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Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is, once again, a great pleasure for me to meet with you in the now traditional parliamentary briefing week. Our time is limited so I shall concentrate on a few issues of immediate concern and will of course be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Regarding the forthcoming 12th Non-Aligned Movement Summit I can report that all the logistical arrangements are on track and a comprehensive background document about the practical arrangements is available.

We expect to receive between 70 to 80 Heads of State or Government of which 45 have already confirmed their participation, and between 4 000 to 5 000 delegates as well as an estimated 1 500 media representatives - a major undertaking indeed. The NAM Summit represents a major challenge as well as an exciting opportunity for the South African Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as for the people of South Africa and especially for Durban.

The draft Document for the Durban Summit, which covers a comprehensive range of issues such as international, economic and social development, external debt, gender issues, UN reform, disarmament, and international terrorism is at present being subjected to extensive consultations with NAM members, and after taking into account their inputs, a final draft will be circulated prior to the Summit. A great deal of attention will be given to economic issues and the Summit will also receive a report prepared by a NAM panel of economic experts.

The situation in Angola continues to be of concern to us all. Initial reports suggest that UN Special envoy, Mr Lakdar Brahimi, was able to initiate the all-important dialogue with both President Dos Santos and Mr Jonas Savimbi of UNITA. We believe that it is essential to support these efforts to restore confidence in the peace process so that the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol can be resumed without delay. I am expecting to meet with Mr Brahimi when he visits South Africa next week and look forward to his assessment of the situation. While the situation remains fluid, our assessment does not agree with the doomsday scenarios of some analysts. We continue to believe that the Lusaka Protocol offers the best chance for peace. We must, therefore, continue to support all efforts to convince both parties that negotiation is the only option.

Similarly, the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is critical. As you know, Deputy President Mbeki was in touch with President Kabila earlier this week, and I shall, together with Ministers Modise and Mufamadi, be meeting with President Kabila in Lubumbashi in the next few days. You will recall that when President Mandela facilitated negotiations for a peaceful transition in the DRC last year, he urged the leaders to ensure that the new government be broadly based with representatives of all political persuasions in that country. We also stressed the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of the DRC.

There have been disturbing developments in Lesotho following their general election. We have been in contact with the other two governments of the Troika on Lesotho, namely Zimbabwe and Botswana. I have spoken to Foreign Minister Thabane of Lesotho and will contact my counterparts in Zimbabwe and Botswana, at the earliest possible opportunity. President Mandela will also be in touch with their heads of state.

We have been pleased to see positive developments in Nigeria. The latest initiatives taken by General Abdusalam Abubakar should be welcomed as a window of opportunity by all Nigerians. We believe that we should do everything possible to sustain the momentum generated by these initiatives so that the 29 May 1999 deadline for a peaceful transition to democratic civilian rule will be successfully met. In support of this South Africa will continue to build our bilateral relationship through, inter alia, the finalisation of direct air links between Johannesburg and Lagos which should boost our economic relations with Nigeria.

As you know South Africa has been appointed by the OAU as co-ordinator of the Comoran peace process. Some progress has been made on the need to resolve the attempts by separatists elements on the island of Anjouan to secede from Grand Comoros. Our officials recently met with representatives of the Anjounese separatists who agreed to further consultations ahead of a preparatory meeting to be held with the Comoros government representatives, which will be facilitated by South Africa. The preparatory meeting will lay the groundwork for an inter-island conference to decide on constitutional arrangements to accommodate the current differences in positions.

I am pleased to report that considerable progress has been made in the peace process in Burundi. For the first time in these negotiations all parties have agreed to a working agenda, which includes the setting up of working committees. South Africa has agreed to second a constitutional expert to chair the important committee on Democracy and Governance and a senior military representative to assist the chairman of the committee on Peace and Security. Our Ministries of Defence, Constitutional Affairs and Justice have all been consulted on the appointment of the above-mentioned persons and their names will soon be submitted to the facilitator of the peace process, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere and the Burundian parties themselves. We trust that these South Africans will join our Special Envoy on Burundi, Ambassador Welile Nhlapo, in making a contribution to the resolution of the crisis when negotiations resume in Arusha, Tanzania on 12 October 1998.

In the context of these continental conflicts it is important to emphasise the need to promote negotiations wherever we can. South Africa believes, in common with others, that we should concentrate on promoting diplomatic solutions to regional problems. The military option should only be considered as a very last resort. I say this because some commentators are promoting unrealistic expectations about the need for unilateral action of this type by us. While we share their sense of urgency we should caution against hasty and irresponsible proposals which have the potential of further complicating complex regional realities.

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