Johannesburg — South African President Thabo Mbeki delivered his last annual state-of-the-nation address Friday, ahead of scheduled general elections marking a decade of democracy in South Africa since the end of apartheid.
In a festive mood, the unofficial fashion show of past and present leaders, traditional leaders, diplomatic and political officials and well dressed guests paraded outside the Parliament building in Cape Town.
Mbeki hailed the advances in South Africa under the leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC) and said that his country had fulfilled the visions first set out by former President Nelson Mandela, who is now 85. But Mbeki acknowledged that challenges lay ahead in the continuing fight against poverty.
His speech drew criticism from his political opponents who accused him of glossing over key issues, including unemployment, HIV/Aids and the crisis across the border in Zimbabwe.
It was less the poet-president that South Africans have got used to who spoke on Friday and more Thabo Mbeki head of state who addressed the nation at the opening of parliament, assessing ten years of ANC government. He said the answer was a "resounding yes" to the question of whether South Africa had made forward strides since 1994.
"During the first decade, we made progress towards the achievements of the goals we enunciated as we took the first steps as a newborn child. We also laid a strong foundation to score even greater advances," said Mbeki.
Watched by Mandela, former President FW de Klerk, ministers and MPs in a packed public gallery, Mbeki looked forward to a hopeful future and back to South Africa's past. "We have always known our countrys blemishes produced by more than three centuries of colonialism and apartheid could not be removed in once decade. Nevertheless, we have no hesitation in saying that we have made great advances to ensure the expansion of the frontiers of human fulfilment and the continuous extension of the frontiers of the freedom of which Nelson Mandela spoke almost ten years ago."
Mbekis speech was short on specifics, but he went to great lengths to list what he deemed were South Africas successes since the end of white minority rule in 1994. 1.6 million new homes had been built for poor South Africans; more than 70 percent of households had been electrified; 9 million more people had access to clean water and school enrolment was up - to 85 percent in 2002.
He said the economy was performing well and enjoying its longest period of growth since the 1940s. Yet Mbeki admitted that there were still challenges ahead. "Many of our people are unemployed. Many of our people continue to live in poverty. Violence against the person in all its forms continues to plague especially those sections of our population that are poor and live in socially depressed communities". He also pointed out that HIV/Aids and other diseases remained of "serious concern".
What needed to be done, said Mbeki, was to ensure the "vigorous implementation of the policies of the past decade," though he did not foresee any "need for new and major policy initiatives in the next ten years".
While celebrating the tenth anniversary of the end of oppression and the advent of freedom, Mbeki stressed that there was room for improvement and that South Africans themselves had to be part of the renewed efforts. "We must be impatient with those in the public service who see themselves as pen pushers and guardians of rubber stamps, thieves intent on self-enrichment, bureaucrats who think they have a right to ignore the vision of 'Batho Pele, who come to work as late as possible, work as little as possible and knock off as early as possible," Mbeki admonished some of his compatriots, drawing prolonged applause from the audience.
He called for South Africans to work together "in conditions of entrenched democracy, respect for human rights, peace and stability," adding "we must continue to produce the good news that has made our country a place of hope, even for other people in the rest of the world".
A "winning nation," he concluded must also include improved management and performance by the nations sporting squads. His comments come after a year dogged by scandal for both South African soccer and rugby.
Mbeki concentrated mainly on the affairs of South Africa in his state of the nation address, but he also turned his attention to international issues. He mentioned disputes about the World Trade Organisation and reforming the United Nations as well as the conflict in the Middle East and global terrorism. "Other regions of the world, including the most developed countries, are hard at work to change their neighbourhoods for the better," he said. "We can only ignore or minimize this task with regard to ourselves at our own peril".
Mbeki also noted that South Africa was still committed to "building a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Africa". But he made virtually no reference to the problems in neighbouring Zimbabwe, prompting criticism from the main opposition leader, Tony Leon, of the Democratic Alliance (DA).
"On an issue like Zimbabwe, which has the capacity to completely capsize his very other impressive initiatives - such as the African Union and the African renaissance - there was complete silence. I think there was a failure of leadership on an issue which is beginning to define the nature of our commitment to democratic principles in the region and abroad," Leon told reporters.
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Leon also hit out at what he called omissions in Mbekis speech about issues that were close to the hearts of many South Africa. "He should start addressing some of the real failures and the real problems. There are millions of South Africans who are out of work. There are millions of South Africans who are victims of violent crime. There are millions of South Africans who are sick and dying of HIV/Aids. Im afraid on those issues, for a lot of people, a change of course is necessary: crime, unemployment and HIV/Aids and the president did not deal with those".
Leons DA launches its election campaign on Saturday.
Mirroring Leons concern, Patricia De Lille, leader of the recently-formed small Independent Democrats Party, expressed astonishment at Mbekis several references in his speech to one provinces telecommunications successes, while only talking about HIV/Aids in passing. "How could he mention a cellular network three times and Aids only once? Something is wrong," said De Lille.
Mbeki is expected to announce the date for the elections on Monday. He succeeded Mandela after South Africas second democratic poll in 1999. The ANC has a two-thirds majority in Parliament and analysts predict another overwhelming electoral victory this year, giving Mbeki another five-year term.
