Letter from Minister Alfred Nzo

 

Alfred Nzo ... our new Minister of Foreign Affairs

The following letter was sent electronically to all officials on 17 June 1994. Needless to say, it warmed the heart and was immensely appreciated.

Dear Colleagues,

It is now little more than a month since I was sworn-in as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Since then we have been exceptionally busy attending not only to Parliamentary  responsibilities, but also to our membership of the OAU and the NAM. As you will have seen from Departmental and media reports, this has involved our attendance at the historic flag-raising ceremony at OAU Headquarters in Addis Ababa on Africa Day, 25 May 1994; a visit to Cairo for a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, and to Tunis for the annual OAU meeting.

By now you will have received copies of the speeches which I was called upon to make on each of these occasions. I trust that you will find them useful in that I have sought to spell out the foreign policy priorities of our new Government of National Unity. These are the guiding principles on which we shall be focussing our attention as we work to position our country in the Southern Africa region, in our continent. and in the world at large.

While I have had the pleasure of meeting with senior colleagues in Pretoria, I have unfortunately not yet been in a position to make the acquaintance of all our people at Head Office, much less of those of you who represent our country abroad. As the days and weeks fly rapidly by it is becoming increasingly clear to me that it will take some time before we all get to know each other.

Accordingly, I thought it would be appropriate for me to address this letter to each and every member of the Foreign Affairs family.

I consider it a singular honour to have been appointed to head this Department. Foreign Affairs has long enjoyed the enviable reputation of having the finest public servants among its ranks, whose commitment to the interests of our country, and to the integrity of their profession, is widely acclaimed. Political eras may come and go, Governments may change, but it is the presence of an efficient and loyal public service which provides the essential ingredients of good administration and continuity. South Africa is no different in this regard, and our country is indeed well-served, by the Department of Foreign Affairs in particular, as we navigate our way through the process of transition.

To the extent that there will be changes in our Department, their purpose will be to enhance our efficiency and our sense of professionalism. Already it is becoming abundantly clear that some structural changes will have to be made, in order to enable us to respond appropriately to the new international environment in which we find ourselves. This is particularly true of our multilateral activities, which will involve our diplomats in new areas of specialisation, and will provide additional career opportunities for officers of our Department.

I see a challenging and exciting period ahead for all of us. The work of our Department will continue to expand as we rise to meet new demands, and as we seek to improve our expertise and experience in new fields of endeavour.

There is more than enough work for all of us in our new situation, and the Government will be counting on us to provide the quality of service which it knows we are both capable of delivering and anxious to provide. This will require of us that we become increasingly flexible and innovative in our thinking, energetic and creative in our actions. My experience thus far in the Department is that our officials will welcome this challenge, and work enthusiastically together to put the Government's policies into practice. In this way, we shall all be able to take pride in our work and in the service which our Department provides to the Government and to the people of South Africa.

I extend my best wishes to all of our officials at Head Office and abroad, and to their families. I hope that in time I shall have the opportunity of meeting all of our people with whom I now share the task of promoting South Africa's international interests. Until then, please know that I take pride in our Department and in our officials, and look forward to our journey into the future.