One SA going forward: Mbeki
Thabo Mokgola and Zibonele Ntuli
28 April 2004
Newly inducted President Thabo Mbeki says that as South Africans celebrate a decade of freedom, they will never again allow themselves to be defined by their race classification.
Mbeki was addressing the nation at the Union Buildings on Freedom Day, 27 April, shortly after being inaugurated as the country's third democratically elected President.
Mbeki's induction by Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson was heralded by a fly-past of military aircraft and three South African Airways passenger liners.
Mbeki is now serving the last of his two terms as the first citizen of the country.
After three centuries of apartheid, Mbeki said, South Africans decided to turn away from a past of division into mutually antagonistic racial and ethnic groups, choosing instead the path of national unity and reconciliation.
"We chose what seemed impossible because to have done otherwise would have condemned all our people, black and white, to a bloody
and catastrophic conflict", Mbeki said, adding that South Africans were proud that every day they discovered that they were, after all, one another's keeper.
"We are determined that where once we were the terrible exemplar of racist bigotry, we should now and in future testify to the possibility of building a stable and viable non-racial society."
This determination, Mbeki said, was vindicated by the general elections held earlier this month. Today, he said, no South African - including national, racial and political minorities - viewed democracy as a threat to their interests or their future.
This was because South Africans sought to design and implement an inclusive democratic system, rather than one driven by social and political exclusion.
"We are determined to ensure that no one ever has grounds to say that he or she has been denied his or her place in the sun. Peace and our shared destiny impose an obligation on all of us to create the space for every
South African to make his or her contribution to the shaping of our common destiny."
Tuesday's celebrations sought also to send a message to the world that Africans were ready to redress the harm caused to them, Mbeki said. For a millennium there were some in the world who were convinced that to be African was to be less human.
"This conviction made it easy to trade in human beings as slaves, to colonise countries and, today, to consign Africans to the periphery of global human society, as a fit object for sustenance through charitable donations", Mbeki said.
As South Africa began its second decade of democracy, he said, the world was now convinced that what had been achieved during the first decade demonstrated that Africans could and would solve their own problems.
"We are equally certain that Africa will record new advances as she pursues the goal of a better life for all. She will do what she can to encourage a more equitable and humane new world order."
VIPs and VVIPs
A number of high-level dignitaries were present at the Union Buildings to witness South Africa's most eventful inauguration to date.
Entering the Union Buildings amphitheatre alongside a guard of honour, heads of state and government, heads of delegation and other guests were greeted by rapturous applause.
Heads of state and government in attendance included Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Levy Mwanawas of Zambia, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Domitien Ndayizeye of Burundi, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Bikili Muluzi of Malawi, Sam Nujoma of Namibia, Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano and Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo.
Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Alpha Konare and Pan African Parliament President Gertrude Mongella also graced the ceremony.
One of the most notable moments was the arrival of the Fifa delegation led by the body's president, Sepp
Blatter. Flanked by CAF President Issa Hayatou, Blatter and his delegation received a standing ovation accompanied by chants of "2010, 2010" in reference to South Africa's bid to host the soccer World Cup in 2010.
However, the longest standing ovation by far was reserved for former President Nelson Mandela, accompanied by his wife, Graca Machel, with the crowd singing: "Nelson Mandela ha hona ya tshwanang le wena" (Nelson Mandela there's no one like you).
Another African great who received ululations upon his arrival was former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, Lesotho King Letsile III and Swazi King Mswati III represented African royalty at the ceremony.
After the President spoke, a National Salute followed, with a fly-past by three Oryx helicopters and 10 Astra aircraft, concluded with a 21-gun salute. The President then joined a parade along Church street in Pretoria.
After the formal proceedings, the more than 40 000
people gathered at the Union Buildings were treated to a music concert featuring over 200 artists, while dignitaries were treated to a lunch of scrumptious African cuisine. A cocktail function for VIPs was held at Pretoria's State Theatre on Tuesday night.
Source: BuaNews
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