Allow me in delivering, on behalf of the Hon. Baleka Mbethe, Speaker of the National Assembly and Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, her contribution to this event, to commence with the following:

Firstly to convey Her heart felt sense of appreciation for the kind invitation extended to her to attend and speak at this auspicious occasion - the 8th International" Conference of Chief Justices of the World i.e. The World Judiciary Summit 2007, which she is unable to attend due to pressing matters at home.

Included amongst these is the fact that South Africa is due to host the next Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Session and our Parliament is hard at work to make sure that it becomes like many other events held in South Africa, one of the best ever.

The invitation issued on behalf of the 32,000 students of City Montessori School (CMS) - representing the world's two billion children and generations yet-to-be-born, is a shining example of how we as citizens of the world can use our numbers, achievements or creative ideas to advance the cause of preserving our existing world, whilst at the same time, creating a better one and a better future for ourselves, our children and many more generations yet to come.

South Africa and India share a common heritage in many ways. We share a common experience of our colonial past and a common struggle against and consequent victory over oppression. Many years ago, people from this country we ferried onto our shores to supply cheap labour on the vast tracts of sugar plantation$ of Natal, currently known as Kwazulu-natal, suffering some of the worst forms of human exploitation.

They joined the large numbers of the indigenous African Majority in enduring years of coronial and apartheid oppression. They joined their fellow countrymen in-an enduring struggle for freedom. Today they are celebrating as part of a free and racially united rainbow nation that has sought to present itself as a shining example of how the indomitable human spirit can convert adversity into prosperity.

Mahatma Ghandi, who taught the world non-violent means of pursuing justice, peace and human rights, is as much an icon of human rights and peace here as he is back home in South Africa.

In fact in the inner city of Johannesburg, is located Ghandi square, named after Mahatma Gandhi at the most central part of the CBD. This is also the central bus terminus where all buses that ferry people to all directions in the city and surrounding suburbs start and end.

On the 23rd of August this year, our Speaker, Parliament and the Caucus of the Majority Party, the African National Congress, hosted Hon. Sonia Ghandi, leader of the All India Congress Committee. The warmth and friendship that was exchanged between us and Ms Ghandi was a representation of the positive relationship that has endured between the peoples of both our countries.

Both our nations have committed ourselves to the principle of multilateralism, recognizing the common destiny that all humanity share, because, after-all, we all exist on and share the same planet and our common destiny depends on our actions and inactions that will either contribute to its preservation or ultimate destruction.

South Africa is party to many multilateral agreements, and actively participates in advocacy programs aimed at the building of a better, safer and more prosperous and humane world for ourselves as a country and for all the peoples of the world, both for now and for the future.

We have committed ourselves to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals of, amongst other things, halving poverty by 2014. We are signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, committing ourselves together with other progressive nations of the world to taking the necessary steps for the preservation of our planet for future generations to inherit.

Our country has experienced both civil and regional conflicts during the dark days of apartheid. These wars have left our people and region scared in many ways. To date, there are remote places in Southern Africa, which have not yet been fully quarantined, from the many weapons used during the war. These continue to pose a serious risk to the lives of our peoples.

As part of our commitment to lasting peace, and a safer and more stable environment, we have made strides, including the adoption of various international instruments in which we have committed ourselves to the total eradication of arms of mass destruction and other arms that pose a danger to human society, particularly innocent civilians.
South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute, establishing the International Criminal Court and has passed supporting legislation, making it possible for the Court to sit, function and execute its mandate in South Africa. Even though we do not, currently experience the kind of atrocities that would necessitate the Court to be put to work, our past experiences and the experiences of other nations remind us never to be complacent and to always act proactively in order to preserve our future. We believe that our dark past which we have sought to unearth through the Truth and Reconciliation process in order to give it a proper burial, has taught us this.

Women and children in particular, always suffer the worst consequences, of poverty, disease, war, violence and environmental degradation and in the aftermath of these scourges, they always bear the worst and most enduring scars. The powerful nations of the world, who are often the great sponsors of some of these unfortunate situations, whether directly or indirectly have often contributed very little to their eradication or reduction or mitigation of the harm they cause.

In his Acceptance Speech, the then President of the African National Congress, and subsequently first President of the Democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela, whom we fondly refer to as: Utata Madiba, back home, at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony held in Oslo, Norway, on 10 December 1993, had the following to say: "At the southern tip of the continent of Africa, a rich reward is in the making, an invaluable gift is in the preparation, for those who suffered in the name of all humanity when they sacrificed everything - for liberty, peace, human dignity and human fulfillment.

This reward will not be measured in money. Nor can it be reckoned in the collective price of the rare metals and precious stones that rest in the bowels of the African soil we tread in the footsteps of our ancestors. It will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures.

The children must, at last, play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse, and no longer required to engage in deeds whose gravity exceeds the demands of their tender years."

South Africa is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and numerous other international instruments aimed at the welfare and protection of children and has recently adopted comprehensive new legislation aimed at giving effect to this and our own constitutional obligations espoused in our bill of rights.

I THANK YOU