President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Dr Rogge,
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Members of the IOC,
Leadership of the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee,
Fellow South Africans and citizens of the world,
Good evening to you all!
It is my honour to extend a warm African welcome to the Heads of State and Government, world sports administrators, business leaders, royalty, athletes and so many other distinguished participants, of this 123rd International Olympic Committee session.
Sport is a powerful instrument of promoting peace, friendship, unity and tolerance within nation states and the peoples of the world.
As South Africans, we have seen the value of sport in the last 17 years of freedom and democracy.
It has been an important tool of building patriotism, social cohesion and unity, in addition to enormous economic benefits.
We hope therefore that Durban 2011 will advance the ultimate goal of the Olympic movement, to build a peaceful and better world through sport.
Excellencies,
Holding this session in South Africa is very special for a number of reasons.
The IOC General Assembly has not met in Africa since the last gathering in Cairo 86 years ago. That was a much different Africa, which was still battling the yoke of colonialism.
The choice of venue is therefore timely and important given also that Africa is a continent where the Olympic movement has unearthed exceptional individual talents over many years.
We are proud to welcome you to a free South Africa and a free Africa.
Secondly, this historic session presents an opportunity for us to recognise the outstanding contribution of the IOC, and of Dr Rogge in particular, to the struggle against apartheid and racial oppression.
You will recall that the IOC banned apartheid South Africa from entering the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Thirty two years later, when the country was advancing towards freedom and democracy, the IOC encouraged the formation of united non-racial sports federations.
This led to South Africa’s participation in the Olympic Games of 1992 in Barcelona, with the IOC’s full encouragement and support.
Tonight we are going to demonstrate our immense gratitude to the IOC for the solidarity and commitment to human rights in our country, by bestowing upon Dr Rogge, our highest national decoration, the Order of the Companions of O R Tambo.
Your Excellencies,
Your Royal Highnesses,
This IOC session is also special because it takes place exactly one year since the extraordinary four weeks in June and July 2010, when we hosted the first FIFA Soccer World Cup in Africa.
We are proud to reflect on the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup as a successful event that brought lasting social and economic benefits to our country and continent.
We thank the IOC for support in the hosting of that competition.
Finally, this is a special IOC session because you will select the host of the 2018 Winter Games. We welcome the candidate cities of Munich in Germany, Annecy in France and PyeongChang in South Korea.
As a country that has gone through numerous bids, we fully understand the pressure and the anxiety. We wish the three cities well with their final presentations.
Your Excellencies
Distinguished guests,
It is our pleasure this evening, to also extend a warm South African welcome to the newly-weds, His Serene Highness Prince Albert and our own Princess Charlene, our prolific Olympic swimmer who continues to be our ambassador to the world.
We wish them a long life and many years of happiness and success together.
Distinguished guests,
All the key milestones, as well as the beautiful surroundings offered by Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal province, should be able to provide an inspiring backdrop to the 123rd IOC Session.
We trust that this will be a memorable and very successful week.
We urge you to explore the culture, wildlife and the warm golden beaches of KwaZulu-Natal before heading back home.
Welcome to South Africa, welcome to Africa!
I thank you.
