Rwanda looks to continued cooperation with South Africa

PRETORIA - Yesterday, President Paul Kagame joined the rest of the world leaders at the inauguration ceremony of South African President Jacob Zuma. President Kagame was among over 30 African Heads of State who attended the ceremony whose theme was; “Together celebrating a vibrant democracy and building a better life for all,” held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. A statement from the President’s Office said, “Rwanda looks forward to continued cooperation with South Africa and to strengthening the partnerships in education, health and capacity building, land management, police and defence.” Zuma has committed that the new government under his leadership would be more hands on, accessible and deliver on its commitments. “As the Executive we will do our best to be more hands-on, more accessible and to deliver on our commitments,” he said, delivering his acceptance speech, at the ceremony, after being elected as President of the Republic by an outright majority in the National Assembly. Zuma said in the next five years, South Africans will be able to depend on public representatives to serve them with dignity and respect and to maintain the decorum of Parliament, which is the face of democracy. He said his administration will work with opposition parties on issues that are of national interest. He thanked the outgoing Cabinet for their good service and also thanked outgoing President Kgalema Motlanthe. Motlanthe’s tenure officially ended on Saturday, when Zuma was inaugurated as President. While not divulging who would take up seats in his Cabinet, Zuma said he had gained from the wisdom of the top five ANC officials whom he had consulted on the matter. “I should be able to produce a team that will work very hard, and with necessary speed.” He said he intended to have Cabinet assume office by 11 May so that “we can get down to business”. “We mean business when we talk about faster change,” said the new President. Zuma, a 67-year-old former guerrilla fighter and intelligence chief of the African National Congress, took power Saturday in the culmination of an extraordinary political comeback, pledging to Nelson Mandela and the nation to renew the spirit of commitment and hope of South Africa’s first black presidency. Zuma was once imprisoned under apartheid and spent years in exile as ANC mobiliser before surviving corruption and sex scandals culminating into his sacking by former president Thabo Mbeki as Vice president. He has been embraced by many South Africans including the rainbow nation’s first black president Nelson Mandela who endorsed his candidature. He now leads Africa’s economic powerhouse, but it is a country where at least a quarter of the work force is unemployed and 1,000 people die of AIDS every day. The ANC, though, did not win the two-thirds majority it did in 2004, a slide largely attributed to a split in the party because of Zuma’s power struggle with ANC colleague and former President Thabo Mbeki. Many underprivileged black South Africans believe Zuma’s personal battles and eventual triumph give him special insight into their own struggles and aspirations. Ends