Mbeki: Produce the good news
2004-02-06 11:31
Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki on Friday called on all South Africans to continue building a sense of national unity and foster a new patriotism as the country entered a second decade of liberation.
"Working together, in conditions of entrenched democracy, respect for human rights, peace and stability, we must continue to produce the good news that has made our country a place of hope," he said in his state of the nation address at the opening of parliament.
The policies and programmes for achieving the goals of the expansion of the frontiers of human fulfilment, and the continuous extension of the frontiers of the freedom, of which former president Nelson Mandela spoke a decade ago, were in place, he said.
In addressing the challenges posed by the country's "second economy", including poverty, underdevelopment, and marginalisation, it was necessary to continue to focus on the growth, development and modernisation of the "first economy".
This would generate resources, without which it would not be possible to confront these challenges.
"This is going to require further and significant infrastructure investments, skills development, scientific and technological research, development and expansion of the knowledge economy, growth and modernisation of the manufacturing and service sectors, deeper penetration of the global markets by our products, increasing our savings levels, black economic empowerment and the further expansion of small and medium enterprises.
"Among other things, our successes with regard to both the first and second economies must create the conditions for us to reduce the numbers of our people dependent on social grants," Mbeki said.
It was clear the sustained calls for all to respond to a new patriotism had struck a chord among South Africans, black and white, with the exception of the "most selfish and self-centred among us".
Mbeki said the "traditional doomsayers are back at their favourite sport of trying to frighten us with scarecrows".
They were painting monstrous pictures of impending violence during the coming elections, and radical constitutional amendments after the elections by the very people who drafted the constitution.
"The masses of our people sacrificed everything to achieve peace and democracy for all of us. These masses will not allow that desperate politicians do desperate things to win or retain power for themselves," he said.
- SAPA