The Republic of South Africa - Ms. Takalani Netshitenzhe Diverse People Unite

THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Diverse People Unite
While travelling to Ms. Takalani Netshitenzhe, ambassador for an interview, I remember my childhood's fairy dreams about Africa. How many times did I watch the movies with lingering eyes... I was always amazed by the beauty of nature and the naturalness of the people there. On my arrival to the residency - which is hidden in dense greenery - I am not disappointed, the South African ambassador is also a very friendly lady, her wide smile helps me overcome the linguistic difficulties. Many questions are swirling in my head, but I start with the most obvious ones.

Would you, please, introduce South Africa?

South Africa is a beautiful country in the Southern part of Africa. The Republic consists of nine provinces, each with its own provincial legislature. The Executive capital is Pretoria, which is the governmental centre of the country. South Africans are humble and hospitable people, and we have over the years learnt to find unity in diversity, a quality encouraged in all South Africans by former President, Mr Nelson Mandela. This year we celebrate 15years of freedom and democracy, and have just had a new Parliament and a new President elected, Mr Jacob Zuma. The country's racial discrimination laws and practices were outlawed from 1990, and a new culture of human rights was adopted. We are a diverse nation, with 11 official languages. South Africa has beautiful cities, and some of these cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, are rated amongst the top 100 most beautiful cities in the world. We also have other small cities. Each has a developed transport system, telecommunications infrastructure and an impressive hospitality industry which reflects our diversity. The existing transport system and road infrastructure are also part of the government's major public infrastructure development projects in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. Besides the wonderful cities, the wildlife and the safari rides are astonishing. The Kruger National Park is the biggest park. Many tourists visit our country specifically to watch our wildlife. Interestingly, the country is famous for its plastic surgery with safari drives, because South Africa has some of the most advanced and modern medical facilities in the world. One of the natural phenomena in South Africa is that the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean meet at Cape Town, where as a result many wild storms rage. For this reason Cape Town is also called the Cape of Storms. The flora across the country is also very diverse and rich.

Does South Africa have a national flower?

Yes, the Giant or King Protea. This is a dark pink flower, whose petals cover the central fruit in a spherical shape and opens up as it matures.

What would you definitely recommend us to see in South Africa?

There are many offerings in each province, so we encourage visitors to take their time to enjoy South African diversity. However, if I were to recommend something different for visitors used to city life, it would be by all means the wildlife. The forest is very exciting and there are many opportunities in the national parks and on private game farms as well. Animals like lions, rhinoceroses, elephants, buffalos, leopards, zebras, hyenas and hippopotamuses can be watched in their natural environment. The greatest adventure is the safari rides in the bush, for which is always best to go with a ranger. In the parks there are camping sites for tents or mobile homes, too. Safari rides can be dangerous; therefore, visitors in the parks have to adhere to set rules like visiting hours, it has to be after sunrise and before sunset in all seasons. The most important rule is not to be out after dark, because of the wild animals lying and moving on the roads. These limitations are for the safety of the visitors. There are rules for daytime as well: not to open the windows and not make big noise, because the animals, especially the elephants are sensitive. The fauna is very rich in our national parks, and there are different venomous viper species (puff adder, green and black mamba), scorpions and a wide range of bird species in South Africa. If you are lucky, during such a safari ride, you can witness real hunting, when one animal hunts and kills another. The rangers keep contact during the rides and if they notice such an event, they call the others. I have personally experienced this myself, with a leopard hunting and killing a wild pig. I have on several occasions missed a kill, only to watch "an after kill", which is exciting as well. In fact for this publication, we will give you the wild life pictures, and sun set pictures along the ocean in Cape Town, taken personally by myself with my daughter, to illustrate some of the real life adventures the country offers. Any visitor can have this experience!

What about the cultural life in South Africa?

South Africa is considered to be the cradle of humankind. Archaeologists found such fossils of human kind in caves just outside Johannesburg dating to million years ago, that allow us to conclude that the first human beings originated in South Africa. The Craddle of Humankind is one of our Eight (8) World Heritage sites. Because of our diverse culture, racial and ethic groups, we are many times referred to as the rainbow nation. Apart from the beautiful cities and wildlife, we have townships, the biggest one is SOWETO standing for South Western Township. This township came into existence as a result of the former apartheid government's strategy and policies to remove black people from urban areas, which also led to the creation of four now defunct black homelands. On June 16, 1976, SOWETO captured the world's attention when students held mass protests against government's policy to enforce education in Afrikaans instead of English. Hundreds of students were killed by the police on this day, and days and years to follow, which later led to heavy international sanctions against the Apartheid government. SOWETO is home to two liberation struggle and peace icons, the two Nobel Peace Price laureates, Former President Mandela and Archbishop Tutu of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Their houses are in the same street. It is home to the 2x Grammy winning gospel choir, the SOWETO Gospel Choir. SOWETO hosts some of the country's national heritage sites which reflect the history of our nation. The Apartheid museum is just a few kilometres from SOWETO. The township is also home to the country's biggest soccer teams, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs whose games create a mood that reverberates in all corners of the country, and which have produced some of the world's international football players. The Township is also known for its African Cuisines restaurant, Wandies. There are guided tours to SOWETO: It is a place to be! There is never a dull moment in South Africa! because we can experience all these cultures simultaneously and together.

What characterises the richness of South Africa?

In addition to our rich diverse culture described above, we uphold the values of human rights and human dignity, equality and equity. It is worth mentioning that in the newly elected Parliament, the remarkable achievement in the history of South Africa is that 50% are women (in the ruling party list and the second opposition party with 54%). South Africa is now 3^rd from Rwanda and Sweden on women representation in Parliament world wide, with about 50% women overall in Parliament. South Africa is one of the continent's economically most developed countries. It is rich in minerals: there are vast resources of diamond, gold, platinum metals, manganese, chrome, coal, and vanadium. Gold is the main source of export income. Foreign investments become profitable most quickly in South Africa from all countries in the world.

Does the global crisis affect South Africa?

We are very fortunate, as our government has been following good fiscal and economic policies over the years, and the financial sector is strictly regulated. The financial sector laws prevented the banks from giving out excessive loans, thereby protecting both the banks and the consumers. Some of these policies and regulations helped to create surpluses in the government budget. This also played a critical role in protecting our economy when the financial crisis came. However, when the financial crisis grew into an economic crisis, we began to feel the impact, because we are a global player trading with the world, with two (2) of our main economic sectors largely export oriented: Mining and Manufacturing. The gold and platinum trade has diminished; therefore, many mines had to cut on production. People are losing their jobs. The manufacturing sector, which includes among others the auto motive industry, and the textile industry, also suffered set backs, as the global demand for these products decreased. The revenues have gone down. To compensate for some of the losses, industries are employing people on contracts or by offering four days a week work. What counteracts this set back is the 2010 World Championship, through which the government has invested in public infrastructural development. As people are loosing jobs in other sectors, the construction industry is creating jobs as part of some of these projects. We expect more job creation and economic growth which is linked to the 2010 projects, but also acknowledge that there are still difficult times ahead before the storm is over. The 2010 projects alone do not offer an immediate total solution for the economic crisis, as we are dealing with a global crisis. However, this economic crisis creates an opportunity for the country to fast track such areas as rural development, and maximising the benefits of raw material from some of our sectors, domestically.

I reckon that it is a great joy that South Africa is given the opportunity to organize the World Cup. How are the preparations proceeding?

It is indeed a great joy and honour that the Republic of South Africa got the right to organize the 2010 World Cup. So, we will host the world's best footballers from all over the world in June 2009 and June 2010. The matches will take place in ten different stadiums whose locations are: Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane, Bloemfontein, Rustenburg, Mpumalanga. According to the program the World Cup stadiums will be ready in the period between October 2009 and January 2010. Four stadiums are ready for the Confederations Cup, the tickets are already selling. All the preparations are on track. Now we are focusing on the Confederations Cup. In addition to the on-line ticket bookings, over-the-counter outlets have been opened for Confederations cup ticket sales in South Africa. This tournament is a dress rehearsal for 2010 Cup, and the success of this cup will influence the World Cup to a great extent. As mentioned above, besides the stadiums, much governmental money was invested into public infrastructural development. Government spent the most for building and upgrading roads and the telecommunications infrastructure, upgrading of the transport system, including upgrading airports. A new sensation is the construction of the high-speed railway, which starts from our main airport. On hotels, emphasis is not only on new hotels, but also the renewal and modernisation of existing hotels which have always been part of our hospitality. Government continues to put security measures that will ensure the safety, security and integrity of the tournaments, including exercises to simulate possible bomb attacks, hostage attacks, public disorder and crime. As for tourists, we expect around 500,000 to 1 million visitors during the tournaments, which number can reach 10 million beyond 2010, as this will include not only the football fans but the tourists attracted by our wildlife, humility and beautiful country. Further, this is also an African Cup, and we are working with other African countries to ensure the success of the tournament. We will surely host an exciting tournament!

What is the sports life like in South Africa? Do you do sports?

I do not play any sport except running sometimes at home. However, I watch tennis, and the matches of the big football and rugby teams at home, South Africa. Here, I also watch the qualifying matches of the Hungarian national football team for the 2010 World Cup and others with our national team. As part of the cooperation with the Hungarian National Football Federation, we will cheer for the Hungary side until their last qualifying match. This is for strengthening the cultural relationship between our two countries, as in sports we unite! South Africa has a vibrant sports life! Through sports people of different races, ethnic groups; and other nationalities in South Africa come together and enjoy life. We have football language, e.g. shibobo, laaaduuma, vuvuzela! Or have a 'braai' with 'pap' (barbecue with porridge) for rugby. And we shout, sing, laugh and dance! Everybody, who loves sport: black, white, coloured or Chinese, understands this culture. I miss it!

How long has South Africa had relationship with Hungary?

The relationship between the two countries is strong and sound. Our diplomatic relationship started in the early 1990s. President Nelson Mandela had a state visit to Hungary in the late 90's.

How is our economic cooperation developing? Are there any South African companies in Hungary?

The two countries have strong economic cooperation. South Africa imports a lot of its telecommunications and electronic devices from Hungary. These include mobile phones. Trade on this area is significant. Hungary imports from South Africa such products as, e.g. auto car-parts, leather and of late we see a lot of South African wine and fruits. We hope to step up this relationship from year to year. From among the South African companies in Hungary, there are at present the SAB Miller, a beer company (which is connected to the Dreher company as well), the Mondi Business Paper, Intertoll. We would like to encourage more the South African entrepreneurs to come to Hungary. We do not have conclusive plans yet, for the moment we are monitoring the situation and interesting projects amidst the global economic crisis.

What are the goals of the embassy? What would you like to strengthen?

Education and culture is one of our main priorities. On a lighter note, one product that could be popular in South Africa is the delicious Hungarian pastry, as everybody could afford it, I love it!. We are interested in rural development projects, which is one of the priorities of the new South Africa government. The best way is the exchange of agricultural knowledge at the university and community levels. Hungary has such cultural offers that are not so rich in South Africa; such are the opera music and the opera theatre life. Though we have some theatres, we would like to learn from Hungary how to attract the attention of the younger generations so that they could be players and the audience in these theatres. As for education, our emphasis is on Agricultural Science, Science and Technology, and Arts and Culture. A strong relationship already exists in the area of Science and Technology, but we would like to achieve the highest possible rate of exchange of knowledge on the college and university level, like student exchange programs. We are also encouraged by Hungary's knowledge and passion on issues relating to climate change and general environment protection.

What countries have you been to already on mission?

This is my first diplomatic posting. My mandate expires in 2012. Before my appointment I had not known much of Hungary, only that it is one of the Central-European countries which was part of the former Soviet Union, and that its beautiful capital, Budapest is divided by the river Danube to Buda and Pest, and that it has Nobel Prize laureates. However, when I was appointed (nine months before my arrival here), I started reading about Hungary. I had contact with my predecessor, the South African ambassador in Hungary now in Chile, and also Hungary's Ambassador to South Africa. I also had a Hungarian teacher. I learnt a lot about Hungarian culture, about its beauty, political situation and economy. On my arrival here I was not much surprised. Nevertheless, the experience was exciting. Usually we have some kind of imagination, image of a country based on our readings and other people's reports. However, when we actually arrive there, we ourselves realise, indeed, it is so or not. For me it was real except for the under-stated beauty in some tourism books.

How did you become ambassador?

This was a kind of personal discovery. When I was at school, the parents of my friends were politicians and diplomats. I was very curious about what they were doing. I studied law and specialised in Company law, but later in my working life I branched into security studies. I had a lot of exposure to international law, national security, international security, about peace and stability. I felt this was the area to which I would like to contribute. Because without national security, stability and peace in the world cannot be achieved and maintained.

Where do you come from? What was your family's reaction? Did they support your decision? Are you here with your family?
My origins are in Limpopo, the old Northern Province bordered by Mozambique and Zimbabwe. I am the last of five children. My four siblings work for government in different capacities, so my family understands my choice of career. Throughout the year we rarely meet each other. Everybody works in different cities, now I am abroad, but at Christmas - which is a ritual for our family - we all have to gather together with my Mom in Limpopo away from city life. To Hungary I arrived with my daughter, who will be studying in one of the medical universities here in Hungary,

What are you doing in your leisure time?

I sleep! At home, in South Africa, my passions are the safari drives and the long drives along the seaside, or on the country side. Driving in Cape Town, where there is a beautiful view of the wide ocean, and the Table mountain is quite a fascination whenever I go there. An almost similar experience is a drive along the Danube. It is a good drive, because of the beautiful scenery of the river and the sight of Budapest. I am a fan of Nigerian movies (they are also here in Hungary), I always have a book to read, including popular 'soft' magazines. Going to Hungarian theatres is becoming a regular treat now and then, and of course there is some sport to watch from time to time.
(written by Julianna Szabados, translated by Barbara Boros)