The President of the IOC, Dr Rogge;
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government;
Your Royal Highnesses,
The Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Fikile Mbalula and all Ministers and Deputy Ministers present;
Members of the IOC;
Leadership of the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee,
Esteemed guests,
We are honoured to welcome the esteemed members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to South Africa for its 123rd session.
Exactly a year ago, we had the pleasure and honour of hosting the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup tournament.
The tournament brought the world together to our country and to the continent to celebrate sports and friendship.
It proved that indeed sport is a powerful tool that brings the people of the world together regardless of political, religious, economic or any other difference.
We thank you for your support during that competition. We are pleased to host yet another major sporting event, and look forward to working with you to ensure the success of this crucial meeting.
The Olympics movement is special in this country given the solidarity we received in 1964, when the IOC banned apartheid South Africa from participating in the Tokyo Olympics, a ban that was to span 32 years.
Excellencies,
We also warmly welcome the 2018 Olympic Winter Games candidate cities of Munich in Germany, Annecy in France and PyeongChang in South Korea.
We wish all three cities well during their nail-biting wait!
Esteemed guests,
Allow me to also extend a special welcome to His Serene Highness Prince Albert and our own Princess Charlene of Monaco. We continue to treasure the pride that Princess Charlene brought to South Africa as an Olympic swimmer. She continues to be our wonderful ambassador to the world.
Esteemed Members of the IOC,
Welcome to Durban and welcome to KwaZulu-Natal, the land of the great statesman King Shaka kaSenzangakhona.
Welcome to South Africa. We trust that you will find time at the end of this session to explore this province and enjoy the wildlife, golden beaches and everything that KwaZulu-Natal has to offer.
I thank you.
Source: The Presidency
