28 JULY 2000
YOUR EXCELLENCIES
FELLOW GUESTS
MEMBERS OF AIR GULF SOUTH AFRICA
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK AIR GULF SOUTH AFRICA FOR INVITING ME TO ATTEND THIS ILLUSTRIOUS EVENT TONIGHT. IT IS AN HONOUR TO BE WITH YOU AND I WISH YOU A SUCCESSFUL EVENING.
I PARTICULARLY WANT TO EXTEND A WARM WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA TO OUR SPECIAL GUESTS AND DIGNITARIES FROM THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. YOUR EXCELLENCIES - WELCOME TO OUR COUNTRY. WELCOME TO THE MOTHER CITY, CAPE TOWN. I TRUST THAT YOUR VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA WILL BE FRUITFUL AND THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A CLOSE AND FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US.
WE IN SOUTH AFRICA ENTERED A NEW DISPENSATION IN 1994 WITH THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY. AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FROM THE BLIGHT OF COLONIALISM AND APARTHEID FOR OVER 300 YEARS. 1994 WAS THEREFORE HISTORIC FOR US. AS YOU ALSO KNOW, WE HAD OUR FIRST EVER DEMOCRATIC NON-RACIAL ELECTIONS AT THE END OF APRIL 1994. UNDER THE INSPIRED LEADERSHIP OF PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA, CIVIL STRIFE - WHICH IN THE PAST COST THOUSANDS OF LIVES EVERY YEAR -CAME TO AN END.
POLITICAL PEACE (WHICH TODAY WE TAKE FOR GRANTED) WAS ESTABLISHED AND THE COUNTRY BEGAN THE LONG MARCH OF TRANSFORMING THE COUNTRY, SO AS TO CREATE A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL OUR PEOPLE. OUR COUNTRY IS NO LONGER DIVIDED BETWEEN WHITE CITIZENS AND BLACK NON-CITIZENS. WE ARE TODAY ALL EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW, ALL EQUAL CITIZENS AND WE ALL ENJOY THE RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY OUR COUNTRY'S CONSTITUTION.
INCIDENTALLY, COMING AS YOU DO, YOUR EXCELLENCIES, FROM THE HEARTLAND OF ISLAM, I CAN SAY TO YOU THAT OUR MUSLIM POPULATION HAS BENEFITTED FROM THE NEW DISPENSATION. WE CONSTITUTE LESS THAN 4% OF SOUTH AFRICA'S PEOPLE. YET WE ENJOY EQUALITY IN EVERY RESPECT. NOT ONLY ARE WE EQUAL CITIZENS IN THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE COUNTRY. OUR RELIGION, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES ARE RESPECTED AND ENJOY FULL EQUALITY LIKE OTHER RELIGIONS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES.
SOUTH AFRICA IS A COUNTRY OF DIVERSE PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT COLOURS AND ETHNIC ORIGINS, SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, PRACTISING DIFFERENT RELIGIONS AND ENJOYING DIFFERENT CULTURES. OUR CONSTITUTION PROTECTS THE RIGHTS OF ALL OUR RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL GROUPS AND TODAY WE CAN SAY THAT WE ALL ENJOY THE SAME RIGHTS AND ARE ABLE TO PRACTISE OUR RELIGIONS AND LIVE ACCORDING TO THE VALUES OF OUR FAITHS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE.
SO GREAT CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY. AT THE SAME TIME I MUST MAKE THE POINT THAT THE INEQUALITIES AND DISPARITIES CREATED BY THE APARTHEID SYSTEM REMAIN WITH US, ESPECIALLY IN THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SPHERES. WHEN WE SPEAK OF TRANSFORMATION, WE SEEK TO ADDRESS THOSE INEQUALITIES AND DISPARITIES, SO THAT THE EQUAL RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES GUARANTEED BY OUR CONSTITUTION BECOME A REALITY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY. IN THIS CONTEXT PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AT EVERY LEVEL ARE HIGH ON THE AGENDA OF GOVERNMENT.
PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE WOMEN AND TO CREATE GENDER EQUALITY ARE ALSO HIGH ON OUR AGENDA. OUR BLACK ENTREPRENEURS - MEN AND WOMEN - AND WOULD BE ENTREPRENEURS DO NOT WANT HAND OUTS. THEY ARE NOT ASKING FOR CHARITY AND THEY ARE NOT ASKING FOR SYMPATHY. WHAT THEY ASK FOR IS THAT THE LEGACY OF APARTHEID - THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, OF LAND AND PROPERTY, OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND THE UNEQUAL COMPOSITION IN ALL OUR PROFESSIONS - SHOULD BE ADDRESSED - SO THAT OUR SOCIETY CAN BECOME A NORMAL SOCIETY IN WHICH EVERYONE ENJOYS EQUAL OPPORTUNITY.
THE AVIATION SECTOR IS BUT ONE EXAMPLE OF AN INDUSTRY WHICH IS TOTALLY WHITE DOMINATED AT EVERY LEVEL. WHILST WE APPRECIATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY OUR WHITE COMPATRIOTS AND ALSO THE FACT THAT THE INDUSTRY ENJOYS A HIGH REPUTATION FOR MAINTAINING INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO EFFICIENCY AND SAFETY, WE MUST AS A MATTER OF PRIORITY OPEN UP THE SECTOR TO THOSE PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED, TO THOSE PREVIOUSLY EXCLUDED.
I WILL THEREFORE DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO PROMOTE AT EVERY LEVEL OF THE INDUSTRY THOSE WHO WERE HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED, SO AS TO ENSURE THAT WE CHANGE THE COMPLEXION OF THE INDUSTRY TO REFLECT THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SITUATION. AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE EMPOWERMENT OF THIS KIND ARISES WHEN SYMPATHETIC INVESTORS COME TO OUR COUNTRY AND ENTER INTO PARTNERSHIPS OR OTHER MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH LOCAL PARTNERS WHO COME FROM THE RANKS OF THE HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED (TO AVOID CONFUSION I REFER TO THOSE PREVIOUSLY CLASSIFIED AFRICAN, COLOURED AND INDIAN - TODAY OF COURSE WE ARE ALL AFRICAN).
SUCH PARTNERSHIPS HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE LEGACY OF APARTHEID. THEY ALSO HELP TO OPEN THE ECONOMY TO PARTICIPATION BY MILLIONS PREVIOUSLY EXCLUDED. ONLY A STUPID BUSINESSMAN TODAY WILL SEEK TO RESTRICT ECONOMIC ACTIVITY TO A SMALL GROUP OR A MINORITY. JUST IMAGINE HOW WE CAN, THROUGH IMAGINATIVE PROGRAMMES, CREATE MASSIVE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL OUR PEOPLE - BLACK AND WHITE. TAKE THOSE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO TODAY LIVE IN SHACKS IN VARIOUS TOWNSHIPS AND RURAL AREAS OF OUR COUNTRY - WITHOUT WATER, WITHOUT ELECTRICITY AND WITHOUT SANITATION. PROVIDE THEM WITH WORK AND CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOUSING AND YOU CREATE A MARKET FOR ALL KINDS OF APPLIANCES AND OTHER GOODS.
IT IS SAID THAT ECONOMIES WORK THROUGH THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SUPPLY AND DEMAND. WHAT APARTHEID HAS DONE IS TO RESTRICT DEMAND TO A SMALL SECTOR OF THE POPULATION. IMPROVING THE LOT OF MILLIONS OF HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE WILL CREATE NEW DEMAND WITHIN THE ECONOMY FOR ALL KINDS OF GOODS. WHAT I AM SAYING IS THAT OUR DOMESTIC MARKET IN RESPECT OF A RANGE OF GOODS IS BOUND TO FLOURISH. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO THE AVIATION SECTOR IN WHICH TODAY ONLY A SMALL SECTOR OF OUR POPULATION CAN PARTICIPATE. IF YOU DEVELOP THE NATION, YOU DEVELOP EXCITING POSSIBILITIES FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS AT EVERY LEVEL.
THAT IS WHY I WELCOME THE ARRIVAL OF AIR GULF SOUTH AFRICA. I WELCOME THE INVESTMENT FROM OUR FRIENDS IN THE GULF REGION. I WELCOME THE PARTICIPATION BY OUR LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS.
IT IS PERHAPS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT BEFORE 1994 SOUTH AFRICA'S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS WITH THE GULF REGION, WITH OUR FELLOW AFRICAN STATES AND WITH ASIA WERE VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTENT. SOUTH AFRICA SAW ITSELF AS AN EXTENSION OF EUROPE - RATHER THAN AS PART OF THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA. SINCE 1994 WE HAVE CHANGED ALL THIS. WE NOW SEE OURSELVES AS AN AFRICAN NATION PARTICIPATING IN THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE. WE HAVE GONE OUT OF OUR WAY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PRESIDENT MANDELA AND NOW PRESIDENT MBEKI TO STRENGTHEN OUR FRIENDSHIP WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE GULF REGION AS WELL AS ASIA. TODAY OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COUNTRIES OF THE GULF REGION IS VERY GOOD AT MANY LEVELS AND THOSE RELATIONSHIPS ARE BOUND TO GROW AT EVERY LEVEL.
THE POSSIBILITY AND BENEFITS OF CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGION AND THE GULF REGION ARE IMMENSE. IN THE GLOBALISED WORLD ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE FIND OURSELVES, INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IS IMPORTANT. THE CHALLENGES ARE GREAT. GLOBALISATION DOES NOT BRING AUTOMATIC BENEFITS AND WE NEED TO FIND A WAY OF ENSURING THAT IN THE GLOBALISED ENVIRONMENT OF WHICH WE SPEAK, WE ARE ABLE TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES WHICH WILL ENABLE OUR PEOPLE TO PROSPER.
I WANT TO WISH GULF AIR SOUTH AFRICA SUCCESS. I AM TOLD THAT GULF AIR SOUTH AFRICA INTENDS TO MAKE PROVISION FOR LOCAL FLIGHTS. I HAVE NOTED THAT THUS FAR THERE HAS BEEN NO LICENSING APPLICATION. ACCORDING TO OUR LICENSING COUNCIL, AN APPLICATION HAS YET TO BE LAUNCHED. THERE IS NO NEED FOR ME AT SUCH AN AUSPICIOUS OCCASION TO DWELL UPON THE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSING IN SOUTH AFRICA. I AM SURE THAT THE EXPERTS IN YOUR MIDST ARE FULLY ACQUAINTED WITH THEM AND WILL BE DEALING WITH THEM.
FROM THE SIDE OF GOVERNMENT I CAN SAY THAT WE RECOGNISE THE NEED FOR LIBERALISATION OF THE SKIES IN RESPECT OF BOTH OF OUR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETS. IT IS NOT LIBERALISATION FOR ITS OWN SAKE OR BECAUSE OF ADHERENCE TO ANY IDEOLOGY. IT IS BECAUSE COMPETITION IN THE AVIATION SECTOR WILL BE HEALTHY AND WILL BENEFIT CONSUMERS. THE ABSENCE OF COMPETITION ALWAYS MEANS HIGHER PRICES AS TRAVELLERS ON OUR DOMESTIC FLIGHTS CAN TESTIFY. IT IS SOMETIMES CHEAPER TO TRAVEL BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND EUROPE THAN TO TRAVEL INSIDE THE COUNTRY.
MAY I CONCLUDE BY ONCE AGAIN SAYING THANK YOU FOR THE INVITATION. IT IS GOOD TO BE WITH YOU AND WISH AIR GULF SOUTH AFRICA EVERY SUCCESS. - BUT OF COURSE MAKE SURE THAT YOU COMPLY WITH OUR LAW.