“This is an auspicious year for South Africa, as we mark 30 years since the adoption of our democratic Constitution. Our Constitution reflects the painful history from which we emerged three decades ago and the values we now cherish: human dignity, equality and freedom.
It commits all South Africans, not just the state, to safeguarding our democracy, to upholding the rule of law and to protecting human rights. These principles are neither transient nor negotiable. They are enduring and binding.
They shape the manner in which we govern ourselves and they shape how we engage with the world.
Our international relations outlook reflects the founding principles of our Constitution. As a nation that emerged from a painful past of injustice and inequality, we seek a more just and equitable world order. We seek a global order defined by peace and friendship amongst all the nations of the world.
We seek a world order where the gulf of inequality between and amongst nations is narrowed – where nations of the world stand united against racism, colonialism, subjugation and all forms of oppression and intolerance. We strive to ensure that global peace and security is secured through dialogue and negotiation and not through force of arms – where international laws, treaties and agreements are upheld and respected. Above all, we seek a world order that brings sustainable development and shared prosperity for all and not the few.
Your presence here today reflects that these are shared aspirations. And in South Africa you will find a ready, willing, able and capable partner for trade, development, progress and peace. You begin your tours of duty in South Africa at a time when our economy is in the throes of recovery.
The structural reform agenda we embarked on in 2018 to overcome longstanding constraints to investment and growth continues to gain momentum. South Africa’s sovereign credit rating has improved, public debt has stabilised and our economy is creating more jobs.
Last week we held our sixth South Africa Investment Conference, where we secured R889 billion in cumulative investment commitments. This has encouraged us to set a goal of securing R3 trillion in new investment commitments over the next three years.
The state itself is at the forefront of this new, ambitious drive. We have embarked on the largest infrastructure build in our country’s history. We will be investing approximately R1 trillion over the next three years to build roads, dams, schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure.
A debilitating energy crisis is behind us, and we have embarked on a range of far-reaching reforms to overcome challenges in the water sector and in logistics. Our policy and regulatory environment has proven to be resilient, offering certainty to investors looking to South Africa as a favourable destination to invest and do business in.
As we pursue our apex priority of inclusive growth and job creation, we are firmly committed to deepen our cooperation and collaboration with all countries. We hope that your time in South Africa will contribute to building meaningful, sustainable economic partnerships.
As South Africa celebrates thirty years of advancing peace and friendship, we further look forward to engaging with you on global matters of mutual concern. Our world has become increasingly complex. Multilateral diplomacy and respect for the multilateral system has become all the more crucial.
In a world beset by profound and interconnected challenges – whether they be conflicts, the climate crisis or the proliferation of poverty and inequality – we know that global solidarity and deepening cooperation are our surest means to overcome them.
We note the current initiatives and ongoing efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive end to the conflict in the Middle East. We welcome the announcement of a ceasefire and are hopeful that it will lay the basis for a permanent resolution of the conflict.
South Africa once again calls for dialogue and mediation to prevent further loss of life and destruction of property, and to ensure a just, sustainable and lasting peace. We further call on all countries to respect international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
Your Excellencies, We thank you for your enduring commitment to South Africa and her people. Where many of your respective countries once stood in solidarity with us in our struggle for liberation, today you continue to renew that commitment through trade, investment and development.
It was the English poet John Donne who wrote that no man is an island entire of itself, but a piece of the continent, a part of the main. So too is the fellowship of nations.
I welcome you to South Africa to extend this fellowship as you represent your government and your people. Just as your Head of State has welcomed South Africa’s Ambassador or High Commissioner in your country, I extend the same warm welcome to you and wish you well in your mandate of representing your country.
As President, whenever I appoint Ambassadors and High Commissioners to your country I expect them to respect your country’s sovereignty and promote good relations between our two nations. I expect them to promote trade and investment opportunities in our respective countries.
I also expect them to promote South Africa’s culture and value system and strengthen people-to-people relations. I expect South Africa’s Ambassadors and High Commissioners to your country to exercise diplomatic tact and discretion and desist from interfering in the internal affairs of your country.
If they have any manner of concern, they should raise those concerns directly with officials in your country’s foreign affairs department and engage in quiet diplomacy. This I believe is what the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations promotes.
Whenever I send our Ambassadors and High Commissioners to various countries I always make it a point to inform them that they should never criticise their host countries publicly and in a confrontational manner but should always seek to raise issues privately and constructively.
They should always seek to build relationships with various stakeholders in the host country. They should always choose to preserve dignity and partnership between our respective countries. It is this approach that I believe builds strong relationships between nations and helps to advance the interests of our respective countries based on mutual respect.
South Africa’s interest is to advance a better, more peaceful, more equal world, anchored in human rights and with respect for the dignity of all. Our Ambassadors and High Commissioners to various countries in the world are expected to advance this national objective. By deepening our cooperation and strengthening our ties, I am confident that we can achieve such a world as you represent your country in South Africa.
Once again I extend my warm welcome on behalf of the people of South Africa to you all. I wish you all the best as you execute your mission of representing your country and your people in South Africa.
I thank you.”
