PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA CONGRATULATES PRIME MINISTER ABIY AHMED ON NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended his warmest congratulations to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
Prime Minister Ahmed has been recognised by the Nobel Committee “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea”.
President Ramaphosa said: “South Africa offers its warmest congratulations to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on being awarded this prestigious prize. This award focuses global attention on our continent’s relentless progress towards peace and stability.
“We pay tribute to the governments and peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea for making this achievement possible and for opening up new possibilities for cooperation, integration and development not just on the east coast of our continent but across our continent.
“The peace achieved between these neighbouring states is an important enabler of the African Continental Free Trade Area and of the many objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
“We all share in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s achievement and in the future of cooperation and good neighbourliness on which the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea have embarked.”
11 October 2019
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
SA IN TOP 3 BIODIVERSE NATIONS
|
|
|
|
|
We are thus one of the richest countries in terms of the diversity of plants and animals (marine and terrestrial) and levels of endemism. Although the immense contribution of our biodiversity to our economic, social and spiritual well-being is difficult to measure, it is generally accepted that this contribution is significant and essential to our health and well-being,” Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, said.
The Minister was delivering the keynote address at the opening of the 10th Oppenheimer Research Conference in Randjiesfontein, Midrand, taking place under the theme "Advancing Conservation Consciousness" (1-3 October 2019)
“Our National Development Plan recognises this biodiversity wealth and requires us to leave future generations an environmental endowment of at least equal value to the one we have now.
“To this end, although we are not yet meeting international targets, our conservation estate is growing, both on land and at sea,” Minister Creecy said.
A few months ago, 20 new marine protected areas were declared. These new “ocean parks" have increased South Africa’s marine ecosystem area under protection by 1 250% overnight – from 0.4% to 5.4% of the country's oceans.
“Unlike many of our game parks, these ocean parks have been identified scientifically and provide protection to an impressive 90% of our marine habitat types.
“In terms of government priorities, these ocean parks will not only protect our rich marine biodiversity, but will also contribute to the sustainability of our fisheries and our fishing industry – a perfect example of sustainable development, evidence-based policy-making, and a valuable outcome of the Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy initiative,” the Minister said.
The 10th Oppenheimer Research Conference supported ground breaking research and key partnerships, bringing together some of the continent’s best stakeholders to support Africa-led, innovative research that will contribute to the advancement of environmental and allied sciences.
This is critical to reach the country’s objective of ensuring a prosperous environment for future generations.
Source: SAnews.gov.za
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA ON ‘FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT’
President Cyril Ramaphosa on ‘From the Desk of the President’
30 September 2019
Dear Fellow South African,
Welcome to the first weekly message ‘From the Desk of the President’. Each week, I will discuss some of the issues that interest and concern South Africans, and talk about the work we are doing in government to tackle these issues. I hope you will find it useful.
Almost everyone I meet in the country, whether residents of Lusikisiki or business leaders in Johannesburg, is deeply concerned about the state of the economy and the stubbornly high rates of unemployment. After a decade of low growth and deepening poverty, people are looking for signs of progress in tackling the many challenges confronting our country.
These concerns are real. This year, the economy will record growth that is lower than expected (and much lower than what we need). Government finances are stretched about as far as they can go, and several industries are looking at retrenching workers.
Much of the confidence that the country had 20 months ago has dissipated as the reality of the problems we face became clearer. This confidence was born out of the hope that we would quickly undo the damage that was done over a number of years. Implementing change does take time. The important issue is that we should move in a determined way to effect change while remaining irrevocably committed to rooting out state capture, corruption and malfeasance.
We collectively have a common task: to rebuild the confidence of our people, this time based not merely on hope and expectation of change, but on concrete things that make a difference in the economy, real actions that ‘move the needle’.
I believe this is eminently possible. Despite the difficulties, South Africans from all walks of life are still moved by the spirit of Thuma Mina to become involved in fixing our country. They want to change the narrative of doubt to a narrative of opportunity not through clever spin, but through action. South Africans are ready to rise to the challenge.
Most of the people I speak to recognise that we have made progress in turning our country around. The changes that have taken place in many state-owned enterprises and in bodies like the NPA, SARS, the police and the State Security Agency give people confidence that we can restore the credibility and integrity of the State. It shows that we are serious about tackling corruption and ending state capture.
There has also been progress on the economic front. A year ago, we announced an economic stimulus and recovery plan in response to our economy’s first recession in nine years. Since then we have embarked on several reforms to create a more investor-friendly environment. We have finalised a Mining Charter that has been broadly welcomed by the industry and finalised policy on the allocation of valuable broadband spectrum. We have and continue to make changes to our visa policies
Funds have been redirected to stimulate economic activity in areas where the majority of South Africans live. This includes finance to support black commercial farmers, the revitalisation of industrial parks in townships and the establishment of a Township Economy Fund. Government is also increasing the value of goods and services it procures from small business and cooperatives. Much work still needs to be done in many of these areas to ensure they have the effect on the economy we seek.
Building on the stimulus and recovery plan, government will finalise a clear economic growth strategy within the next few weeks. This strategy will draw on the many valuable contributions that have been made by South Africans on the discussion paper released by National Treasury.
Several parts of the growth strategy are already in place. These include how we can strengthen our reform programme, a revitalised industrial strategy in support of key growth sectors and the establishment of an Infrastructure Fund with a clear plan to revive infrastructure investment. Much work is underway to improve the ease and reduce the cost of doing business, as are efforts to restructure state owned enterprises and ensure that they perform better in meeting the country’s needs. A clear strategy to place Eskom on a sustainable path of recovery is also being finalised.
All this work is taking place at a time when government’s finances are under great strain, and there is very little room to increase spending or borrowing. This means that we need to spend our limited resources more smartly, get rid of wastage and shift more resources to infrastructure investment.
On the first Monday morning of each month, the Deputy President and I meet with the leaders of business, labour and the community sector to review the implementation of measures agreed at last year’s Jobs Summit. Our continued focus is on job creation and how we can reduce the numbers of people who are unemployed.
It is clear that, as a country, we are taking firm action to grow the economy and create jobs. But we need to do more to turn things around. We need to finalise a comprehensive growth strategy that takes all the work being done to another level. I am certain that with the active involvement of all sectors of society, this will be achieved.
South Africans are ready to rise to the challenge.
Best wishes,
Issued by:
EXPOSITION DE CERAMIQUES DE L’ATELIER ARDMORE A PARIS
EXPOSITION DE CERAMIQUES DE L’ATELIER ARDMORE A PARIS
Cette année encore, la Galerie Isabelle Turquin propose une exposition-vente temporaire Ardmore. L’Atelier Ardmore a été fondé en 1985 grâce à la détermination d’une femme généreuse et talentueuse, Fèe Halsted. Cet atelier, situé aux pieds des Drakensberg est composé d’hommes et de femmes originaires du Kwazulu-Natal qui ont su allier la technique de la céramique enseignée par Fèe Halsted avec leur propre créativité. Leur sensibilité à la nature, leur sens des couleurs, la richesse de leurs traditions donnent naissance à « des œuvres uniques qui magnifient leur imaginaire sans cesse renouvelé et nous font voyager dans un monde animal et végétal aux mises en scène à la fois classiques et joyeuses ». Au fil des années les artistes d’Ardmore, une soixantaine aujourd’hui, se sont fait connaître au-delà des frontières sud-africaines. Ils ont remporté de nombreux prix et sont désormais exposés dans les musées et galeries du monde entier.
Galerie Isabelle Turquin 71 rue Sainte Anne -Paris 75002. Tél : 01 47 03 02 87. Du 8 au 31 octobre 2019, lundi :14h00-19h00, mardi-vendredi : 11h00-19h00, samedi 11h00-18h00 www.ardmoreceramics.co.za
REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR TEBOGO SEOKOLO ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE NELSON MANDELA SQUARE AT THE PORT CITY OF LE HAVRE
REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR TEBOGO SEOKOLO ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE NELSON MANDELA SQUARE AT THE PORT CITY OF LE HAVRE
27 SEPTEMBER 2019
His Worship the Mayor of Le Havre and President of Le Havre Seine Métropole, Mr Jean-Baptiste GASTINNE,
His Excellency Prime Minister Edouard PHILIPPE,
The President of the Supervisory Board of Le Havre Harbour, Mrs Emmanuèle PERRON,
The President of the Seine-Maritime region, Mr Pascal MARTIN
Mr Hubert DEJEAN DE LA BATIE, representing His Excellency Hervé MORIN, the President of the Normandy region,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with an abiding sense of humility that I represent my country, South Africa, on this auspicious occasion to honour of one of the world’s greatest statesmen; former President Nelson Mandela.
We in South Africa are proud to be the children of Tata Nelson Mandela and to share his legacy with the rest of the world.
Much as we proudly claim former President Mandela as one of our own, we are alive to the reality that he also belongs to the rest of humanity. He is a global icon.
He remains an invaluable source of inspiration for all those fighting for a just, equitable and more humane world.
On this special occasion, our sincere gratitude goes to His Worship the Mayor, Mr Jean-Baptiste GASTINNE and the people of this beautiful port city of Le Havre – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – for renaming the revamped square after Nelson Mandela.
Le Havre occupies a special place to us because it is where the first black South African soldier was killed and buried during World War One. Private Myengwa Beleza was among the 25 000 other black soldiers from South Africa who had volunteered to serve as what was known as the Native Labour Corps. As you would recall he was exhumed in 2014 and reburied with other fellow South Africans in Dellvillewood. Even those his mortal remains are no longer here, his spirit is still alive in this city.
We are particularly pleased that the great city of Le Havre has decided to honour Nelson Mandela in the month of September, which is heritage month in our country.
During this month, as South Africans we reflect on where we come from as a people and we celebrate our rich and diverse heritage.
Former President Nelson Mandela is an important part of our country’s heritage.
From him we learnt the power of reconciliation and the power of forgiveness.
He taught us humility. He showed us the value of caring for others. He showed us the way to peace, freedom and democracy.
Up to this day, as South Africans, we carry with us find memories of former President Nelson Mandela.
In us his spirit lives on. He remains our inspiration. We aspire to be like him.
His legacy continues to illuminate our path towards his vision of a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa, that belongs to all who live in it; black and white, united in their diversity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.
Once again, thank you heartily for honouring the father of our nation in this way.
Yours is a fitting tribute to Madiba. We value it highly. We deeply appreciate it.
We have no doubt that this gesture will go a long way in strengthening the bonds of friendship and solidarity between our peoples.
I thank you.