Date: 29/10/2009
Source: African National Congress
Title: ANC: Phosa: Speech by the Treasure General at the Progressive Business Forum briefing for British and European Business and Industry leaders, London

Let me first
thank you for the opportunity of addressing you this evening.

It has been
fifteen years since all South Africans voted for the first time and we are
proud of our achievements during this short period of democracy.

Our model
of democracy has been praised worldwide and some of the architects of our
political miracle are in demand around the globe to assist with negotiations
in the hotspots of the world.

Former Presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de
Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize for their own efforts in ensuring that South
Africans are now united and can look towards a more peaceful and prosperous
future.

During this post-democracy period we have had four Presidents and,
like you, we have had the head of government retire during tenure. We are,
in fact, following the example of Europe in becoming a normal
democracy.

During this period of fifteen years we have successfully played
host to the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and recently successfully
and seamlessly stood in for India as the host of the IPL Cricket
League.

These successful efforts will be followed next year by the hosting
of the Soccer World Cup. In preparing for such a major event there is a
massive effort under way to substantially improve our infrastructure and to
build a number of new stadiums.

In addition to these efforts we have
continued to play a leadership role in the Southern African region and on
the African continent. The fact that we were able, through visionary
leadership, to move our country to a stable democracy, also meant that we
are viewed as a trusted partner by many countries across the globe.

As we
stand here today Britain is South Africa's second largest trade partner
after China.

It is, however, a partner that we have trusted and valued over
the centuries and one that has stood by us during both good and bad
times.

It is a partnership and relationship that we wish to continue and
expand at all times. This point was made by our President when he visited
your Prime Minister in April last year and repeated recently when he met
with your High Commissioner to accept her credentials as your countries
representative in South Africa.

It is one of the major reasons that I am
here today as the Treasurer General of the African National Congress. I
also convey the wishes of our party's leadership as well as that of the
President to strengthen and deepen our commercial relationship.

In that
regard, you have been a mining partner of ours for a very long time. Your
recent substantial investments by Barclays into our local bank, ABSA, as
well as Vodafone into our own Vodacom critically enhanced that preferred
partner relationship between us.

It is my fervent hope that my visit can,
in time, unlock further opportunities for both British and South African
investors.

I am told that I can now go and drink coffee here at the South
African coffee shop Vida e Caffe and have lunch at our restaurant group,
Spur.

Financial services groups such as Old Mutual, Investec and Standard
Bank utilize London as a springboard to identify opportunities in
Europe.

It is my fervent hope that even more British companies will utilize
our major cities as a similar springboard to broaden your business
activities into Southern Africa and the African continent.

On a political
level, we believe that we have been a sound and trusted partner for our
friends in multi-lateral forums such as SADC, the African Union, the G20 and
the United Nations. We will continue to utilize those forums to work for
the advancement of the agenda of political and commercial partnerships that
will further enhance our agenda of South and Southern Africa as a favoured
developmental, political and commercial partner.

In the challenging global
economic environment in which Jacob Zuma became the fourth President of the
Republic of South Africa at the end of April this year, he inherited the
following:

• A strong governing party with a clear and decisive majority at
the polls.

• A region dominated by the instability in Zimbabwe where the
Zanu PF/MDC alliance is a cause for concern, amongst many other
concerns.

• A continent where the final form and format of the African
Union is still being debated.

• A country where crime and corruption is at
unacceptable levels and an issue of concern for our British, European and
global partners. In this regard, we will and must move away from a culture
of greed and self enrichment to one of transparent accountability. We
should also consider additional legal measures, one of them being the
potential appointment of a Corruption Commissioner with wide ranging legal
powers.

• A country where we have no other choice but to focus a large
amount of energy on addressing decades of old backlogs in education, health
and housing. In the mini budget delivered by our Minister of Finance on
Tuesday, he announced an additional package of almost R1 billion for
HIV/AIDS as well as substantial increase in spending in housing and
education through a number of initiatives, inclusive of infrastructure
creation. We hope to create more than 4 million jobs in the next three
years.

In addition, there is a view that, because of the above, the South
African government will incrementally move its economic policies to the left
of centre and thereby cause concern amongst some of its partners.

You can
expect the following from the ANC government, headed by President
Zuma:

• That Mr Zuma, as President, will move swiftly to restore the legacy
of reconciliation and nation building, bequeathed to him by Mr Mandela.
South Africa will operate as a team from a non-racial, non-sexist
basis.

• That we will work tirelessly to find democratic solutions to
enhance a political settlement in Zimbabwe.

• That we will work very hard
towards defining our role on the continent in such a way that we act as
leaders, but also enhance unity and solidarity on the continent.

• That we
will launch a massive effort to enhance stability ahead of the 2010 Soccer
World Cup, but at the same time finding the right mix of socio-economic
measures that will combat poverty and unemployment, issues that are at the
root of crime. One of the announcements in Tuesday's mini budget was that
we will put more than 22,000 new policemen on the street and that a massive
spending programme will be launched to improve security in our country over
the next three years.

I know that you are concerned about the noise that
you have been hearing around the issue of the nationalization of mines in
South Africa. I understand that you regard this as a very serious issue,
and I want to reassure you that we will manage it, keeping your substantial
and historical interests in mind.

Given our democratic nature as a party,
the ANC has no choice but to allow its' structures to voice their opinions
about this matter. It is the open and transparent way that we conduct our
business and we will continue to do so.

Nationalization of the mines is,
however, not the policy of the ANC, nor that of the ANC led government.

We
will, however, explore ways and means of broadening this debate and finding
creative long term solutions to the serious issue of the broader
distribution of wealth in a responsible fashion. It is not a debate in
isolation, and your serious and blunt views about the issue will be
welcomed.

You are also concerned about repeated views that have been
expressed regarding the possibility that the ANC led government will start a
move towards economic policies that are investor unfriendly and less
responsible than our current fiscal and monetary policies. I am confident
that Tuesday's mini budget made a contribution towards dispelling those
views over time. Our budget policies will continue those that we developed
over time, target inflation, encourage counter cyclical investments and
relax export regulations.

The signs are that we will move out of the
recession in the fourth quarter of this year, start growing by just over 1%
next year and move towards a growth of 3.2% in 2012.

We are flattered by
the investment into our financial services industry by Britain and China.
Other investments are being discussed into this sector, a sector that has
been praised globally for its strength under the onslaught of the global
crisis.

Similarly, we have been strengthened by your support of our
conservative and sound fiscal and monetary policies.

Whilst mindful of our
responsibility to broaden our services to our voters at speed, we are also
mindful of the need of a constant and increased inflow of foreign direct
investment as well the development of profitable joint ventures. It is
simply not in our interest to deviate from that path.

I am here as an
elected representative of the ANC leadership to seek lasting commercial
partnerships that will benefit the United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa and
Southern Africa.

Hopefully our interactions here this evening will
contribute towards creating more opportunities for entrepreneurs on both
sides.

In closing, I want to thank Lonmin for their sponsorship of this
event. Their sponsorship of this event shows their deep understanding for
the support of forums where we can engage business leaders in global
financial centers such as London.

The co-convenors of the Progressive
Business Forum, Renier Schoeman and Daryl Swanepoel, will engage with you
regarding further events next year where members of the ANC leadership as
well as government ministers will engage with you here on issues that define
our commercial and other relationships.

We sincerely appreciate Lonmin's
sponsorship of this event as well as your attendance here.

I thank
you.