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G. Mantashe: Address to Africa Summit and Leadership Conference 2019
Written by Hon. Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, and Representative of the President of South Africa
Friday, June 7, 2019
Address to Africa Summit and Leadership Conference 2019
Thank you, Program Director, Prophet Radebe, and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.
Presidents and Former Presidents, Ministers and Former Ministers, Your Majesties, Kings and Queens, Kings and Chiefs. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the president of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, I would like to welcome all the dignitaries from abroad to South Africa and express our support for this Africa Summit and Leadership Conference.
I’m just a messenger. I will be brief. The president said to welcome all of you to our beautiful country. I must confess, I’m inspired by the theme “Building a Peaceful and Prosperous Africa centered on Universal Values.”
If that’s what this conference is about, then no one can find fault with that. First of all, the individual nations of this continent require peace and prosperity. You cannot have peace and prosperity in Africa unless there is peace and prosperity in every country in the continent. For example, we had elections in South Africa less than a week ago. We are not taking that peace process for granted.
One thing I said was that the church must please pray for us. We are human. We have all kinds of people. If you pray for us, I said, the elections would be peaceful. I’m here to pass on my gratitude, and I thank you for praying for peace and unity in this country. The support that we got from the people of South Africa cannot be taken for granted. President Ramahosa has committed to improve the party’s capacity and ability to serve the people. We must address the challenges facing our people. First and foremost are the high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality. We must do everything we can to eradicate those three ills facing our society.
Secondly, we must accept that South Africa is not an island; it is part of this great continent of Africa. I always tell my colleagues from the United States and the United Kingdom when I talk about the problems in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Namibia that each situation is unique but related to the other nations.
I’m quite happy with the message of peace and prosperity from the Universal Peace Federation. One of the things that we must pray for is to break down the divisions that are based on colonial history. For example, there is very little interaction between the Francophone and the Anglophone countries. We must break down those barriers and act as one continent. If we do that, then we most certainly will be better off.
Finally, let me ask the church to continue to pray for us: for wisdom, peace, and prosperity for the entire continent. South Africa is a very unique country and still a very new country.
Thank you very much.
To go to the Africa Summit and Leadership Conference 2019 Schedule page, click here.