SPEECH BY THE ANC TREASURER GENERAL DR MATHEWS PHOSA ON THE OCCASION OF THE PMR AFRICAN BREAKFAST FORUM, June 14 2010
"A NEW NATION"
1. We have just started one of the most momentous events in South African history with the start of the Soccer World Cup.
2. It creates a massive marketing platform for South Africa as a commercial and tourism destination-as well as the gateway to Africa.
3. It is, in fact, the third World Cup that we have hosted in our country since our first democratic elections in 1994, and follows on the successful rugby and cricket world cups that we hosted here.
4. All around us we see the signs of the Gautrain project being completed, of roads works, of beautiful new stadiums, of the new King Shaka airport, and of the substantial improvement of our country's infrastructure.
5. We have in fact, become irritated by our success. We moan and groan when we have to wait because of a lane closure on the highway, or when we have to walk an extra fifty meters at an airport that is being improved and revamped.
6. Our sportsmen and women are amongst the best in the world, if not the best, in sports ranging from rugby to golf and wheelchair marathons.
7. As a country we are punching way above our natural weight in global forums such as the United Nations, the G20 and a number of other multilateral institutions.
8. Some of our private sector companies are world leaders and listed on international boards. A number of South African businessmen and women are seen as global leaders in their respective industries.
9. In my view, we, as South Africans, have a habit of walking past our successes, of almost being afraid to recognize that, in many areas of our daily lives and national persona, we are, in fact, doing extremely well across the globe.
10. We should emigrate from this introverted way of looking at ourselves as not worthy to compete with the very best, or of even outshining the very best.
11. I firmly believe that South Africans have a creative and positive spirit that will enable us to overcome each and every challenge that faces us now, and in the future.
12. Those challenges are well-known to us: Poverty, crime and the creation of sufficient and world class infrastructure in the sectors of education and health, as well as the transport of opportunities from the metropolitan areas to our rural areas.
13. When I recently attended the funeral of Van Zyl Slabbert, known for the fact that he was both a verbal critic of the then National Party government as well as the current ANC government, I was inspired by the fact that we, around his death and grave, were united in our admiration of him as a truly great Afrikaner, South African and African.
14. That event, stark and tragic as it was, made me realize that we have come a long, long way along the road of building a new nation, and reconciling across the historical and wasteful divides from where we came.
15. Another event, the final of the Super 14 competition, where two South African teams battled it out in Soweto-and South Africans united around sport, braaivleis, pap and a few liquids, illustrated to me that "on the street" we have accepted each others as brothers and sisters.
16. We have leaders, black and white, who see the outlines of the vision of this strong and vibrant new nation that we all know we can be.
17. These leaders are working diligently to unite us, across party and other lines, to move towards that vision and goal.
18. It is true that we come from a divided past, and that our present is far from ideal in some respects, but that should not ever deter us from allowing our pride and strength driving us to a better future.
19. The truth is that negativity, self-doubt and constant destructive criticism of everything around us will not get us anywhere. A positive spirit, inspired by the progress that we see everywhere around us will do an enormous amount to changing the lives of those who are weak, insecure and vulnerable.
20. The wonderful and positive events of the last few days at the Soccer World Cup reflect the recent changes in infrastructure as well as our national spirit and lights up the path to the future for all of us.
21. As leaders, and as individuals present here today who have jobs and food, we can never be satisfied until we have found a cause bigger than ourselves and our own needs.
22. That cause, I believe is to be found in contributing to and building this new nation from the basis of self-belief, of a positive spirit, and of an indestructible approach that we will change things for the better.
Thank you.
Statement issued by the African National Congress, June 14 2010
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