STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS 2005
Africa: cause for encouragement
Zibonele Ntuli
11 February 2005
In his State of the Nation Address to Parliament in Cape Town on Friday, President Mbeki highlighted a number of positive trends on the continent, saying they gave encouragement to Pretoria's efforts to achieve a peaceful and prosperous Africa.
Mbeki said South Africa would continue to play a role in ensuring the success of the African Union and its socio-economic development programme, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).
Mbeki noted that Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia had held democratic elections in the last year and that the leaders of the latter two had passed on the baton in an exemplary manner.
"We will ensure more deliberate application to the task of revamping Southern African Development Community (SADC) management structures, and speeding up the integration of our economies on the subcontinent, including the implementation of infrastructure projects already identified with regard to transport and energy",
Mbeki said.
"We will finalise our preparations for South Africa's Peer Review assessment, working with partners in civil society", he added.
The President said South Africa would continue contributing towards ending the crisis in the Ivory Coast.
He cited recent events in Togo, following the unconstitutional installation by the military of Faure Gnassingbe after the death of his father, President Gnassingbe Eyadema, as an addition to instability in West Africa.
"This must communicate the message to the people of Cote d'Ivoire and the rest of our continent that everything must be done to solve the Ivorian crisis, given the importance of this country, which has the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa."
On Zimbabwe, Mbeki said the government would continue to work with its neighbour, as part of the SADC collective, to ensure that elections due to be held in less than two months were free and fair.
"We shall also continue our engagement with
the Kingdom of Swaziland to help where we can in the efforts to construct a constitutional dispensation that enjoys the confidence of all", he said.
He added that the government would also take steps to help the Somali government reconstruct their country.
The government will also participate in the Asia-Africa Summit in Bandung, Indonesia in April, and hosting a trilateral meeting of India, Brazil and South Africa focused on building south-south cooperation.
Source: BuaNews
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