T Mbeki: Opening of Giriyondo access facility at Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park

16 August 2006

Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Mozambique, Honourable
Armando Emilio Guebuza,
Your Excellency, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel
Mugabe,
Your Excellencies Ministers,
Your Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished guests,
Community leaders and representatives,
Ladies and gentlemen

We are gathered here today to celebrate and witness a historic moment in our
collaboration for the conservation of our shared natural and cultural heritage.
The inauguration of the Giriyondo access facility in the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park is indeed a landmark event that bears testimony to our
resolve to ensure the accomplishment of the objectives of our treaty that
established the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

It is indeed fitting that we took a decision to create this Transfrontier
Park at this place because this was an ancient confluence of civilisations,
which included those of Thulamele and Phalaborwa; civilisations that alternated
in their prominence and distinction with those of Mapungubwe and Great
Zimbabwe.

Our common ancestors, who were responsible for those great civilisations
that, among other things, specialised in the mining and utilisation of copper,
gold and other precious metals, must be smiling because through this park, we
have begun a process of dismantling the artificial and arbitrary borders that
separated the same national and cultural groups, the same clans and
families.

Inspired by the knowledge of our history and the reality that we are one
people, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states last
year adopted the SADC Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons,
clearly recalling the rich history when the African people of our region
collaborated to ensure the successes of those great civilisations that make all
of us proud to be African.

Amongst other things, it is in the context of this SADC Protocol that we
should understand the importance of the inauguration of the Giriyondo Access
Facility. We expect that this protocol, together with the SADC Protocol on the
Development of Tourism, will facilitate the development of cross-border
eco-tourism in the region.

In this regard, all of us have a duty to mobilise our resources, limited as
they are, so that this Transfrontier Park and others in our region become
successful and shining examples of what we can achieve through common vision,
collaboration and joint action. This park is a tangible symbol that we can and
must use sustainable development to confront the legacy of colonialism and
apartheid, to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment and build a better world
for all our people.

In his book, The Hidden Connections – A Science for Sustainable Living, the
environmentalist, author and physicist, Fritjof Capra, observes that one of the
hallmarks of life is the conscious shift in power relations, from domination
and control to co-operation and partnerships. For the web of life to function
optimally, Capra draws a comparison with scientific endeavours and writes:

“In recent years, biologists and ecologists have begun to shift their
metaphors from hierarchies to networks and have come to realise that
partnership – the tendency to associate, establish links, co-operate, and
maintain symbiotic relationships – is one of the hallmarks of life.” (Capra,
F., The Hidden Connections. A Science for Sustainable Living; Anchor Books,
Random House, New
York: 2004, pp. 113-4)

And symbiotic relationships are essential in all spheres of life if we are
to create an egalitarian society - a people-centred society - in sustainable
environments.

Indeed, our collaborative management of the ecosystems within this
Transfrontier Park is very encouraging. It amounts to more than allowing our
wild animals to roam freely. It is more than nature conservation. It serves to
encourage us further to deepen the co-operation and partnership among our three
countries, which has resulted in real sustainable development to the benefit of
all our countries, peoples and shared environments.

It is important to note the significant investments on projects in this park
from the time we signed the treaty in 2002. We would like to urge that in the
work we do, we empower many of those of our people who have been marginalised,
including, those who run small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), women,
youth and people with disabilities.

I am told that some of the beneficiaries of these employment opportunities
and skills development were women. In particular, one of the beneficiaries of
our R40 million infrastructure investment and training programme was a woman
contractor. Of course, that is not enough. We obviously need more women to
benefit from any work that we do in this park.

Indeed, the three of us here, as presidents, are firmly committed to the
full emancipation of women and we will ensure that more job and economic
opportunities are afforded to women. In this regard, when we implement the
Five-Year Business and Development Plan for the Great Limpopo Transfrontier
Park, which is currently being developed and will be implemented from 2007
onwards, we should always remember that there is no compromise on the
empowerment of women.

The Giriyondo Access Facility, which we open today, is just the beginning of
a new era when we will bring down the colonial fences, which divided our
nations over several centuries. Today, we take yet another step to free
ourselves from the chains of our past and open up to our peoples and wild
animals, the spaces of freedom as nature has intended. But this is just the
beginning of our steps to freedom, as we move to the next phase of linking
Kruger National Park and Limpopo National Park with the Gonarezhou National
Park in Zimbabwe.

Again, we are pleased that six potential sites have been identified for the
construction of a bridge across the Limpopo River. Our governments are
conducting an environmental impact assessment to determine the most suitable
site for the bridge between Kruger and Gonarezhou and, once resources are
allocated, our vision of a truly open common space for our wildlife will come
into fruition.

Your Excellencies and ladies and gentlemen, we are also very pleased that
this park is the result of our excellent public-private partnership with the
Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), which broke new ground in the facilitation of the
development and establishment of Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) from
as far back as 1990.

Since the signing of the treaty that established the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park in 2002, there has been a growing impetus in our region to
ensure that the concept of conservation across borders plays a significant role
in shaping Africa’s and the world’s agenda on conservation. It was therefore
fitting that, in recognition of our successful effort in championing the global
conservation agenda, our region hosted the 5th International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress in September 2003.

The theme of the World Parks Congress, as you may recall, was “Benefits
beyond Boundaries”, which undoubtedly mirrors our celebrations today as we take
a step further towards the eradication of the physical barriers that hinder
integrated regional conservation and socio-economic programmes.

Africa was honoured with the election of Valli Moosa, the then Minister of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism of South Africa, as President of the World
Conservation Union in 2004. This demonstrates unequivocally that Africa is
acknowledged as a leader in re-defining nature conservation, sustainable living
and healthy interdependence for flora, fauna, and humankind.

The African Union’s programme, The New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD) urges all of us, as leaders and as citizens of the African continent,
to develop and implement coherent action plans and strategies to address the
continent’s environmental challenges while at the same time promoting
socio-economic development and fighting poverty.

In this regard I would like to recall that when we, on behalf of the South
African people, asked FIFA for South Africa to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup,
we made a commitment that this would be an African event. Accordingly, that
being an African event we should, together, as neighbours and as Africans, plan
how we would ensure that indeed it becomes an African showpiece. Of particular
importance is that the 2010 Soccer World Cup is an occasion that will create
tourism and social and economic opportunities throughout Africa.

I have no doubt that the easy access facilities and open spaces within the
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which has been branded as the world’s largest
animal kingdom, will be a major attraction before, during and after the 2010
FIFA World Cup. We must surely redouble our efforts to ensure that this unique
and rich tapestry of life on our planet is turned into a jewel of the tourism
market.

We need to build on this potential tourist boom and accelerate Africa’s
share of the global tourist market, which stood at 4.5 percent as at 2003. Our
Transfrontier Parks (TFPs) and Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs),
coupled with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, provide us with a unique opportunity for
exceptional growth in the tourism industry.

In this regard, we are aware of the joint proposal by Ministers of
Environment and Tourism representing nine countries of Southern Africa, namely
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe, which seeks to develop and market a Transfrontier Conservation
Areas Tourism Route for 2010 and beyond. The tourism route would enable
travellers to experience a number of different African countries as a single
destination.

The success of the proposal will be conditional on urgent consideration of
issues relating to tourism infrastructure investment, security, quality
assurance within the hospitality sector and ease of travel within the region.
It is imperative that we fully endorse this proposal and endeavour to render
support for the development of additional access facilities and associated
tourism infrastructure in all the other Transfrontier Conservation Areas.

This park is part of the African Renaissance. Through this park, as part of
our African rebirth, we seek to redress the legacy of the colonial regional
landscape that fragmented ecosystems and separated families and communities.
Since 7 December 2005, we have seen the benefits of open access with increasing
numbers of our people visiting the park. This demonstrates the potential of
this park in reuniting our people as well as contributing to the development of
areas around the park.

I would like to urge the officials responsible for this facility to use
their best efforts to maximise the benefits of this facility for the
development of eco-tourism in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, without
compromising operational efficiency and security procedures.

In conclusion, Your Excellencies, allow me to thank our three Honourable
Ministers, Fernando Sumbana, Francis Nhema and Marthinus van Schalkwyk and
their teams, for their vision and their great sense of purpose in helping to
realise our dream of a truly world-class tourist destination and a wildlife
paradise.

I am truly delighted to open jointly with your Excellencies, President
Mugabe and President Guebuza the Giriyondo Access Facility. Nature has
triumphed and shown us that we can transcend national boundaries and that we
can create “benefits beyond boundaries”.

Today, our wild animals - the elephants, rhino, antelope and many others are
once again beginning to roam freely within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier
National Park. They teach us valuable lessons. And we, the people, now have
another possibility to reach out and join hands in partnership, co-operation
and interdependence.

Thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
16 August 2006