Kabila
5 December 2006
Pretoria - South African President Thabo Mbeki will on Wednesday, 6 December
2006, join the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Kofi Annan and
other international partners for the inauguration of President Joseph Kabila in
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Thabo Mbeki will attend this inauguration within the context of
South Africaâs priority to consolidate the African agenda by, among others,
promoting post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives.
President Mbeki on Friday, 1 December 2006, said, âWe salute the various
formations and the leaders who guided the DRC through its transition,
weathering many storms, including continuing armed violence, to the point the
country has now reached, when it can proudly and justly claim its place as one
of the largest democracies on our continent.
We must salute the UN which has played and continues to play a critical role
in the various processes that have enabled the Congolese people to make
history, standing tall today as a messenger of hope, communicating the message
that Africa is firmly on its way towards its rebirth.
What the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have done
communicates a message of a bright future for all their neighbours, and the
imperative to seize the moment, to build a new neighbourhood of friendship and
shared prosperity for the peoples of the DRC on the one hand, and those of the
Republic of Congo and Angola, Zambia and Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, Uganda,
Sudan and the Central African Republic, on the other.
Our warmest congratulations go to the Congolese masses. Despite the painful
disappointments of many decades, these great masses did not lose confidence in
the capacity of their nation to pull itself out of the abyss.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
5 December 2006
Source: SAPA
