SA za 🇿🇦 FOREIGN MINISTER: FOREIGN NATIONALS MUST RESPECT OUR LAWS

[00:00:00]But we also want to urge you to also request them to live in accordance with the South African laws.

[00:00:07]If I'm in your country, I live If I'm in Nigeria, I live in accordance with the Nigerian laws.

[00:00:13]If I'm in Ghana, I live in accordance with the Ghanaian laws.

[00:00:18]If I'm in Mozambique, I live in accordance with the Mozambican laws.

[00:00:22]So, we really encourage that you do the same with their nationals here when you visit them, interact with them.

[00:00:32]We have about 10,000 prisoners in our prisons from the African continent.

[00:00:38]And a similar number of awaiting trialists, which shows that they do participate in the violations of our laws.

[00:00:47]But they are almost about 10% of our prison population because our prison population is about 170,000, plus minus on an average. So, they are somewhere between 10 and 20%. So, you can see the the numbers that we are dealing with. And unfortunately, they do ferment this perception that foreign nationals commit crime in our country.

[00:01:16]But as you look into it, you will see that also a majority of South Africans commit crime.

[00:01:23]As I've said, about 170,000 of them are in our prisons.

[00:01:29]So, it does not matter where you come from.

[00:01:33]Crime is a crime.

[00:01:35]Whether you are a South African or you are a Mozambican national or anywhere, anyone is capable of committing a crime.

[00:01:44]And all of us needs to deal with the challenges of crime.

[00:01:47]And it's not only foreign nationals also who are victims of crime. South Africans themselves are victims of crime.

[00:01:56]And it's something that the South government is responding to and it is dealing with. We will need your support.

[00:02:03]Migration has always been part of South Africa's story and heritage. Our mines, farms, cities, and industries were built by generations of migrant workers from across Southern Africa and within South Africa itself.

[00:02:18]This is the reason why our young democracy approach migration with an unwavering humanitarian and Pan-African commitment.

[00:02:26]We enshrined in the constitution the rights of migrants, acceded to international convention for protecting migrants and refugees, restored citizenship to people whom it was arbitrarily denied, and dismantled racist policies that had favored white migrants from neighboring countries and further afield.

[00:02:46]We also removed barriers that had dangerously separated South Africa from its neighbors. Three decades later, we remain committed to that humanitarian and Pan-African vision, an open society governed by law anchored in human dignity and attentive to legitimate needs of its people.

[00:03:06]>> Right?

[00:03:07]>> Sorry?

[00:03:08]>> From India, long flight, right? Like 17 hours or something?

[00:03:10]>> I'm from New York.

[00:03:11]>> Right, right. Originally, though. First interview?

[00:03:13]>> No.

[00:03:13]>> Just so you know, this role is very client-facing, very communication heavy.

[00:03:17]The way you present yourself, the accent, clients notice that stuff.

[00:03:19]>> I'm sure they do.

[00:03:21]>> Cute. Tell us about yourself. So, I have an MBA from [music] >> Well, it's a top 10 program, and I >> But we are also aware that we cannot manage this challenge alone. We must work with our neighbors in the region and the broader continent to address the root causes driving the flow of movement into South Africa.

[00:03:44]That means ending conflict and persecution, building productive economies, creating jobs for young people, and deepening regional integration.

[00:03:53]And I also employ you as members of parliament in your parliaments to measure your own executives, how far are we going with regional integration?

[00:04:05]The Africa free trade area and cross-border economic zones, because these zones and the Africa free trade area will be a great opportunity for us to grow the African economy, to create jobs in all parts of the continent.

[00:04:20]For all of us to make a meaningful contribution to the future of our children. As you deliberate in the days ahead, may the symbolism of this place give you the courage to confront difficult questions, bridge differences, and find common ground as parliamentarians are called upon to do so. It will not just be a ladies and a gentlemen's discussion. It must be frank, honest, and robust.

[00:04:46]May the significance of this day remind us that young people of our youth to full continent are growing impatient with democracies that do not deliver on social economic outcomes. They want better lives, they want decent work, and real opportunities.

[00:05:02]They want to see African critical minerals being processed at source, and they want to be the drivers of innovation in artificial intelligence and the green economies, and not just as consumers.

[00:05:15]We're the most youthful continent in the world.

[00:05:18]Therefore, it must be shown in the factory shops when we process our critical minerals.

[00:05:24]It is against this background that South Africa placed the issue of processing of critical minerals at source and beneficiation at the center of our G20 agenda. And it is an outcome that we want to see you help implement across the continent.

[00:05:43]And as we approach the World Refugee Day amid an atmosphere charged with fear and uncertainty. May we be reminded of the agency of addressing the political, economic, and social conditions that compel as many people to be on the move.

[00:05:59]The African continent can rise and must arise through our actions.

[00:06:05]By ensuring that the protocols that we have signed on Africa free trade area, on migration, and many other protocols, including issues on critical minerals, becomes implemented and not just be issues that we talk about in summits and conferences. I wish you fruitful deliberations in the next 3 days. Thank you very much.

[00:06:32]>> You've been listening to an address by South Africa's Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola, at the 19th Conference of