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President Thabo Mbeki to attend Inauguration of President Kabila Pretoria
- South African President Thabo Mbeki will on Wednesday 6 December 2006 join the
Secretary-General of the United Nations 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 Africa's priority to consolidate the African agenda by, among
others, promoting post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives. President
Mbeki on Friday 1 December 2006 said, "We 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 United Nations 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 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. Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on
082 990 4853 Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001 5
December 2006 | 
