Mbeki: Cartoons 'lesson' for SA
2006-02-09 14:49
Parliament - The furore over the Danish newspaper cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad in all its ramifications has some very important lessons for South Africa as well, President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday.
Replying to debate in the National Assembly on his state-of-the-nation address, he said when South Africa's democracy was established, "we knew that we were inheriting a very diverse society that had been divided into many fractions by our history of colonialism and apartheid.
"We knew that for us to survive and thrive as a nation, we had to bridge the many fissures in our society created by our past.
"I believe that one of our greatest achievements since the dawn of democracy has been precisely the advance we have made towards building the united but diverse society which is so fundamental to our future," Mbeki said.
Generally, from the family unit, to communities, political organisations and various institutions, South Africans shared the principles and values contained in the Constitution.
"Indeed, if we did not share the values enshrined in our Constitution the country would have long degenerated into civil strife, anarchy and possibly even civil war.
"The challenge facing all of us is to strive for social and economic equity in our country, so that we move away from the divisions that defines a section of the South Africans population as poor, labourers, unemployed and under-employed and the wretched of the earth; while another is characterised by the rich, the bosses, the fully employed and the affluent who enjoy good things in life," Mbeki said.
- SAPA