Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
"While I may have changed my theatre of operations from Health to Foreign Affairs, I remain committed to delivering tangible benefits to the people of South Africa", Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma said.
Speaking during a wide-ranging television interview on SABC's current affairs programme "Newsmaker" in Johannesburg earlier today, Minister Zuma said that South Africa's foreign policy must continue to add value to the Government's domestic priorities. She added that the appropriate foundations had been laid by her predecessor, Alfred Nzo and his competent team, who had done tremendous work in opening many new doors for South Africa. She characterised the current foreign policy as being based on sound principles and believed that there was a need to ensure consistency and continuity in its execution. Minister Zuma said that she would concentrate on accelerating the implentation of this policy, consistent with President Mbeki's call for faster delivery of services to the people of South Africa. She felt that she brought a good understanding of the social needs of South Africans and because of this she could make a difference to her new portfolio.
Minister Zuma believed that one of her biggest challenges would be to sustain the positive reaction by the international community to South Africa's second democratic elections and the subsequent inauguration of President Mbeki. 'We must not betray the trust the world has shown in us", she added.
The Minister described the SADC region in particular and the African continent as a whole as being especially high on her list of priorities. She identified the need to work harder in order to ensure that peace and stability returned to the continent, without which the economic revival of the continent would remain an unrealisable dream. In this context, Minister Zuma again stressed that South Africa would continue to tirelessly work at complementing the efforts of President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia, under whose chairmanship the SADC initiative had been launched, to ensure that the Summit scheduled for 26 June 1999 in Lusaka would yield positive results. To this end, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad would be part of the South African delegation to preparatory discussions in Lusaka towards the middle of next week. An immediate ceasefire, followed by a standstill of all troops as well as the start of an all-inclusive dialogue by the people of the DRC, remained the primary objective of all the talks which had taken place in South Africa in recent days. This had included talks with the Governments of the Zimbabwe, DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, Namibia and Angola as well all the Congolese rebel groups.
Responding to a question about her personal style, Minister Zuma pointed out that it was a mistake to assume that being firm meant that one could not be diplomatic. "The two are not mutually exclusive," she said. Furthermore, she was heartened by the number of women appointments to senior positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and committed herself to continuing this trend, in line with the national priorities of Government.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
20 JUNE 1999