In her welcome address to the invited guests, among whom was Herr Martin Biesel – State Secretary in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Chargé d’affaires Ms Cassandra Mbuyane-Mokone said: “Exactly 17 years ago today, millions of South Africans became part of meandering lines leading to ballot boxes. The majority of the citizens were going to cast their votes for the first time. Many of them senior citizens of over 80 years of age. We were all inspired by the notion of being able to choose the government of our preference. This was an ideal many sons and daughters of our land laid down their lives for – specifically, the ideals of freedom, human dignity and a colour-blind respect for each individual”.
Ms Mbuyane-Mokone continued: “We are extremely proud of the resilient and maturing democracy that we have all built together as a nation: united in our diversity. We are equally grateful to individuals, formations and communities of other countries of the world who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in a protracted but just struggle. Working together we brought freedom to the oppressed and liberation to the oppressor. Thus began the long and arduous task to bring peace and prosperity to the tormented country”.
The Chargé d’affaires then outlined some of the achievements of the South African Government since 1994. These include developments in the infrastructure especially in the rural and peri-urban areas. The areas she mentioned are electricity and clean running water, health clinics, things which the people dreamt of in the past. There has been a tremendous improvement in providing houses and schools and the tarring of rural roads. Albeit, there are many more problems to be tackled and solved.
There was a lot of pride and satisfaction in the lady’s voice when she said: “South Africa wishes to live in peace with her neighbours and the rest of the world. Our warmth and hospitality was tasted by the world during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We wish to keep this window of what we can, wide open. I hope the lessons learned in our co-operation with Germany in hosting a memorable World Cup will not be lost to the global village. Let us Work to unite our Nation, Promote Democracy and Protect Freedom”. This was most certainly a swipe at the pundits of doom who predicted a disastrous World Cup Finals.
Ms Cassandra Mbuyane-Mokone then introduced The Rev Makhenkesi Stofile who will soon take up the reins of Ambassador in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The man designated by South African President Jacob Zuma to represent his country in Germany is The Rev Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile*. Born in the Adelaide District of the Eastern Cape on 27 December 1944, Rev Stofile faced the complete wrath of the apartheid machinery in his fight against the hated racist policy.
To detail the exploits and achievements of this man would completely blow the space allotted to me in this article. His career covers a wide range of activities in the service of the South African community including that of a lecturer at different institution in South Africa. Ambassador Stofile has a number of academic qualifications under his belt. He is a Presbyterian priest with various degrees from Fort Hare University in Eastern Cape including Master of Theology. He obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Theology from Tuebingen in Germany and a MA degree from Princeton University in the USA. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
One of the degrees that the apartheid regime bestowed on him was that of a “jailbird”. As a top official of the UDF (United Democratic Front), a body which brought over 700 organisations under its umbrella, Rev Stofile was charged in 1986 by the Ciskei Government (a puppet regime set up by the Nats to enforce its apartheid policy) and sentenced to 11 years for promoting the polices of the ANC. The judge who sentenced him was “loaned” to the puppets by Pretoria. He served four years and was released from prison after the un- banning of the ANC in 1991 and the beginning of negotiations with the apartheid regime.
With the “outbreak” of the new dispensation in 1994, Rev Stofile was elected by the ANC parliamentary caucus to be its chief whip. He hadn’t a clue what this meant. Being the disciplined cadre that he is, he politely accepted the task allotted him by his parliamentary colleagues. Immediately that caucus adjourned, the chief whip made a hasty run to the library to acquaint him with the duties that awaited him. That same year, the ANC National Conference elected him unopposed as Treasurer- General of the organisation.
In 1997, he was delegated by the ANC to take over the Premiership of his home Province Eastern Cape. As the Premier of a province hugging the East Coast of South Africa, with all its natural beauties, he engaged his province in a twinning partnership with der Land Niedersachsen ((Province Lower Saxony) in Germany. What are the benefits arising out of this Agreement and the expectation in his new role is explained by Rev Stofile himself?
I signed that Agreement on behalf the Eastern Cape with Niedersachsen who were represented by their Premier Mr Gerhard Schröder, who, a few years later became the Chancellor (Prime Minister) of Germany and took over the reins of the National Government.
With this move, we were looking at three important areas of co-operation. The first one was human resources development in the technology of managing information systems; health management due to the serious shortage of practitioners and the very serious lack of veterinary personnel. Through the deployment of veterinary students, and surgeons approaching retirement in Niedersachsen, this problem was overcome.
We also had an agreement which involved managing social development issues. This involved managing the social security system and expanding the benefits of social security payment beyond just buying groceries, but to produce food from one’s own garden. These were the key areas. Even now, in the year 2011, the Eastern Cape continues to benefit from the document signed in 1997. In June this year, a delegation led by the Premier of Eastern Cape is expected to visit Niedersachsen to review the Agreement.
The marching orders I received from President Jacob Zuma are clearly outlined. Germany is the number one business partner of the Republic of South Africa. Therefore, my terms of reference are to maintain that relationship. If possible, to expand it. This is important in the light of our declared imperative to create five million more jobs by 2014. German companies in South Africa are providing lots of employment. My task is to strengthen and broaden it.
Furthermore, both South Africa and Germany are now non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. As such, we have to intensify interaction between our two countries. We must make sure that we strengthen the common grounds between us and add weight to the debates in the UN especially in the Security Council.
President Zuma has charged me with the responsibility to mobilize support for NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) because it is our intention that Africa must ultimately take charge of its own destiny. We staunchly believe that this can be achieved when we strike partnerships with other communities and countries and their business sectors. This is probably an expansion to our previous lives, because whilst South Africans fought against apartheid for many decades, it is also true that we were strengthened in our efforts by international an solidarity front. We want to transform that support and solidarity to economic and socio-political developments that affect our country.
I suppose with the euphoria of success after 1994 we took our eyes off the proverbial ball and just kept on playing although that ball was no longer in our focus. That is why we want to revert to the basics. As you might remember one of the pillars of our struggle was international solidarity. We want to rebuild that pillar and strengthen it. This time not only for liberation, but for economic emancipation and development for our communities and providing jobs for our workers, and technical knowledge base in the universities and other institutions of higher learning so as to enhance the progress of our countries.
*The Ambassador was given the name Arnold by the priest at his baptism although it is never used in his family. Europeans names are often chosen for the aesthetics and sounds, whereas African names are traditionally selected with a specific meaning. These might be linked to the day or circumstances in which someone was born or the way someone looks, or the name could express hopes and wishes for the future of the child.