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2 June 2005

Your Excellency, Honourable Vice-President Mwape
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers from both delegations
Their Excellencies our two High Commissioners to both countries
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

My delegation and I feel greatly honoured and humbled to be hosted by Your Excellency in this country, which we have always regarded as our second home.

It is a well known fact that our special relations and very deep ties with Zambia date back long before the dawn of freedom and democracy in South Africa. Our visit therefore brings back many memories of the times we spent here, both personal and political.

Zambia will always be regarded with respect and fondness by the people of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, for its role in the liberation struggles of our peoples.

Zambia, under the leadership of one of the greatest sons of this continent, Dr Kenneth David Kaunda, offered us refuge, solidarity and friendship at great cost to this country.

He risked Zambia's prosperity and internal stability when he offered sanctuary and support not only to us, but to liberation movements in Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

As President Oliver Tambo once remarked, Kenneth Kaunda truly loves humanity. His strategic interventions during the most trying period in the political history of this region indicated this.

We are therefore proud to be visiting a country of warm, selfless and principled people, who were determined not to rest until their brothers and sisters in neighbouring countries were free. We shall be eternally grateful for your solidarity in our time of need.

Your Excellency, given our historic relations, it is only natural and proper that we should, in this era of freedom and democracy in our country, seek to take our relations to another level.

We are very keen to further strengthen economic ties between our two countries, in order to boost trade and investment for the mutual benefit of all our people. We see opportunities in many other areas as well, and we believe that our interaction during this visit will assist us to accomplish that.

We already have the framework within which to do this. Our 1996 General Agreement and the 1999 Declaration of Intent have provided us with verifiable parameters within which our relations should develop.

Your Excellency, as a founding member of the African Union (AU), Zambia continues her long tradition of involvement in continental matters. You will recall that Dr Kaunda was a founding member of the Pan African Freedom Movement for Southern Africa (PAFMESA), which played a key role in the struggle against apartheid.

This organisation was also one of the key factors that led to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), in which Dr Kaunda also played a role.

It is also of historical significant that His Excellency President Levy Mwanawasa was the last Chairperson of the OAU, and therefore Zambia was pivotal in the formation of the AU.

Your Excellency, given our history, our two countries have a duty to ensure that programmes for the renewal of our continent succeed, including the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

It has to succeed in our region SADC and throughout the continent, for our people to see an improvement in the quality of their lives.

We are also of the view that the success of NEPAD will be greatly enhanced by the transformation of the international economic and political order.

I am therefore pleased, Your Excellency, that our two countries agree on the urgent need to reform international multilateral institutions, such as the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others to make them more responsive to the needs of the developing world, especially the fight against poverty and underdevelopment.

With regards to United Nations (UN) reform, South Africa supports the expansion of the UN Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, as well as the extension of the veto to new permanent members.

Our position is to work towards the attainment of a permanent seat or seats for Africa, for the continent to join the mainstream of the global political order.

Your Excellency, another responsibility our two countries are passionate about is working for peace and stability in the continent.

Our two countries have over the last few years collaborated on the Burundi peace process, under the auspices of the Great Lakes Regional Initiative on Burundi.

We thank you for the support you have provided to us in our role as facilitator of the Burundi peace process. His Excellency President Mwanawasa always attends the Burundi Summits or sends a representative.

Zambia's role in the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also commendable. This commitment indicates the continuing Zambian dedication to the quest for peace and stability in the continent.

Our greatest reward as Africans will be when the Burundian, Congolese, Ivorians and all peoples engulfed by conflict, resolve their problems and live together in peace and harmony. We hope to continue working with you to achieve this goal.

In conclusion, Your Excellency, I wish to express our deepest sympathies on the two tragedies that occurred earlier this year -the Kawambwa truck accident and the explosion at the factory in Chambishi. We were with you in spirit then, and share your grief and pain.

Allow me, Your Excellency, to take this opportunity to propose a toast and extend the best wishes of His Excellency President Thabo Mbeki and of the government and people of South Africa, to His Excellency President Levy Mwanawasa, to Your Excellency Mr Vice President and to the government and the people of Zambia.

Cheers! I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
2 June 2005
Source: SAPA