President Motlanthe's speech
2008-09-25 16:53
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BY KGALEMA MOTLANTHE ON THE OCCASION
OF HIS ELECTION AS PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
SOUTH AFRICA 25 SEPTEMBER 2008
Madame Speaker of the National Assembly,
Acting President
Our esteemed Chief Justice
Honourable leaders of our political parties
Members of Parliament
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Mr Jacob Zuma, former Deputy President of the Republic and President
of the ANC
Ahmed Kathrada, Isithwalandwe Seaparankoe
Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders and
honoured Traditional Leaders
Heads of State Organs supporting our constitutional democracy
Directors-General and leaders of the Public Service
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Distinguished guests, friends and Comrades
People of South Africa
Today, I make a solemn pledge that I will do all to live up to these
expectations and to undertake this task to the best of my ability.
I wish to record my sincere thanks and appreciation to outgoing
President Thabo Mbeki, in whose Cabinet I have had the honour to serve
these last few months.
I know that I speak on behalf of all the people of this country when
I say that we have been privileged to have you as our President these
last nine years. There is no value that we can place on the service you
have rendered to your country, nor any tribute that can adequately
capture your contribution to building this nation.
For all that you have done for South Africa, for our continent and
for the advancement of the global community, we remain forever
indebted.
Madame Speaker,
I wish also to express my gratitude to my cabinet colleagues, most
of whom were appointed in 2004 in my presence while I was Secretary
General of the ANC, and with whom I have been part of a team in
government.
I am grateful to the African National Congress for the tasks and
responsibilities it has given me over several decades, for providing
the political and analytical grounding that is so essential for
effective public service.
The African National Congress is a movement with a rich political
tradition. While conditions have changed, and tactics have had to be
adapted, the policy orientation of the ANC has remained consistent for
over 50 years.
The vision espoused in the Freedom Charter remains at the core of
the work of this movement, reflected in the mandate of this government.
Since the attainment of democracy in 1994, as the leading party in
government the ANC has kept a steady hand on the tiller.
Even when faced with difficulty, and confronted by unanticipated
challenges, the ANC has remained unwavering in its commitment to
advance the interests of all the people of South Africa.
This has been reflected in the policies of three successive ANC
governments, as it will continue to be reflected in the final months of
this, the country's third democratic national government.
In 2004, the people of this country gave a clear and unequivocal
mandate to this government to forge a people's contract to create work
and fight poverty. It placed on this government the responsibility to
use all means at its disposal to ensure that by 2014 we would be able
to reduce poverty and unemployment by half.
When its term ends next year, this government will be able to report
to the people that indeed it has done as it was mandated.
It will be able to report on an economy that has sustained a pace of
growth unprecedented in recent South African history, that has created
jobs at an accelerated pace, and that has enabled government to
dedicate greater resources to meeting the basic needs of our people.
It will be able to report on significant progress in pushing back
the frontiers of poverty. This government will be able to report on
tangible advances in the provision of housing, electricity, water,
sanitation and other basic services to millions of our people. And it
will be able to report on major improvements in the access of poor
South Africans to health care, education and social security.
South Africans across the length and breadth of the country will
attest to these and many other achievements.
But they know too that much work still lies ahead. They know the
challenges our country faces, and the hardships that many of our people
continue to endure.
To them, and to the world at large, we say that we shall not falter
in leading the national effort to build a society in which all South
Africans, regardless of their background, race or gender, have equal
access to an expanding array of opportunity.
To them, and to the world at large, we say that this government will
continue, as it has done under the leadership of President Thabo Mbeki,
to dedicate every day that it remains in office towards the achievement
of this goal.
The resolve of this government will not slacken. The pace of
implementation will only quicken, and the fulfillment of its mandate
will only ever draw closer.
Madame Speaker,
We are able to make such pronouncements with neither hesitation nor
doubt, precisely because the policies we are charged to implement are
the policies of the African National Congress.
These policies, which government will continue to implement
unchanged, are the product of an extensive consultation and
decision-making process.
These policies are the property of a collective. They do not belong
to any one individual. And it is not for any one individual to change
them.
The policies of this government are clear.
They are based on the 2004 Manifesto of the African National
Congress, enhanced by the decisions of both the ANC's Policy Conference
as well as its 52nd National Conference held in Polokwane in December
2007.
Mine is not the desire to deviate from what is working. It is not
for me to reinvent policy. Nor do I intend to reshape either Cabinet or
the public service.
We will not allow that the work of government be interrupted.
We will not allow the stability of our democratic order to be
compromised.
And we will not allow the confidence that our people have in the
ability of the state to respond to their needs to be undermined.
At this moment in our history, as we stand poised to make still
further advances towards the achievement of a better life, it is as
important as ever that we stand united as a nation.
It is as important as ever that we retain our faith in the
resilience of our constitutional order and the vibrancy of our
democracy.
Though we may at times experience difficulty, though we may suffer
moments of doubt and uncertainty, we have both the will and the means
to rise above the challenges of the present, and to forge ahead with
our historic mission to liberate all our people from discrimination,
oppression and want.
Therefore, we stand here to send out a message that government
remains on course to deliver on its commitments to the poor, who rely
on us daily for the fulfilment of their basic needs and for the
provision of important services like health, education, and social
security.
We remain on course to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014.
We remain determined to stamp out crime, violence and abuse,
whomever it affects and wherever it manifests itself. We remain
committed to building safer communities and protecting the vulnerable
in our society from abuse. But in doing so, we need all our people to
work with, and within, the criminal justice system so that together we
stamp out crime.
We are here to assure all those on our continent and in the world
that we will continue to meet our international obligations. We will
continue to play a positive role within international institutions and
forums. We will continue to provide whatever assistance we can in the
pursuit of peace, security, democracy and development in Africa.
We remain on course to host in 2010 the best FIFA World Cup ever -
An African World Cup. We fully expect to meet every commitment our
nation has made to the football world.
In a turbulent global economy, we will remain true to the policies
that have kept South Africa steady, and that have ensured sustained
growth.
We will intensify the all-round effort to accelerate the rate of
growth and job creation, and ensure that the benefits of growth are
equally shared by all our people.
In the spirit of building a united democratic, non-racial,
non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, I look forward to a
constructive relationship with all parties within this assembly, even
as we begin preparations for next year's elections. I hope to benefit
from the critical eye that a vibrant and alert opposition brings to
politics.
We will continue the regular engagements between government and the
various working groups representing vital sectors within our society.
These, together with initiatives like the nation wide Izimbizo
programme, provide a crucial opportunity for enhancing popular
engagement with the highest levels of government.
Madame Speaker, in the interest of establishing immediate stability
and certainty, I have thought it important not to delay in filling
whatever vacancies may have occurred in government and confirming the
Cabinet. I am therefore intending appointing the following into the
Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa. (List to be distributed in due
course)
We live in challenging times. We see before us many mountains that
are yet to be climbed, and numerous rivers that still need to be
crossed.
Yet, for all the challenges that lie ahead, the incontrovertible
truth is that never before has South Africa been closer than it is
today towards the achievement of a better life for all its people.
We therefore have a shared responsibility to build on these results
and to strive together - sparing neither courage nor strength - towards
the achievement of a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better
world.
I thank you.
- SAPA