Date: 14/06/2010
Source: The African National Congress
Title: ANC: Phosa: Speech by the Treasurer General, at the PMR African breakfast forum

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.