Debate on all these issues will continue for many years. And our hope is that this debate will inform the actual practice, as the Fourth Estate transforms itself to become part of the new South Africa both in word and deed. In the process, we shall all learn and learn again from our achievements and our mistakes. We do acknowledge as South Africans that we are not yet out of the woods. But we pride ourselves with the fact that democracy is firmly and irreversibly rooted in our body politic.
Dangers there are, yes.
At all levels, democratic and legitimate government has been established, and independent institutions to protect the rights of citizens have already, in a matter of a few years, established their reputation. But no-one can dispute the basic reality that our fiscal and monetary fundamentals are in perfect order. At times, the industrial revolution occurring in our economy tends to escape the business of information dissemination. In the past two years alone, over R18-billion in direct foreign investments have flowed into the country. Now all this is insufficient to create the much-needed millions of jobs.