet is not an option. It is a must and everyone is a player.
I thank you.

WE SHOULD ACT NOW, WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Ibrahim Haruna Lipumba, National Chairman Civic United Front- Tanzania and Gareth Morgan MP, DA Spokesperson on Environmental Affairs- South Africa
The environment provides at least four keys services to humanity. It provides life support, particularly through the air we breathe; it supplies natural resources; it absorbs waste products; and it supplies amenity opportunities. There is now less doubt than ever before that climate change is taking place and is mainly caused by human activities that generate green house gases (GHG). The services that the environment provides us are now under severe threat. Urgent action is required to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The Science & Economics of Climate Change
The scientific evidence for this is overwhelming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report has concluded that “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.” The warming of our climate system is directly linked to human activity. Climate change is a serious global threat, and it demands an urgent global response.
Climate change caused by GHG emissions is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen. The prices of goods and services produced since the beginning of the industrial revolution have never reflected the true cost to the environment. The vast majority of these goods and services are in someway linked to GHG emissions.
The Stern Review estimates that if we do not act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more. In contrast, the costs of action – reducing GHG emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year.
If no action is taken to reduce emissions, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could reach double its pre-industrial level as early as 2035, virtually committing us to a global average temperature rise of over 2°C. In the longer term, there would be more than a 50% chance that the temperature rise would exceed 5°C. This rise would be very dangerous indeed
All countries will be affected. Climate change will affect the basic elements of life for people around the world – access to water, food production, health, and the environment. Hundreds of millions of people could suffer hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the world warms. The most vulnerable – the poorest countries and populations – will suffer earliest and most, even though they have contributed least to the causes of climate change. The costs of extreme weather, including floods, droughts and storms, are already rising, including for rich countries.
The effects on Africa, are already proving to be dramatic and will accelerate. From 1900 to 2005 rainfall has significantly decreased in North Africa, the Sahel and Southern Africa. Mount Kilimanjaro has lost over 80 percent of its glacier. Sea level rise is threatening African islands and coastal communities.
It is estimated that by 2020 75 – 250 million people will be exposed to increased water stress. In some countries, particularly in the Sahel and Southern Africa yields from rain-fed agriculture will be reduced by 50 percent.
Scientists argue that the risks of the worst impacts of climate change can be substantially reduced if greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere can be stabilised between 450 and 550ppm CO2 equivalent (CO2e). The current level is 430ppm CO2e today, and it is rising at more than 2ppm each year. Stabilisation in this range would require emissions to be at least 25 percent below current levels by 2050, and perhaps much more. It is already very difficult and too costly to aim to stabilise at 450ppm CO2e. It is feasible to stabilise GHG levels at 500-550ppm CO2e if the whole world acts now. If we delay, the opportunity to stabilise at 500-550ppm CO2e will slip away.
It is only fair that industrialised countries that have contributed most of the GHG emissions carry responsibility for absolute cuts in emissions of 60-80% by 2050. Developing countries particularly India and China and other large ones that are currently growing fast must take significant action to reduce emissions. All countries particularly those in the tropical rain forest areas should contribute to reducing CO2 emissions by drastically reducing deforestation. Deforestation is responsible for more emissions than the transport sector.
International Action
Given the objective of stabilising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere at 500-550ppm CO2e, global required levels of emissions reduction is known. What is required is an international agreement to limit emissions for industrialised countries and large developing countries. It is critical to create an international market trade for CO2 emissions. Producers of emissions should pay for it. The objective should be to establish a global carbon price across countries and sectors. Hopefully with the demise of the Bush Administration in the US, the coming Obama Administration (?) will be a more responsible global partner. Emissions trading schemes, like that operating across the European Union, could be expanded and linked.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an instrument that allows industrialised countries with a GHG reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries, should be effectively promoted and better managed to remove actual and potential corrupt practices of awarding undeserved projects CDM status. The CDM allows net global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced at a much lower global cost by financing emissions reduction projects in developing countries where costs are lower than in industrialized countries.
Role of Technology
Technology has a critical role to play in averting climate change. National, regional, and international technology policy should drive the large-scale development and use of a range of low-carbon and high-efficiency products. Investment in technological advancement of non-polluting alternative energy including solar, geothermal, wind, ocean waves and hybrid batteries is important. Biofuels from non-food biomass can contribute to reducing dependency on fossil fuel for transport. The increased use of food products particularly corn to produce ethanol, soybeans and palm oil to produce bio-diesel has contributed to the global increase in the price of food. Large subsidies to convert corn into ethanol should be eliminated while more attention should be directed to supporting research that uses cellulosic feed stocks such as switch grass, grain stalks, wood waste, wood chips and even newspapers to produce biofuels. Tropical countries with twelve months growing seasons can have a comparative advantage in the production of biofuels. Jatropha can be planted in semi waste lands to prevent soil erosion and its seeds used to produce bio-diesel. Sweet sorghum that can grow in semi arid regions can be used as a feed stock for the production of ethanol. Increased biofuels production should however not be attained at the expense of deforestation.
Limiting deforestation and environmentally efficient harvesting of mature trees without clearing forests is the most effective measure of limiting GHG emissions. Development and use of non-tilling agriculture has the potential of limiting agriculture emission of GHG.
Climate change should be fully integrated into development policy. Developing countries should practice sustainable development which entails three sets of interrelated objectives: – economic, social and ecological. To attain sustainable growth, human and natural resources have to be used efficiently to promote growth of output and income. This growth should lead to reduction of poverty while protecting the environment. Sustained reduction in poverty and improvement in the provision of social services such as basic education, preventive and curative medicine, clean water and shelter requires broad based growth of output. Although sustained long-term growth is usually dependent on technological progress, it is also associated with capital accumulation because technical progress is usually embodied in new capital goods. The focus of policy makers should be to provide incentives to attain “green” technical progress.
Adaptation
Up until now much of the global debate around climate change, particularly among developed countries, has concerned climate mitigation that is, reducing emissions. The reality of these interventions is that we will only be lessening climate change, not preventing it. Much of the warming that is locked into the system is due to emissions that have already occurred. As countries move towards the finalisation of a post-2012 Kyoto framework it is imperative that cost effective policies are developed that combine mitigation of global emissions, adaptation measures and sustainable development.
Adaptation refers primarily to measures that lessen the vulnerabilities that arise as a result of the negative effects of climate change. While mitigation is mostly a global issue, adaptation is a local or regional issue, and therefore adaptation needs will be different in different parts of the world.
Those countries or communities with the least capacity to adapt are the most vulnerable to climate change. The worldwide cost of adapting will be between US$ 28 and US$ 67 billion per year by 2030. At the moment, the world’s Adaptation Fund, set up using funds from a levy on Clean Development Mechanism Projects, is estimated to be worth only US$ 36 million per year, and is expected to rise to no more than US$300 million per year by 2012. Hence, there is a significant funding gap, as the Adaptation Fund in its current manifestation will contribute only 1% of the funds required to help the world adapt to the climate change that is already likely to happen. Adaptation to climate change must be treated as a priority by the world’s leaders.
The difficult reality for politicians from the developed world, which is responsible for the vast majority of human-induced climate change, is that they are going to need to contribute significant resources to adaptation measures in the post-2012 climate framework. Further, any additional resources should not be allocated at the expense of current development aid.
Much more emphasis needs to be placed on adaptation measures in the period going forward. Besides the importance of adaptation as a means to sustain, and where possible, improve livelihoods, it is likely that no agreement on a post-2012 climate framework will be politically feasible if adaptation measures are not treated with the same importance as mitigation measures.
Africa’s own adaptation to climate change could benefit tremendously from the transfer of funds and technology from the developed world; we are going to need to redouble our efforts locally to improve our response time. Research in crop diversification, with the on-the-ground support and advice from agriculture extension workers to vulnerable communities is a priority. Increased investment in water infrastructure, including dams and irrigation, not to the mention the maintenance of current infrastructure is an imperative. Improved planning and more rigorous environmental authorisations that minimise the risks from extreme weather events such as flooding, wave damage and cyclones are a necessity. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Sustainable development also requires effective states that respect the will of the people. Citizens with knowledge about the impact human activities on the environment should support reasonable policies to protect the environment. Corrupt and undemocratic states are more likely to pursue policies that damage the environment. Democratically elected and accountable governments can be an effective instrument for protecting the environment. Africa needs to remove the democratic deficit to implement policies that increase the well being of all the people in a sustainable and ecologically responsible way.

INTRODUCTION
La présentation de la Convention relative aux droits de l’enfant du 20 Novembre 1989 dans sa forme actuelle a connu un certain cheminement à travers les âges.
Tout est parti de l’année 1923 lorsque Mr. JEBB avait énergiquement dénoncé les injustices inhérentes aux droits de l’enfant dans les Balkans.
Cette dénonciation fut coulée sous forme d’une déclaration des droits de l’enfant.
Cette déclaration connut plusieurs amendements au fil d’années et fut adoptée le 20 novembre 1959 par l’ONU comme déclaration des droits de l’enfant.
Les éléments déterminants qui ont été à la base de cette option sont les traumatismes des guerres et les abus d’ordre social dont la grande victime est l’enfant.
Il y a lieux d’énumérer :
les viols
la séparation des enfants de leur famille
l’exploitation des enfants dans les travaux lourds et à haut risque.
Par exemple en RDC ; au KATANGA, les enfants travaillent dans les mines, ils transportent des sacs des minéraux à la mine de Ruashi.
-le phénomène des enfants de rue «  les Shegués » qui sont abandonnés à leur triste sort,
— les phénomènes des enfants sorciers,
— les orphelins dépourvus de leurs droits successoraux,
— l’enrôlement des enfants au sein de l’armée,
— les conditions inhumaines des enfants déplacés de guerre et réfugiés dans leur propre pays.
QUELQUES CONCEPTS
Les concepts susceptibles de retenir l’attention de tous quant à leur entendement sont de quatre ordres à savoir :
Enfant—Droit—Convention—Loi ;
. L’enfant se définit comme étant tout être humain de tout sexe, âgé de moins de 18ans.
. Le Droit est la faculté de poser un acte, de jouir d’une chose, d’en disposer ou d’exiger quelque chose d’une autre personne.
. La Convention est un accord, un pacte entre les hommes, entre les tiers ou les Etats qui sont tenus à en respecter les clauses.
. La Loi est une règle obligatoire qui est un acte de l’autorité souveraine d’ordonner, de permettre ou de défendre.
3. QUELQUES OBJECTIFS
Nous devons mener des campagnes de vulgarisation des droits des enfants qui visent essentiellement les objectifs ci-après :
Permettre aux enfants du monde de mieux connaître leurs droits
Conscientiser les Etats, les décideurs, les parents et les responsables à divers nivaux sur la conscientisation des droits des enfants et leur application dans nos Etats respectifs
Apporter à l’ensemble de nos populations respectives une information correcte et exhaustive sur le contenu de la convention sur le droit de l’enfant.
4. QUELQUES ARTICLES CLES DE LA CONVENTION SUR LE DROIT DE L’ENFANT.
Faisant une lecture des articles clés de la convention sur le droit de l’enfant, nous avons retenu notre particulière attention sur quelques articles que nous avons trouvé essentielles dans la mesure de leur importance et du fait que leur application est en souffrance dans bon nombre de pays y compris la République Démocratique du Congo.
Il s’agit notamment des articles 12,17,19,21,24,28,32,33,38 ET 42 .
Article 12 ; les Etats parties garantissent à l’enfant, qui est capable de discerner, le droit d’exprimer son opinion sur toute question l’intéressant.
Article 17 : les Etats parties reconnaissent l’importance de la fonction remplie par les médias et veillent à ce que l’enfant ait accès à une information et à des matériels provenant des sources nationales et internationales car les médias sont des supports et des moyens par lesquels on transmet un message, une information à l’intention du groupe. Ce sont la radio, la télévision, la presse écrite,etc qui doit être véridique, vérifiable, objective, constructive, éducative et pertinente.
Article 19 : les Etats parties prennent des mesures législatives, administratives, sociales et éducatives appropriées pour protéger l’enfant contre toute forme de violence, d’atteinte à de brutalités physiques ou mentales, de mauvais traitement ou d’exploitation y compris la violence sexuelle.
Article 24 : les Etats parties reconnaissent le droit de l’enfant de jouir du meilleur état de santé possible et de bénéficier des services médicaux et de rééducation.
Article 38 : la convention interdit aux Etats parties de procéder au recrutement des enfants de moins de 15 ans dans l’armée.
5. LES ENFANTS SOLDATS EN REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO
En République Démocratique du Congo, le vocable «  KADOGO » signifie tout simplement ENFANTS SOLDATS. Ces enfants se sont retrouvés nombreux dans les rangs des forces combattantes qui ont renversé l’ancien dictateur MOBUTU le 17 mai 1997.
La République Démocratique du Congo a connu depuis 1996 un des moments les plus troublés de son histoire. Des bouleversements sociaux ont émergé sur fond d’une crise multiforme qui s’est cristallisée au fil des trois décennies. Il a résulté de cette situation une implosion de la violence sur fond des confits armés , laquelle a abouti à la chute du régime dictatorial de Mobutu, évincé par les Forces de l’Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo «  AFDL » commandées par Mr. Laurent Désiré KABILA  qui deviendra Président de la République Démocratique du Congo-
En 1998, une autre guerre civile s’est éclaté pour combattre cette fois le régime de Mr. Désiré KABILA, qui lui aussi avait choisi la manière dictatoriale pour gouverner ; il fut assassiné le 16 Janvier 2001.
Après la mort du Président Laurent DESIRE KABILA, son successeur, l’actuel Président de le RDC, Mr. JOSEPH KABILA, accepta de négocier avec les différents groupes rebelles armées dans le but de mettre fin aux confits armés. Ce qui abouti à l’organisation du Dialogue Intercongolais, tenu en Afrique du Sud et qui a conduit à la paix et à la formation d’un gouvernement d’union nationale en Juin 2003.
Après la formation du gouvernement d’union où les anciens belligérants ont été emmenés à gouverner ensemble, la nécessité de la restructuration de l’armée dans la logique de la gouvernance post-conflit et de la formation d’une nouvelle armée nationale a été rapidement perçue comme un impératif politico-militaire.
Par ailleurs, l’implication de plus de 30.000 enfants dans les conflits armées dans les guerres de 1996 -2008, considérée comme phénomène nouveau dans l’histoire de la RDC a été manifestement perçu comme une négation des dispositions juridiques internationales en faveur des droits de l’enfant auxquelles la RDC a pleinement souscrit, notamment la violation de la convention relative aux droit de l’enfant.
6 . DEMOBILISATION ET REINSERTION DES ENFANTS SOLDATS.
En 1997, le gouvernement Congolais éprouve le besoin de restructurer l’armée et demande à la banque mondiale un appui pour la réalisation d’un programme de démobilisation et de réinsertion des enfants soldats notamment.
En 1999, une conférence est tenue à Kinshasa sur la démobilisation et la réinsertion des enfants soldats. Cette conférence fut le résultat du plaidoyer réalisé par l’UNICEF suite à l’indexation par la communauté internationale de la RDC comme pays impliqué dans l’utilisation des enfants dans les conflits armés.
En 2000, le Président de la RDC signe un Décret-loi portant démobilisation et réinsertion des enfants soldats présents au sein des forces armées.
En 2001 est lancé par le Président de la République, Mr. Joseph KABILA de la campagne de sensibilisation pour la démobilisation, la réinsertion et prises de mesures conservatoires de protection des enfants impliqués dans l’armée et les forces combattantes.
Par ces mesures, les forces armées sont amenées à respecter les prescrits sur la protection des enfants notamment :
1 ; l’arrêt de recrutement des enfants de moins de 18ans dans l’armée de la RDC.
2 ; l’arrêt de l’envoi des enfants de moins de 18 ans sur la ligne de front ;
3 ; l’arrêt de l’utilisation des enfants à des taches purement militaires dont le maniement d’armes.
7. SITUATION ACTUELLE DES ENFANTS SOLDATS
Depuis 2004, il existe en RDC une structure qui s’occupe de la démobilisation et de la réinsertion des enfants soldats dans la société. C’est la CONADER : Commission Nationale de Désarmement, Démobilisation et Réinsertion.
Cette structure qui reçoit tous les ex combattants dans des centres de regroupement extrait immédiatement et automatiquement tous les enfants qui sont par la suite envoyés dans des centres de transit et d’orientation où après un processus de sensibilisation et d’identification qui dure 60 jours au maximum sont envoyés dans leurs familles.
Des structures de suivi, des ONG généralement assurent le relais et prennent en charge ces enfants ex-soldats pour assurer leur intégration dans la société.
Ceux des enfants qui ont l’âge de scolarité sont envoyés à l’école et pour les autres dans l’apprentissage de métiers tels que : l’agriculture, l’élevage, la maçonnerie, la mécanique, l’auto-école. .etc.
Le Secrétaire Général de l’ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a nommément accusé dans son rapport du mois de novembre 2007 sept groupes armés d’utiliser les enfants soldats, dont les Forces armées de la RDC (FARDC), les Forces démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) et le CNDP du chef rebelle Laurent Nkunda.
De son côté, M. le Représentant Adjoint de l’UNICEF a informé que plus de 30.219 enfants ont été démobilisés en RDC depuis le lancement du programme national DDR. Mais il a estimé qu’il y a encore environ 3.000 enfants dans les rangs des groupes et forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo.
Il a exhorté les organisations de défense des droits de l’enfant en situation des conflits armés de continuer leur travail de formation sur les mécanismes de surveillances et de communication de l’information. Cfr. : rapport de Watchlist sur le mécanisme de surveillance.
8. CONCLUSION
L’ANADER REMERCIE TRES SINCEREMENT LA COMMISSION DES DROITS DE L’HOMME REUNIE A BELFAST DANS LE CADRE DU 55ème CONGRES DE L’INTERNATIONAL LIBERAL POUR L’PPORTUNITE QUI NOUS A ETE DONNEE DE PARLER DES ENFANTS SOLDATS EN REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO  DEVANT CETTE AUGUSTE COMMISSION.
COMME VOUS AVEZ PU LE CONSTATER TOUT AU LONG DE NOTRE EXPOSEE, LE PROBLEME DES ENFANTS SOLDATS EST COMPLEXE PARTICULIEREMENT DANS UN PAYS AUSSI VASTE QUE LA RDC  ET OU LES GROUPES ARMEES SONT NOMBREUSES.
LE GOUVERMENET DE LA RDC A FAIT ET CONTINUE DE FAIRE DES EFFORTS APPRECIABLES POUR LUTTER CONTRE CE PHENOMENE DES ENFANTS SOLDATS.
LES ONG FONT EGALEMENT UN TRAVAIL ENORME POUR L’ACCEUIL ET L’ENCADREMENT DES ENFANTS EX-SOLDATS MAIS ELLES SONT BUTES A DES DIFFICULTES D’ORDRE MATERIELS ENORMES.
L’ANADER DEMANDE AUX LIBERAUX DU MONDE, REUNIS EN CONGRES A BELFAST, DE VOTER UNE MOTION DE SOUTIEN AUX ONG QUI TRAVAILLENT POUR LA REINSERTION DES EX-ENFANTS SOLDATS DANS LA SOCIETE CIVILE EN REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO AFIN QUE NOTRE INTERVENTION NE RESTE LETTRE MORTE. LES LIBERAUX ONT UN DEVOIR DE SOUTENIR LA LUTTE CONTRE LE PHENOMENE DES ENFANTS SOLDATS EN RDC ET DANS LE MONDE.

Belfast, le 16 Mai 2008
Monsieur Le Président de l’Internationale Libérale,
Mesdames, Messieurs les Ministres,
Mesdames, Messieurs les Sénateurs et Députés,
Monsieur le Secrétaire Général,
Mesdames, Messieurs les Vice-Présidents,
Messieurs les Présidents de Fondation,
Mesdames, Messieurs les Présidents des Partis Libéraux et Démocrates,
Mesdames, Messieurs les Chefs de Délégations,
Mesdames, Messieurs, Chers amis Congressistes,
C’est avec un grand plaisir que je me retrouve parmi vous, après un intermède qui m’a paru long, moi qui ne manquais presque jamais un Congrès de notre Internationale. Cependant, le Ministre Lamine BA, en charge des relations internationales, a toujours conduit des délégations de mon Parti qui est donc resté en contact permanent avec vous.
Je voudrais, au seuil de mon intervention, m’incliner devant la mémoire d’une grande militante libérale, Madame Benazir Bhutto qui nous a quittés en décembre dernier, alors qu’elle était en plein combat pour la démocratie, dans son pays. Femme musulmane, libérale, combattante, elle a été très tôt arrachée à notre affection. Que son âme repose en Paix.
Mesdames, Messieurs,
Chers Amis, Nous voici donc de retour sur la Terre des
Grandes Conquêtes Démocratiques et des plus éminents penseurs libéraux : de John Locke à Adam Smith, en passant par Hume, John Stuart Mill, et plus tard, mon maître John Maynard Keynes.
Tous, au fil des siècles, ils ont réussi à faire du libéralisme le parti de la Magna Carta ; un corps de pensée cohérente, un mouvement dynamique, englobant tous les domaines de l’action humaine, notamment la politique, les droits de l’homme, l’économie, l’éthique, etc. Comme toute doctrine ou corps d’idées, le libéralisme a subi les influences des différentes révolutions qui ont secoué le monde (la révolution anglaise, la révolution américaine de 1778 et la révolution française de 1789).
C’est sous cette bannière que des hommes et des femmes ont lancé avec le Manifeste d’Oxford de 1947 l’Internationale Libérale qui nous réunit aujourd’hui, pour réfléchir ensemble sous la lumière de notre doctrine sur les questions brûlantes qui préoccupent le monde et les solutions à apporter à nos défis communs.
Compte tenu de nos réalités au Sénégal, nous avons réussi à élaborer une doctrine du libéralisme social qui embrasse ensemble les réalités et les aspirations africaines car une doctrine n’a de sens que si elle s’enracine dans la culture nationale.
L’Internationale Libérale, au départ européocentriste, a intégré progressivement les préoccupations africaines.
Vous avez choisi comme thème de notre Congrès ‘’Our shared Future’’, en Français ‘’Notre avenir commun’’ ,
Nous allons examiner les réponses de notre Parti à cette question.
1. Au niveau national
11. Les options libéralesDans le passé, j’ai eu à écrire sur la doctrine du libéralisme que j’ai introduite en Afrique dans les années 70, à un moment où nombreux étaient les préjugés contre celui-ci. Beaucoup de changements depuis. Aujourd’hui, mon Parti a l’avantage d’être parmi les partis de notre Internationale à la direction d’un pays à la faveur d’élections libres citées en exemple. Aussi, je pense que vous attendez de moi plus un témoignage sur la façon dont notre pays vit le libéralisme que des considérations théoriques.
En raison de ses nombreuses performances dans les domaines les plus divers, le Sénégal, classé pourtant parmi les pays pauvres, sous l’inspiration du libéralisme, a réussi des performances qui lui ont valu des félicitations du FMI et de la Banque Mondiale pour notre gestion macroéconomique et est devenu, aux yeux des bailleurs de fonds, un success story.
L’humanité une et indivisible en dépit des nombreuses et profondes disparités est un de nos principes de libéralisme. Je m’efforcerai, en partant de la situation actuelle, de vous expliquer comment le Sénégal, pays africain, entend se préparer à ce grand rendez-vous et, en ce sens, jouer son rôle en Afrique et dans le monde.
Je commencerai par vous expliquer brièvement comment le Sénégal a réussi mieux que d’autres. Ensuite, je répondrai aux deux questions auxquelles se ramène notre sujet : Quel rôle entendons-nous jouer dans une Afrique face au futur en pleine turbulence sous les vents tumultueux de la mondialisation et quels devront être nos rapports avec le monde développé ?
Dès sa création, mon parti avait décidé de s’attaquer, à la fois, aux violations des libertés fondamentales au nom du libéralisme politique et aux structures économiques socialistes au nom du libéralisme économique.
L’affirmation de l’individu, valeur fondamentale jouissant de l’attribut de liberté a toujours été notre premier postulat, contrairement à ceux qui ont donné la prééminence au groupe. De là notre option pour le respect des libertés et droits fondamentaux de la personne humaine dont l’épanouissement mû par la recherche naturelle du bien être génère la création des biens et des richesses.
C’est sur ce credo que nous avons bâti notre politique d’éducation à laquelle nous consacrons 40% du Budget de l’Etat, exemple peut être unique au monde, l’investissement massif sur l’enfant et sur la femme à la place des préjugés archaïques qui en faisaient une sorte de propriété de l’homme.
De la Case des Tout petits, concept sénégalais devenu universel, au profit des enfants de 4 à 6 ans à l’Université du Futur africain, le système éducatif sénégalais permet à ceux qui en bénéficient de développer toutes leurs facultés dès le bas âge, usant de jouets formateurs de l’esprit dont l’ordinateur dès le premier âge. A l’autre bout les jeunes africains de l’Université du Futur africain pourront bientôt, tout en étant en Afrique, suivre les cours et bénéficier de la formation des plus grandes universités du monde et n’auront donc plus besoin de s’expatrier pour avoir des diplômes tant recherchés et pourront servir directement l’Afrique au lieu d’aller s’installer dans les pays développés (fin du transfert des cerveaux).
C’est aussi sur la base de cette option que nous nous faisons le devoir d’éradiquer la pauvreté de notre société au lieu de nous contenter de l’atténuer. Pour nous, la pauvreté ne se définit pas par un revenu inférieur à deux dollars par jour mais se définit par rapport à la condition humaine. Pour nous la pauvreté est un ensemble de manques, de privations, ‘’a cluster of fundamental needs’’ :
manque d’un toit sain,
manque d’une nourriture saine,
manque d’eau potable,
non accès aux soins de santé,
non accès des enfants à l’éducation,
non accès à un environnement sain.
Sur la base du principe ‘’une famille, un toit’’ nous construisons des maisons, peut être les moins chères d’Afrique car, avec 70 dollars par mois, un père de famille peut être propriétaire d’une maison assez avenante sans apport personnel et payer en 15 ou 20 ans !
La Cité offre l’essentiel des manques : eau potable, dispensaires, écoles, environnement sain, …etc.
12. Effets des options sénégalaises sur le reste de l’Afrique
Tout d’abord, nous avons pu, ensemble, briser le monolithisme politique du parti unique jadis installé dans toute l’Afrique, introduire le pluralisme, et au bout du compte, des élections démocratiques se sont imposées grâce aux pressions extérieures. Bien entendu, pour cela nous avons bénéficié de soutiens politiques externes, de notre Internationale d’abord, des institutions financières internationales qui ont imposé des modèles de gestion économique et conditionné l’aide à leur adoption. Ainsi, progressivement l’Afrique s’est installée dans le modèle de la République fondée sur les trois pouvoirs théoriquement séparés, le pouvoir exécutif et le pouvoir législatif étant issus d’élections libres et démocratiques, avec le respect de certaines libertés fondamentales dont la liberté d’expression, son corollaire la liberté d’information ainsi que le respect des droits de l’homme. Bien entendu, de ces énoncés théoriques à la réalité il y a une grande marge mais c’est déjà un progrès que les références démocratiques soient là et que les systèmes politiques s’efforcent de se mouvoir vers elles avec plus ou moins de bonheur. Des systèmes basés sur des élections dont les résultats sont acceptés par le pouvoir et l’opposition se multiplient, preuve que l’Afrique, malgré tout, avance.
Ainsi, notre lutte pour l’implantation du libéralisme au Sénégal et en Afrique, a eu trois séries de conséquences :
L’érosion progressive de l’hégémonie des partis uniques de droit ou de fait qui régissaient toute l’Afrique. On vit l’irruption successive des libertés, par exemple la liberté d’association qui a mené au multipartisme, la liberté d’expression qui a entraîné la multiplication des journaux très critiques, la liberté d’aller et venir. Notre option a rassuré l’opposition en Afrique qui, auparavant, avait recours à la lutte armée de l’extérieur pour obtenir le changement, mais aussi les pouvoirs qui y ont vu la possibilité de changement sans effusion de sang. Nous comptons près de 20 partis se réclamant du libéralisme en Afrique.
L’émergence de la démocratie a ainsi été une conséquence de notre lutte pour le libéralisme au Sénégal. Ainsi, nous avons pu créer une atmosphère de liberté économique qui a favorisé l’entrée des capitaux privés, malgré l’absence de ressources naturelles importantes du Sénégal qui n’a rien d’autre que ses ressources humaines.
L’adoption progressive de l’économie de marché à la place de l’économie d’Etat
Nous avons été à la base de l’économie de marché à la place des plans dirigistes introduits en Afrique dès le début de l’indépendance. A notre arrivée au pouvoir, nous avons appliqué l’idée selon laquelle le développement et la croissance, même s’ils doivent être organisés par l’Etat, sont d’abord l’œuvre des hommes et des femmes libres.
De là, le désengagement économique de l’Etat initié par la Banque Mondiale sous le nom d’ajustement structurel que nous avons poursuivi jusqu’à la disparition presque totale des 250 entreprises d’Etat créées par les socialistes et qui rivalisaient en inefficacité, avec des emplois artificiels sans justifications économiques, emplois de pure complaisance politique. Aujourd’hui, à l’exception de deux ou trois entreprises, la privatisation est totale.
Prochainement, nous allons réunir en Afrique les Partis se réclamant du libéralisme social et du libéralisme démocratique pour élargir nos bases. C’est l’objet du Réseau des Partis Libéraux Sociaux et Démocratiques.
Evidemment, le Sénégal a fait l’objet d’un processus singulier qui s’explique largement par l’ancienneté de nos relations avec la France, plus de trois siècles qui nous ont permis, avant l’indépendance, de nous acclimater avec le système des partis, les élections…etc. Le reste, l’alternance démocratique au pouvoir du 19 Mars 2000, sans effusion de sang, écartant un parti socialiste qui était au pouvoir depuis 40 ans, au profit d’un parti se réclamant du libéralisme jusque là inconnu en Afrique, est l’œuvre de notre culture nationale faite essentiellement de tolérance.
Convaincu que l’homme est à la base du développement, l’Etat libéral sénégalais dépense 40% de son budget à l’éducation. Je ne crois pas me tromper en affirmant que le Sénégal est le seul pays au monde à le faire, alors que l’objectif de l’Afrique est d’arriver à 23%.
Les changements profonds s’illustrent par la montée de l’élément féminin au Sénégal. Une femme Premier Ministre au début de mon mandat, aujourd’hui la parité absolue hommes/femmes sur la liste proportionnelle des élections à l’Assemblée nationale, 40% de femmes au Sénat, une femme pressentie pour être Président du Conseil Economique et Social dont la loi d’institution est en cours de vote. A l’école primaire, il y a même un peu plus de filles que de garçons !
2. Au niveau de l’Afrique
Au niveau de l’Afrique on a vu l’influence du modèle sénégalais. Il faut y ajouter toutes mes médiations que j’ai eu à faire et que je fais encore du fait de la confiance que m’accordent le pouvoir et l’opposition : Niger, Guinée Conakry, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinée Bissau, Gabon, Tchad, Soudan, Darfour, Mauritanie, Togo…etc.
Au niveau du Continent, je suis Vice-président du NEPAD chargé de la coordination des secteurs Infrastructures, Energie, Environnement et Tics. A ce sujet j’ai lancé le Fonds de solidarité numérique dont l’objectif est de combler le fossé numérique qui sépare les pays développés des pays en voie de développement. Aujourd’hui, le fonds est accepté par tous les pays membres des Nations Unies. Je vous demande d’y adhérer formellement en versant une cotisation de départ. Vous pouvez consulter le site sur internet à l’adresse suivante : (www.dsf-fsn.org)
3. Au niveau mondial
31. Le commerce mondialPartisans du libre échange et du commerce qui est le moteur du développement, les pays africains ont axé leur lutte dans trois directions.
311. Un commerce équitable
Notre principe ‘’free trade but fair trade’’ nous a amenés à condamner les subventions des pays développés à leur agriculture, 1 milliard de dollars/jour, qui est un obstacle à nos exportations vers les pays développés au même moment où ceux-ci nous demandent de démanteler les barrières douanières.
312. La coopération avec l’Europe
Nous avons demandé la révision profonde des APE, Accords de Partenariat Economique avec l’Union Européenne, qui risquent de détruire nos industries naissantes et faibles si on nous impose la suppression de toutes les barrières douanières, sans compter que nos budgets largement alimentés par les droits de douane vont connaître des réductions drastiques qui vont conduire à la suppression de certaines dépenses sociales.
L’Afrique a donc rejeté les APE. En ce qui me concerne, convaincu de la nécessité d’une entente entre l’Europe et l’Afrique, je suis prêt à faciliter un accord à la seule condition qu’il tienne compte de nos intérêts.
32. La coopération internationale
Les libéraux préconisent plutôt un partenariat au développement pour éradiquer la pauvreté dans les pays du Sud. C’est tout le sens du NEPAD, Nouveau Partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique. Les libéraux sont pour l’ouverture des marchés occidentaux aux produits des pays du Sud, notamment ceux d’Afrique, pour les aider à sortir de la misère mais sans obstacles tarifaires ou non tarifaires. Cette option figure dans toutes les conclusions de tous les Congrès et Comités Exécutifs tenus par l’Internationale Libérale depuis 1947.
C’est la raison pour laquelle, nous libéraux africains, souhaitons le soutien des libéraux d’Europe au sein du Parlement Européen (ALDE) ou à l’extérieur, dans notre lutte pour des Accords justes et mutuellement avantageux avec l’Europe. Ce sera un soutien inestimable que l’Internationale Libérale apportera à l’Afrique dans son combat pour le Développement économique et social.
32. La crise de l’énergie
La flambée des prix du baril et ses conséquences m’a amené à proposer une formule, la WADE FORMULA :
« (P t – 29)Qt = St»
(site : www.thewadeformula.com),que j’ai proposée à la 62 ème Assemblée Générale des Nations Unies qui permet de saisir ensemble trois réalités :
les superprofits des compagnies pétrolières qui retirent de l’Afrique chaque année des centaines de millions de dollars en laissant la pauvreté derrière. Je leur propose une participation volontaire à l’alimentation d’un fonds de lutte contre la pauvreté,
les rentes des pays africains qui ont des puits de pétrole et perçoivent de confortables royalties sans aucun investissement,
la surcharge subie par les pays africains non producteurs de pétrole qui voient leurs factures d’importation de pétrole monter de façon exponentielle les plaçant devant l’alternative, soit de répercuter la hausse sur le prix des denrées de premières nécessité, ce qui risque de provoquer l’explosion sociale, soit de subventionner ces prix au risque de déséquilibrer leurs budget et de renoncer à des dépenses sociales.
Au début, je n’ai pas été entendu mais, aujourd’hui, j’enregistre avec satisfaction la position de la Banque Mondiale qui envisage très sérieusement la question de la surcharge des pays africains non producteurs de pétrole et celle du Président Sarkozy qui propose une taxe sur les superprofits pétroliers en vue de la lutte contre la pauvreté.
33. La crise alimentaire mondiale
La crise née de la flambée des prix des denrées alimentaires nous a amenés à envisager des mesures immédiates et des mesures structurelles à effet de long terme.
Aujourd’hui, le monde est confronté à la flambée de la violence dans les pays en développement où, chaque jour, on note des manifestations populaires violentes dites ‘’émeutes de la faim’’. Heureusement le Sénégal en est épargné. Les images diffusées en boucle sur les grandes chaînes occidentales doivent nous inquiéter, nous alarmer et nous amener à réagir vite.
Le monde est, en effet, en proie à une grave crise alimentaire à l’échelle planétaire, conséquence d’erreurs cumulées depuis des décennies.
Le marché mondial vit une dépression extrêmement dangereuse. Au plan social, tous les efforts fournis par les gouvernements pour réduire la pauvreté ou l’éradiquer risquent d’être anéantis. Alors nous devons réagir, réajuster et ne pas laisser les rênes de l’économie à la seule loi du marché dominé par des oligopoles et des monopoles qui faussent la concurrence, un des éléments de base du libéralisme.
Nous avons lancé la GOANA, Grande Offensive Agricole pour la Nourriture et l’Abondance qui vise l’objectif de l’autosuffisance alimentaire. Notre pays, en effet, importe chaque année 600.000 tonnes de riz, denrée introduite par le colonisateur au 19ème siècle et qui est devenue l’alimentation de base des Sénégalais.
A cet effet, nous bénéficions de l’assistance de l’Inde pour mettre en valeur 240.000 hectares de la vallée du Fleuve Sénégal.
Notre climat est caractérisé par deux saisons, une saison de pluie qui dure trois à quatre mois à partir de fin mai, une longue saison sèche qui dure 9 mois.
C’est pourquoi, nous avons lancé un programme ambitieux d’exécution immédiate en faisant appel à toute la population, même aux émigrés pour un retour vers la terre. Le mouvement est d’une ampleur insoupçonnée et nous avons espoir, au-delà de la couverture de nos besoins alimentaires, de disposer de surplus à exporter.
34. La coopération avec les pays d’Asie
L’Afrique a engagé une vaste coopération avec l’Inde et la Chine qui offrent des conditions autrement plus avantageuses : crédits concessionnels à très long terme, réactions rapides et efficaces.
Dans mon pays, le marché étant faussé par les pays développés qui, ainsi que je l’ai dit, subventionnent largement leurs produits agricoles, nous sommes obligés de subventionner à notre tour les consommateurs.
Nos adversaires alimentent partout la polémique, en faisant croire que la crise mondiale est consécutive aux politiques libérales alors que le marché est perturbé justement par des violations de la concurrence par les pays développés.
35. Sur l’environnement
Nous référant à la Déclaration d’Oxford de 1967 qui mentionnait que « the community has a special responsability to protect natural resources from indiscriminate development either by public or private interests », une résolution des Partis libéraux africains a rappellé la résolution de 1984 et l’appel libéral de Rome qui recommandaient respectivement « to take active steps to reduce sulfured dioxide emissions from industries and power stations » et aussi « requires the industrialised societies to reduce drastically their waste raw materials and non renewable energy resources ».
La lutte de l’Afrique en faveur de l’environnement se traduit aujourd’hui par notre engagement à construire la Grande Muraille Verte de Dakar à Djibouti, le long du Sahel, pour limiter l’extension du désert et rééquilibrer l’atmosphère dégradée par le saccage des forêts tropicales.
Parallèlement les bailleurs de fonds ont adopté le modèle sénégalais des bassins de rétention qui recueillent auprès de chaque ville une partie des milliards de tonnes d’eau qui tombent chaque hivernage et disparaissent par infiltration dans le sol ou vers la mer. Le bassin de rétention permet au village de cultiver toute l’année pour la production maraîchère destinée aux marchés locaux ou à l’exportation. Nous en avons réalisé environ 250 au coût unitaire de $140.000 environ.
Vous voyez, Mesdames et Messieurs, Chers Congressistes, que le débat actuel sur les changements climatiques a été le nôtre, depuis plus d’un quart de siècle.
De manière générale, si on avait écouté les libéraux et appliqué nos recommandations, on aurait dépassé les problèmes écologiques qui menacent l’équilibre de notre Planète.
36. Libéralisme et tolérance Nous avons bien dit « Our shared future ». Alors je voudrais terminer mon propos en abordant une question que l’Humanité n’a pas encore résolue et que nous, Libéraux, avons déjà discutée avec beaucoup de courage, il y a déjà 5 ans : les relations entre l’Occident et le monde musulman.
Il me plaît d’en parler ici parce que je suis à la fois, libéral et musulman ; mais surtout parce que je suis Président d’Honneur de l’Internationale Libérale et, depuis mars dernier, Président de l’Organisation de la Conférence Islamique, avec une feuille de route dont les points saillants sont la recherche de la Paix au Proche et au Moyen Orient, la solution de la Crise au Darfour et l’amélioration des relations entre les Etats-Unis d’Amérique et l’Iran.
En m’adressant au 170ème Comité Exécutif de notre Internationale, à Casablanca, en mars 2003, sur le thème : « l’Islam et l’Occident : le point de vue libéral », je réaffirmais, sans ambages, que l’Islam contrairement à une idée bien répandue est une religion de Paix. En bons musulmans, nous avons toujours porté un plaidoyer vibrant pour changer la perception qu’un certain Occident a de l’Islam. Mais aussi, en libéral convaincu, je n’ai jamais hésité à éclairer nos frères en Islam sur les valeurs fondamentales de liberté, tolérance, Paix et de solidarité, qui permettent de placer l’Individu et la dignité humaine au dessus de tout le reste. Souvenons-nous encore de mon message de Casablanca en mars 2003, où j’avais démontré la subtile symbiose entre les valeurs libérales et celles sacro-saintes de l’Islam, en citant Ibn Khaldoum, le penseur libéral musulman du XVème siècle.
Nous avons le devoir de relever les nouveaux défis, si difficiles qu’ils soient. Ils ont pour nom la crise du Darfour, la crise Israélo-palestinienne, la crise Afghane, celle Libano-Syrienne, etc. qui interpellent notre conscience. Je me suis déjà engagé dans certaines d’entre elles. Je me fais le devoir, pendant les 3 prochaines années de ma présence au Sommet de l’OCI, de contribuer à faire progresser la paix et la tolérance partout dans le monde en instaurant des dialogues et en aidant à trouver des solutions.
Libéral et musulman, je dois y parvenir et le soutien de notre communauté politique me sera d’une inestimable contribution.
CONCLUSION
Chers Amis Congressistes, Le libéralisme a toujours combattu, par la plume de ses penseurs et l’action de ses hommes politiques, toutes les formes d’agression contre la dignité humaine et la souveraineté des peuples. Le Libéralisme n’est pas ce monstre hideux qui dévore les faibles. Il est plutôt fondamentalement humain et social car c’est une morale individuelle inspirée par une philosophie de vie en société faite de tolérance et d’humanisme.
C’est pourquoi, nous devons réadapter notre pensée aux exigences actuelles du monde. Le marché mondial vit un dérèglement extrêmement dangereux. Au plan social, tous les efforts fournis par les gouvernements pour réduire la pauvreté ou l’éradiquer seront anéantis ; alors nous devons réagir, réajuster et ne pas laisser les rênes de l’économie à la seule loi du marché qui est en fait la loi des oligopoles et des monopoles, autant de formes qui faussent la concurrence et sont donc antilibérales.
Je voudrais conclure, en exhortant notre Internationale à tenir fermement la barre, car devant la détérioration de la situation économique internationale, bien des tempêtes politiques sont en vue et, comme ce fut le cas dans le passé, après la première et la deuxième guerres mondiales, les libéraux seront pointés du doigt comme responsables des malheurs de l’Humanité. Notre option d’économie de marché, notre penchant pour la mondialisation seront décriés ; et si nous ne prenons garde, le retour aux économies d’Etat risque d’hypothéquer les énormes pas que l’Humanité a franchis depuis la chute du Communisme. Alors, plus de timidité ou de complexe, « l’économie sociale de marché ou le libéralisme social démocratique, c’est la seule alternative viable pour l’économie mondiale, malgré les difficultés conjoncturelles ». Il faut en débattre, communiquer, expliquer aux populations, former les jeunes et les femmes pour être les artisans et les avocats de cette juste cause.
Des crises économiques semblables à la présente ont toujours débouché sur des soulèvements, des retours irréfléchis aux dictatures, voire des conflits armés et, sur le plan économique, au triomphe de la démagogie de l’Etat Providence. Prenons garde.
Je vous remercie de votre aimable attention.

The recent spate of violent attacks on foreign nationals in Alexandra and Diepsloot are the direct result of government’s failure to properly control and regulate immigration into South Africa. It was only a matter of time before resentment over the flood of millions of illegal immigrants would spill over into violent confrontation. The only way to avoid a humanitarian crisis under these circumstances is for government stop its denialism about the underlying causes of the problem and adopt measures that will see immigrants – legal or otherwise – treated in a dignified and appropriate way.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will use tomorrow’s debate in the National Assembly (agreed to after a DA motion calling for a debate earlier this week) to identify a number of key issues that need to be dealt with in order to prevent future violent attacks.
• The need to bring to an end government’s denialism about the extent of the problem of xenophobia in South Africa. This started more than a year ago when targeted attacks on Somalis were dismissed as purely criminal acts and is evidenced today by government’s assertion that the violence in Alexandria has been instigated by a sinister third force.
• Addressing the security vacuum along South Africa’s borders which is the major contributor to unregulated migration into South Africa. There is no way we can cater for the humanitarian needs of immigrants when it is not even known how many people have entered South Africa.
• Taking responsibility for the foreign policy failure in Zimbabwe which has contributed to the fact that millions of Zimbabweans have fled into South Africa.
• Addressing the administrative shambles at the Department of Home Affairs. Fake IDs and passports have made it very easy to fraudently enter into South Africa. Furthermore, the department’s complete inability to efficiently process asylum seekers has contributed to enormous backlogs and compounded the humanitarian crisis.
• Eliminating corruption at various government departments which has led to the fraudulent accessing of welfare grants, housing subsidies etc.
• The commissioning of a survey to determine how many illegal immigrants there are in South Africa, where they are predominantly located, and developing solutions which will either see them properly integrated into South Africa or returned to their country of origin.
The rise of xenophobic attacks has reached boiling point and is likely to become a crisis if not addressed properly. No amount of smooth talking or number of indabas will resolve the problems that contribute to xenophobia unless the government is frank about its policy shortcomings.