We need diplomatic strategies to overcome our differences and to work in a more united way in our union. Our neighbours may well be competitors, but we should welcome this as their strength can only improve our own prospects in a race to benefit people right across the continent. The White Paper on Foreign Policy, which is entitled "The Diplomacy of Ubuntu", underscores this point. It states that South Africa's relations with individual African countries remain central to its foreign policy practice and that of the region. South Africa, it says, will also pursue closer synergy between its bilateral and multilateral engagements, thus linking our regional work with our work with individual countries.
This is further encouragement then, but let us not forget some of the most urgent of our challenges that the President has also spoken to: the issues of poverty and disease. In this regard, the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations give us targets to aim for to improve these chronic curses.
The article in The Economist, which I have referred to, concludes in the following way:
Progress towards achieving the MDGs is slow and uneven, but it is not negligible. The mood among the have-nots is better than at any time since the independence era. True, Africans have a remarkable capacity for being upbeat. But it seems this time they really do have something to smile about.
In concluding, I would like to pay tribute to a great South African internationalist, Johnny Makhathini. The President announced last week that the diplomatic guesthouse in Pretoria would be named after Johnny Makhathini. I never knew him, but I wish I did because I have heard much about him. In the eyes of his comrades and friends he was a legendary figure in international engagements and he was the ANC's permanent representative to the UN from 1977, amongst other roles. He was a gifted and eloquent debater on international issues during the dark apartheid years. He was, by all accounts, a fascinating person.
The guesthouse named after him is a beautifully renovated house on Waterkloof Ridge, looking out over the African savannah. It is a place that is perfectly suited to remember his contribution to our country. I hope that he would smile at what has been achieved and at the encouraging prospects of what we still have to do. I thank you very much. [Applause.]