Your Majesty, King Harald and Queen Sonia,
Honourable Prime Minister
Your Royal Highnesses,
Ministers and Ambassadors,
Distinguished guests,
Good evening to you all on this wonderful occasion of being guests of His Majesty and the Queen in this beautiful country.
We extend our heartfelt appreciation to His Majesty and the Queen for the gracious invitation for us to visit this country which we share such a strong bond of friendship with.
My delegation and I are humbled by the very warm welcome and reception since our arrival.
We are following in the footsteps of President Nelson Mandela who hosted His Majesty and the Queen on a memorable State visit to South Africa in 1998, followed by his own state visit to Norway in 1999.
We still have fond memories of the State visit to South Africa by His Majesty in 2009, followed by this reciprocal visit.
The fact that we keep visiting each other is a demonstration of the dynamic, growing and vibrant relationship between our two countries.
Your Majesty,
Allow me to reiterate, on behalf of my Government and the People of South Africa, our deepest condolences to the Government and the people of Norway, and especially to the families who lost their loved ones, both in Oslo and on Utoeya Island.
That horrible tragedy shocked and outraged the whole world. Such barbaric acts have no place in modern society. We wish Norway well in Her process of healing.
Your Majesty,
Distinguished guests,
We feel at home when in the company of Norwegians as this nation stood firm, supporting us in our quest for freedom, justice, democracy and human rights.
Norway has also occupied a special place in our international relationships because of the unique institution of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Four South African recipients have been honoured in Oslo beginning with Chief Albert Luthuli in 1961, followed by Archbishop Tutu in 1984 and Presidents Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk in 1993.
South African authors Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1991 and 2003 respectively. Three South Africans have won the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine and one for Chemistry.
President Mandela spoke fondly of the international solidarity we received during our struggle for freedom, in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in December 1993.
He said: “I am also here today as a representative of the millions of people across the globe, the anti-apartheid movement, the governments and organisations that joined with us, not to fight against South Africa as a country or any of its peoples, but to oppose an inhuman system and sue for a speedy end to the apartheid crime against humanity’’.
The Norwegian people and successive governments are amongst those referred to by Madiba, because of their unwavering material and political support during difficult times.
Your Majesty,
As you may recall during your state visit of 2009 to my country, we recommitted ourselves to the advancement of our relations which span across various fields from political, cultural, socio-economic matters.
We look forward to further strengthening that partnership during this visit.
We will use this visit to strengthen cooperation in our national priorities, especially in addressing poverty, inequality and unemployment.
To respond to these challenges, we declared the year 2011 as the year of economic transformation and job creation.
Our belief is that for South Africa to reach the pinnacle of her potential, the political freedom we have gained must be complemented by economic freedom. Political freedom alone is incomplete.
We have thus instituted a New Growth Path policy at home, designed to help us revitalise our economy and to stimulate growth in six areas.
These are infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy and tourism.
The whole of government has been mobilised to ensure delivery on these areas, in line with the New Growth Path.
We look forward to increasing trade between our two countries, part of efforts to boost job creation as envisaged in growth framework.
We are accompanied on this visit by a business delegation operating in the sectors of oil, gas and resource management, renewable energy, information and communication technologies, tourism, agro-processing and aqua-culture.
They are here to further explore opportunities in this country, which will assist us to further boost our economic ties and jobs.
We look forward to continued cooperation as well on matters relating to peace and renewal in the African continent, as well as multilateral issues on the world stage such as the reform of the United Nations Security Council and international financial institutions.
Your Majesty,
We also look forward to welcoming the Norwegian delegation to the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP17/CMP7) climate change deliberations in Durban, South Africa from 28 November to 9 December 2011.
Preparations are on track and we look forward to a successful engagement in Durban.
I am confident that the State visit will highlight the special nature of the Norway-South Africa relationship and strengthen the bilateral relations between our two countries.
Thank you for the gracious invitation, Your Majesty.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I request you to rise and raise your glasses to the good health and prosperity of His Majesty King Harald V and Her Majesty Queen Sonja and to the friendship between the people of South Africa and the people of the Kingdom of Norway.
To friendship!
I thank you.
Source: The Presidency
