Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much, Premier Molefe, for that fine introduction. Mr. President, Deputy President Mbeki, Madam Speaker…”

“Thank you very much, Premier Molefe, for that fine introduction. Mr. President, Deputy President Mbeki, Madam Speaker, Mr. Chairman of the National Council of Provinces, Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply honored to be the first American President ever to visit South Africa and even more honored to stand before this Parliament to address a South Africa truly free and democratic at last. Joining my wife and me on this tour of Africa, and especially here, are many Members of our Congress and distinguished members of my Cabinet and administration, men and women who supported the struggle for a free South Africa, leaders of the American business community now awakening to the promise and potential of South Africa, people of all different background and beliefs. Among them, however, are members of the Congressional Black Caucus and African-American members of my government. It is especially important for them to be here because it was not so long ago in the long span of human history that their ancestors were uprooted from this continent and sold into slavery in the United States. But now they return to Africa as leaders of the United States. Today they sit alongside the leaders of the new South Africa, united in the powerful poetry of justice As I look out at all of you, I see our common promise.…”