The French Embassy (Pretoria)
29 February 2008
document
Cape Town — As we look back over the twentieth century we see that it was one of history's most brutal: it generated two world wars; it invented genocide and the Holocaust; it saw dictatorial regimes set up repressive systems unprecedented in their scale and their victims. Untold numbers of people became refugees, were deported, were forced to flee their homelands and go into exile.
South Africa was seared by the violence and the horror of this grim century. It endured colonialism; it was not spared the consequences of the great world conflicts as its sons paid the price by fighting for the colonial powers. Then came the victims of the struggle for decolonisation and the African conflicts that accompanied the Cold War. And last but not least, South Africa too experienced genocide.
In addition, Africa, more than other regions, was the victim of scorn and racism.
Yet just as the twentieth century was drawing to a close, this often humiliated and downtrodden continent, and more particularly South Africa, taught the world a magnificent lesson in humanity. At a time when apartheid and its attendant violence prevailed here, at a time when so many humiliations could have given rise to revenge and further oppression, the people of South Africa, guided by outstanding men, decided to break with the long chain of grief.
This extraordinary human achievement owes much to the man who after 27 years in prison said to those who had long deprived him of his freedom: "The oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity."
The South Africans deliberately chose to set their country on the path of reconciliation and transformation?. In choosing to embark on this path, you also redeemed the century, as it were; so that the century, despite its atrocities, ended on a powerful note of hope, coming from Africa, for mankind as a whole.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is thus with deep respect for your Nation that I stand before you, the Representatives of this great people of South Africa, who herald a more just, a more fraternal and hence more humane society. It was to pay tribute to this people, through you, and to pay tribute to the hope that this people has given us, that I asked to address you today; and I thank you for your acceptance.
Because Africa has managed to ignite this hope, we want to work with Africa today to nurture it. Our world henceforth draws inspiration from this example to build a more just and humane system. France brings to this task its own faith in liberty, equality and fraternity, which constitute its motto and which it derives from its own Revolution.
Sharing the same values, cherishing the same hopes, France and South Africa, working together, are I believe in a better position than others to contribute to the emergence of a peaceful world.
We take up this common challenge first so that Europe and Africa can at long last forge new ties; ties that are no longer based on inequality, exploitation and resentment but instead, as I said in July in Dakar, on equality, equity and respect.
As you know, relations between France and Africa go back a long way in time.
These relations have at times been painful. I have spoken elsewhere of the crimes that were committed and the mistakes that were made. They must not be forgotten.
Nor should we forget what France owes to Africa. I refer here particularly to the invaluable help Africa gave us during the two world wars. I refer especially to South Africa, which fought side by side with us.
The strength of these ties is not just a part of our past. It is also part of the French identity: nearly 10% of the French population can claim African ancestry.
It is also part of the African identity, through the French language, one of the official languages of the African Union.
Although these ties are deep and long-standing, relations between France and Africa, and more particularly sub-Saharan Africa, are loosening as time goes on.
The number of French citizens living in Africa, as well as the volume of French exports to Africa and French investments in Africa, have declined.
This has resulted in our traditional partners in Africa sometimes feeling that France has abandoned and lost interest in them.
The relationship is complicated because reason has always been mingled with feeling and passion, because the relationship has always been fraught with emotion and because it is at odds with what the Africans want and what the French perceive.
Today, the old pattern of relations between France and Africa is no longer understood by new generations of Africans, or for that matter by public opinion in France.
I know that within this Assembly some of you who were activists in the struggle for freedom still perceive these French-African relations through the prism of colonialism.
We find ourselves in a situation in which our political, military and economic engagement alongside Africa is seen by many not as a well-meant helping hand but as neo-colonial interference; and in which, at the same time, indifference, withdrawal or lack of engagement on our part is criticised as abandonment or lack of gratitude.
Africans have had enough of being lectured to about morals and good governance. They perceive such lectures as arrogant and condescending; but at the same time, African civil society and public opinion want us to become directly involved alongside them, for example in denouncing corruption and poor governance.
There is today a sort of African exception in public opinion: what is considered normal in relations with other world regions generates suspicion about the French government's intentions in relations with Africa.
African youth has an ambivalent relationship with France, comprising both up of attraction and protest.
Currently more than 100,000 Africans are studying at French institutions of higher learning. Contrary to what is often believed, there have never been more African students in French universities. Nevertheless, African young people have the feeling that France is closing its doors to them.
These misapprehensions and inconsistencies reflect a situation that is obviously not satisfactory. For this reason I have many times called for the establishment of new, transparent, straightforward relations – relations based on contemporary realities.
I believe that French-African relations hold out much promise for the future if we lend them new impetus.
Just as South Africa epitomises a new Africa, the relationship between France and South Africa should serve as inspiration for new relations between France and Africa as a whole.
It is true that our relationship is not weighed down by the past. Our common history is limited.
France and South Africa do not have the same language, the same history or the same culture - and yet they understand each other.
Devoid of preconceptions, relations between our two countries are exemplary, balanced, transparent and straightforward.
South Africa has become our leading partner in Africa in many areas.
It is our leading trading partner and it also leads in French investments. Nearly 160 French companies are developing industrial partnerships and creating jobs there.
The agreements we signed this morning, covering such areas as energy, transport, science and tourism, bear witness to the diversity of these ties.
The relationship can be further strengthened.
The level of development achieved by South Africa does not by itself explain the nature of our relations. Between us, there is only room for a balanced relationship, a true partnership; in other words a relationship based on equality, transparency and mutual interest.
In this sense, our common relationship must serve as inspiration for the relations we wish to establish with all the countries in Africa.
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