- We witnessed, for the first time in the history of SA, the celebration of SA's freedom, of its celebrated constitution, its rules-based order and its commitment to human rights.
- Many of us however warned that that beyond the parties with its free food and drinks  lots of it and some very expensive I may add, that this should not only be a moment to rejoice but also a moment for serious and critical reflection.
- Our aim during this reflection must be to asses the challenges and the pitfalls SA faces in the next decade and beyond.
- In order to look back 10 years we must do so against two backgrounds, that is our political democracy and economic democracy
- Our political democracy is doing well. We have civil and political rights like freedom of speech, universal franchise, and bill of rights. It is there although we sometimes have to give one or other organ of state a constitutional knockout  and here I am referring to my court case against the former Speaker of Parliament, Dr Ginwala who thought that she could silence me until the courts told her on two occasions to take a hike!
- On social-economic rights, we are slipping up. This will have a serious negative impact on civil and political rights. We are sitting on a time bomb in this sphere.

Now for the POSITIVES:

- The fall of apartheid and the rise of the liberation state has ensured that the dignity of all citizens have been restored
- SA constitution is very strong and is unlike any other constitution in the world
- SA constitution recognizes all the Chapter 9 institutions like the Public Protector, Human Rights Commission, Gender Commission, etc and these institutions have been established and are functioning.
- In total, we a competitive democracy
- Both Pres. Mandela and Pres. Mbeki managed the economy well on a macro level. Too much emphasis has however been placed on FDI. Look, we need FDI to grow the economy and to increase domestic demand but too little emphasis was placed on local direct investment. Local businesses got away with economic murder and so many were allowed to continue doing business as usual.
- Instead, many of the big corporates were allowed to take their money to London and New York and out of the country. This will still count heavily against the SA economy in the near and distant future.
- Pres. Mandela focused on reconciliation; nation building and his term will also be remembered as the policy-making era.
- Also got rid of the old apartheid legislation and so effectively started the process whereby our society was starting to transform permanently
- To date 900 laws have been passed and this is huge but also very important because in Mandela's words, 'Never but never will we ever return to the past'
- The Mbeki era will be known as delivery, delivery, delivery
- Mbeki put a huge emphasis on implementation and delivery. I say emphasis because it does not always mean that he got it right.
- He clearly had enough of passing laws instead; his focus is on institution building. An immediate weakness of this approach is that too much emphasis has been placed on technocratic institution building.
- Mbeki also brought a distinct African identity to SA. Today there is little doubt as to where SA belongs. No more are we this last little European outpost at the bottom of the world  but a full member of the African continent
- He will also be remembered for his active pursuance of BEE to redress to economic inequalities of the past. BEE at the same time has had major flaws. We only managed to create a bunch of capitalist without capital.
- At the same time we inculcated this mentality into the poor that all and sunder can now be a shareholder or a director. In this regard, we really went crazy because everybody has this expectation. What happened to most basic form of empowerment where you are given a job? You then advance yourself through hard work and send your kids to tertiary institutions and so build a circle of integrity and prosperity?
- Both Mandela and Mbeki put gender effectively on the agenda. In 10 years we achieved our gender objectives of 30%
- Mbeki is unapologetic about his desire for a strong civil service to give effect to his delivery agenda


BUT NOW I HAVE TO STOP THE PRAISE SINGING OTHERWISE MANY OF MY VOTERS HERE IN THIS ROOM WILL BECOME CONFUSED BY THINKING THAT THE ID HAS ALSO IMPLODED AND BECOME A PART OF THE ANC

The problems that plague us in modern day SA are many and no one will beat me into submission with a newsletter on their website or demand that I explain after having expressed myself here today.

- SA remains together with Brazil one of the most unequal societies in the world today.
- Inequality in SA has increased and the ANC policies have contributed to that. It is obscene that so much wealth had been created for so few over the last ten years through BEE.
- The ANC has not even bothered to take a lesson from a close ally like Norway where the equality wealth cap is strictly enforced. In Norway, people, you can only get so rich. Full stop.
- Apartheid has also had a devastating economic effect on the lives on ordinary people and they continue to suffer. I hope that this crocodile does not eventually bite in the behind.
- There are definite delivery problems brought about by an inefficient civil service.
- Now it is so that the Govt. built millions more houses, electrified more a few million homes and provided clean drinking water to thousands of communities. There is no denying about that and the ID is first in line to acknowledge the effort but Govt. is continuously on the defensive  it's always defending its achievements
- I am saying today that the new Govt. has given our people temporary dignity because a few months after having moved into a proper house with water and electricity, these essential services are cut and ultimately people are evicted from the very same homes.
- Pres Mbeki speaks about two economies  I want to rename them to (1) the skyscraper economy and (2) the poor people's economy.
- 52% of the population lives in that skyscraper economy
- 48% of the population lives in that poor peoples economy
- Ten years later race is off the agenda. We do or cannot rationally speak about race and racial problems. There is this pretence that everything is okay now, almost as if the harshness and cruelty of 300 years of domination can be glossed over in a matter of a short ten years
- The socio-economy of SA is still race based because of the 48% poor people :
- 63% are Black African
- 38% are Coloured
- 7% are Indians
- 1% are White
- It is clear then that the divisions of poverty in SA run along racial lines
- Only 3% of the land has been redistributed against a target of 30%
- AIDS is the greatest social crisis that we face. Whilst the old regime was defending, apartheid in the 1980's AIDS already existed but it was not on the political and social agenda and was already killing our people.
- AIDS is not something that came about in 1994 only political freedom did
- The sooner we make peace with these facts the sooner we can start doing constructive things and in this regard you, in this room, have an unquestionable duty to help
- Worsening the situation is our ambivalent liberation Govt. because it is scared that AIDS will be seen as a Black thing and became defensive about it to the extent that they went into denial.
- In the meanwhile, AIDS exploded and it now competes with resources meant for education, social welfare, etc.
- Worst affected by AIDS are five SADC countries, SA, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia
- The arms deal and its corruption implications cannot be effectively fought if a culture of silence is perpetuated
- Ten years later a culture of healthy critical debate has effectively been stifled
- One cannot build democracy without critical debate. Too many people in Govt. has sensitive skins
- On the other side, the largest opposition only attacks for the hell of attacking. No consensus and no solutions are being offered.
- We need more social responsibility by the private sector. Not the kind that sponsors rugby, cricket and soccer but the kind that helps to build capacity and imparts skills.
- I want to make one more frank and open point- We are facing a crisis in the years to come because the view in White quarters is that they are now being discriminated against. These people do not have the foggiest idea of the poverty and squalor that 75% of the nation lives in. as a result it is as if whites have withdrawn into a laager  they are feeling sorry for themselves. They put Govt. under so much pressure and Govt. has been very responsive in appeasing. Mandela could have been so tough but instead he tried specially and specifically to draw white people into the system. If they did come in or still consider coming in is a question that remains largely unanswered today. All of us have a historical duty to help Govt. make a success of this country. To do this we need to bridge the divides that exist in our society.
- In conclusion, regarding foreign policy. I believe in being democratic at home and democratic abroad. Some of the super powers practice foreign policy based on democratic at home and bully abroad. We in South Africa should not make the same mistake in relation to the African continent. Closer to home, Zimbabwe, where we as South Africans must support the people of Zimbabwe and come up with practical efforts to assist there instead of wasting our time to criticize Mugabe.


I thank you.