REMARKS BY
MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP
MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS, AND
PRESIDENT, INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
OUDEKRAAL, CAPE TOWN : NOVEMBER 6, 2002
It is a great pleasure for me to
have the honour to officially open The Twelve Apostles Hotel. We are
standing today in one of the most beautiful spots of Africa and I truly
believe in one of the most magic places in the world. I have travelled in
many and different places throughout the world but have yet to see one which
matches this stretch of coast between Camps Bay and Hout Bay. The colours of
the sky, the dramatic backdrop of the mountain, the intensity of the blue
with which the ocean is constantly painted, makes this area a remarkable
concentrate of sublime beauty. Being here, one has indeed the feeling of
being inside a painting and part of it.
For this reason, I am pleased that this hotel has now been
upgraded into what may become an international attraction and a showcase of
our country for the most demanding international tourist. With facilities of
this type, South African tourism can rightly compete with the world’s best
destinations. We have the infrastructure, we have unparalleled beauty and we
are developing the sophistication and elegance of delivery which can enable
venues like Cape Town to replace the position in international tourism once
held by the French Riviera or the Italian Riviera.
Our tourist industry is growing by leaps and bounds and is
becoming one of the most important aspects of our country’s long-term
macro-economic plan. Within the South African tourist industry, Cape Town is
becoming a thriving tourism centre characterized by a combination of
elements and attractions difficult to find anywhere else in the world. The
development of the new Convention Centre will enable Cape Town to become one
of the world’s chosen venues for large conferences, trade summits and
commercial and business activities. However, the beauty and the seemingly
endless entertainment opportunities which Cape Town and its surrounding
areas offer to tourists of all types and income brackets, will ensure that
the Mother City will never acquire the flavour of a busy metropolis imbued
with business priorities.
There is a unique magic alchemy in the making of the new
Cape Town, of which I feel this hotel is going to become an important
component, as one of the most charming landmarks of this area. Slowly but
surely Cape Town is acquiring the best elements of many different realities,
in what promises to be a harmonious and consistent synthesis. We are
developing business facilities which can match those of Chicago. We have a
long stretch of gentle Riviera which has nothing to envy from the Adriatic
coast or the beaches of Florida. We have a dramatic effect created by our
mountains and geography which have elements both of Rio de Janeiro and
Positano and, indeed, well competes in beauty with both. In addition, we
have the vineyards of Bordeaux the metropolitan flavour of a discreet and
opulent European city and a unique African context. I really feel that one
would be hard-pressed to find any similar place in the world. And within
this magic environment, I feel that the place where we now stand, and the
hotel which has been built on it, is, indeed, the most magnificent jewel of
the crown.
This hotel exists and it is a real masterpiece. By virtue
of its location, it represents one of our country’s greatest tourism
assets. It is our duty to recognise the value of this asset for our tourism
industry and to support it. For this reason, I have welcomed the opportunity
to officiate at this important ceremony today to express my personal support
and that of our Government. I am particularly privileged to do so on this
occasion in which I happen to carry responsibility as the Acting President
of our Republic.
I also welcome this opportunity to see again old, but not
forgotten friends. It is a pleasure to see again Maurice Shawzin who, I
understand, is an associate of the Red Carnation Hotel Group which manages
this hotel. Many years have passed since I last had the opportunity to see
Mr Shawzin, who was one of the producers of one of the movies in which I
starred when I was a much younger man. It was very touching for me to
receive pictures that Mr Shawzin sent, shot on the stage of the movie
"Zulu" in 1963. In that film, I was persuaded by the Director, Cy
Endfield and Sir Stanley Baker, who also participated in the film, to
portray my maternal great-grandfather, King Cetshwayo, who as many of you
may not remember, was a prisoner at the Castle here in Cape Town after the
Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. King Cetshwayo later lived as a prisoner of the
colonial government at Oude Moulen Farm, not very far from this City of Cape
Town.
I remember that "Zulu" was Michael Caine's
debut, and one of the star's was Jack Hawkins. In these pictures Mr. Shawzin
really looked a very young man and I am pleased to see that albeit his
appearance has now changed, he has not lost his enthusiasm for life and his
boundless optimism. I am also pleased to learn that he is one of those who
believed enough in the future of South Africa to come back from the United
States where he succeeded in business, to invest again in the future of his
homeland.
I believe in the future of South Africa. I am very touched
when I meet people who left the country, made their fortune abroad, and then
realized that there is just no better place in which to live than South
Africa. I am particularly touched when such people bring their money back
home, and feel confident to invest it here where it can grow in its native
soil at a much faster rate than anywhere else. I think that these people are
the best example to give confidence to foreign investors. If those who well
know the points of strength and weakness of our native soil and our country’s
economy, are willing to come back and recognise that this is the place where
investments can produce an unparalleled yield, then foreign investors should
be equally reassured of our commitment to make this country grow and
prosper.
I do support the macro-economic strategy of Government.
But I do have great reservations about some of the activities of the allies
of the majority Party, COSATU and the SACP, vis-a-vis the Government's
privatisation policies. I do believe that we need to promote tourism by all
means possible, as it is the only industry which does create as many jobs as
possible within a short time. In the final analysis, the elements which
spell out the success or failure of a country are few and simple. I do not
think that our country has yet filled the full measure of the potentials its
tourist industry holds, nor has it succeeded in marketing its economic
benefits and opportunities amongst foreign investors.
I am sure that many of those gathered here today could
indicate simply and plainly what ought to be done to bring the country to
our next step of development. We need to be fierce about dealing with the
growing phenomenon of crime, which is not something that a government cannot
tackle. The success of any fight against crime is merely a function of the
willingness of any government to pour resources into the training and
expansion of the police, the upgrading of the judicial infrastructure and
the education of communities. None of this is beyond the administrative or
logistical capacity of our Government. It is just a matter of developing the
political will to begin to place substantial resources in that direction.
Similarly, we need to take serious steps to re-introduce maximum flexibility
in our labour market to promote the competitiveness of our economy and must
become serious about bringing about extensive and expedited privatization of
all State assets.
I do not want to use this opportunity to deliver a
political speech nor make my personal views known about what ought to be
done to fix our country. But I feel that I must share with friends,
potential investors and tourists whom I know, that our country needs fixing
and I am not part of what seems to be a syndrome of denial about this issue.
However, I also know that our country can be fixed and that with the
participation of all the people of goodwill, our country will be fixed. I am
an incurable optimist. I believe tomorrow is going to be better than today.
When I have the privilege of seeing places like the one we are in, I feel
that no one living under the beauty of the African sky and the warmth of the
African sun, ought to have any other attitude. Today is another magic day in
paradise, which prompts our commitment to make South Africa become the
paradise it ought to be for our posterity.
It is nice to see old friends and meet new friends and I
hope that on this occasion we can rekindle our joint commitment to make
increasing portions of South Africans share in the beauty and prosperity
which we are enjoying on this occasion. This hotel is indeed a flagship of
the tourist industry and I hope that its inauguration may mark not only a
further stage in the growth of our tourist industry, but also in the
constant growth of our economy, and the constant renewal of our society
towards the making of a finally socially stable, economically prosperous and
equally just South Africa.
With these few words it is, therefore, a great pleasure
for me to formally inaugurate The Twelve Apostles Hotel and declare it
officially opened.
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