It is an honour to be with you this afternoon.
Tomorrow, we will table the Budget Vote for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in Parliament.
Through that Budget Vote, we will account for how DIRCO has carried out its mandate, advanced South Africa’s national interest and values, and contributed to the building of a better Africa and a better world.
We will also take stock of our achievements and our setbacks; while setting out the work we intend to carry forward in the year ahead.
That act of accounting comes at a moment with rich historical meaning.
Our freedom: a continental responsibility
2026 is a year of major milestones in our national life. We mark 70 years since the historic Women’s March to the Union Buildings, 50 years since the 1976 youth uprising and 30 years since the adoption of our Constitution.
Each of these moments reminds us that freedom in South Africa was never achieved in isolation. It was carried by workers, women, young people, communities and by the peoples of our continent, who understood that the defeat of apartheid was a continental responsibility.
The formation of the Organisation of African Unity, whose 63rd anniversary we mark on this day, was one of the clearest expressions of that shared responsibility and solidarity.
The challenge of irregular migration
This year, as we mark Africa Day, we do so in an atmosphere charged with unease.
Across parts of our country, migrants of African descent have come under attack at the hands of groups and formations that seeks to polarise our society.
Government has been emphatic that these attacks have no place in a constitutional order. They are an attack on the values of Ubuntu and the right to dignity.
We acknowledge the economic hardships many South Africans face, as well as the growing concerns about crime in our society. But no grievance, however legitimate, can justify violence, scapegoating or attacks on people based on their nationality.
We cannot accept citizens usurping the powers of law enforcement agencies and unleashing violence on other human beings.
At the same time, we have been clear that South Africa faces the challenge of irregular migration, and that migration must be managed in an orderly, lawful and humane manner. Law enforcement must enforce the law with regards on illegal migration; every country has the authority to regulate migration and enforce its laws on irregular migration.
South Africa remains a major host country for migrants from across southern Africa and from as far afield as the Horn of Africa, Europe and Asia.
Let us also be clear that migration in and of itself is not the problem. When properly managed, it can contribute to regional development. No country is an island, and no country can succeed in isolation.
South Africa is one of seven SADC countries, out of sixteen member states, that has ratified the 2005 SADC Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons. Similarly, South Africa supports and aligns itself with the African Union Free Movement of Persons Protocol.
But we must also be frank and honestly examine the pressures that push people to undertake irregular migration pathways.
Africa’s Youth and Migration
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the youth uprising, the point is perhaps best made by looking at the state of young people and migration today.
Africa is the youngest continent in the world. More than 60 percent of Africans are under the age of 25. By 2050, one in four young people in the world will be African.
Yet the prospects facing many young Africans remain grim.
A 2025 Afrobarometer survey of 38 African countries shows that nearly 6 in 10 young Africans between the ages of 18 and 25 have considered leaving their home countries in search of better prospects elsewhere.
More than 70 percent cite the need to find work and economic hardship as the main reasons.
This means that for many young Africans, migration is not a choice but a compulsion.
By 2030, as many as 30 million young people are expected to enter Africa’s job market each year. Yet our economies, together, currently create only about 3 million jobs annually.
For South Africa and for the continent, this is a serious warning. If young people cannot find work, imagine a future for themselves or build lives of dignity, they will move.
For Africa to thrive, we must create opportunities for our continent’s greatest asset: its young people.
A call to all parties
For this reason, the region and the continent must hold constructive and comprehensive discussions on the root causes of migration, including the related socio-economic, governance and security dimensions.
As a leading host country of migrants on the continent, South Africa is prepared to take a leadership role in engaging regional and global partners to manage the multifaceted challenges of migration.
In this politically charged environment, we call for responsible diplomacy, public engagement that does not fan the flames of division, and leadership that relies on credible information, rejects disinformation and refuses any campaign designed to turn Africans against one another.
Our responsibility towards Africa’s cause
Because our freedom was a continental responsibility, let me conclude by outlining three responsibilities that confront us on this Africa Day.
The first responsibility is to affirm African agency in a world marked by uncertainty and power contestation.
Africa cannot be a passive recipient of decisions made elsewhere. We must shape the terms of our own development, defend our collective interests and insist that the continent has a rightful place in the making of the global order.
This is the spirit in which South Africa has approached its work in the G20, BRICS and other platforms of global governance.
Through these platforms, we have placed Africa’s priorities at the centre of global discussions.
One of these priorities is debt sustainability. The figures are stark. More than half the continent – some 750 million Africans – live in countries where debt service squeezes out investment in teachers, nurses, textbooks, infrastructure and jobs.
This is why South Africa used its G20 Presidency to call into question a global financial architecture that too often rewards creditors and punishes ordinary people.
The Africa Expert Panel recognised that this is not simply a debt crisis. It is a development crisis. It called for reforms to lower the cost of borrowing, greater transparency in the work of credit ratings agencies and the establishment of a borrowers’ club to strengthen the collective voice of indebted countries.
Our Presidency also placed climate finance, disaster resilience, beneficiation at source and inequality at the centre of the agenda.
Through the proposal for an International Panel on Inequality, South Africa has argued that inequality weakens democracies by deepening instability and increasing the popularity of political forces that mobilise on hate and division.
Together with Brazil, Spain and Norway, South Africa plans to introduce a UN General Assembly resolution on the creation of an International Panel on Inequality later this year.
The second responsibility is to deepen regional and continental solidarity.
The recent SADC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat pointed in this direction. SADC Ministers agreed that our region must be better prepared to respond to external shocks, whether they arise from conflict, climate disasters, food and fuel price volatility, public health emergencies or the decisions of powerful actors far beyond our borders.
Peace and security remain central to this responsibility and to our commitment to Agenda 2063.
In Sudan, this means an end to the fighting, unfettered humanitarian access and inclusive national dialogue.
In South Sudan, it means a ceasefire, credible elections and support for the AU C5 Plus peace efforts, including the recent Summit in Addis Ababa.
In the eastern DRC, it means defending sovereignty and territorial integrity and using our role as Chair of the Regional Oversight Mechanism to work with signatory states towards a durable solution.
Solidarity also means strengthening the continent’s capacity to respond to public health emergencies.
As the African Union Champion on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, South Africa remains committed to this work.
We have contributed 2.5 million US dollars from the African Renaissance Fund to augment a continental approach to Ebola outbreak. This is a practical demonstration of leadership. It will support surveillance, laboratory systems, rapid response teams and cross-border preparedness.
The third responsibility is to ensure that our foreign policy is anchored in credibility at home.
The strength of our foreign policy is inseparable from our resilience at home. The path is beginning to yield results.
We have recorded a historic tax collection milestone of R2 trillion. We have recently secured another positive credit rating outlook. We have made headway in addressing loadshedding.
Our economic diplomacy is also yielding results, including in agriculture. In 2025, South Africa’s agricultural exports reached a record 15.1 billion US dollars. In the first quarter of 2026, farm exports reached 3.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 11 percent year on year.
These exports reach markets across Africa, the European Union, Asia and the Middle East. They show how foreign policy can support jobs and economic opportunity at home.
On the migration front, this means managing migration lawfully, in a coordinated manner and based on evidence. It means stronger border management, firm action against violations of immigration and labour laws, fighting corruption and protecting the fundamental rights of every person.
We cannot allow a climate fear, opportunism or populism to weaken our commitment to Pan-African solidarity.
These are the responsibilities we have in this moment. As President Mandela reminded us on the eve of our freedom:
“We are prepared to shoulder our share of the responsibility – not in the spirit of paternalism or dominance but mutual cooperation and respect.”
On this day, we renew our commitment to this vision.
I thank you.
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