Nelson Mandela Alumni, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Each year it gives me great pleasure to meet with the Nelson Mandela scholars, young South Africans who are committed to developing their country, to making it more competitive on a global scale. For these talented, bright young minds are the future leaders of this country. My only wish is that I could have been sent to study in the UK to earn a degree and develop my leadership skills instead of graduating from that university on the Island. But my involvement in politics was unavoidable.

Though I would have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to have studied abroad instead of on the Island, we have also learnt many important lessons from the university of life, as we called it. One of the most important of these is that it is the collective, not the individual, that can deliver the most impact.

Through companies like Unilever and Deloitte Consulting, who must be congratulated for their commitment and their vision in making this scholarship possible, our future leaders can enjoy a wonderful opportunity that was not available to those from their communities before. I would like to thank Unilever and Deloitte Consulting for their commitment to South Africa and their investment in the future of our country. Through the Nelson Mandela Scholarship, they are building leadership, building capacity for our country.

And I would like to use this opportunity to challenge other large corporates gathered here today to join in our struggle for a better South Africa for everyone. For our past has taught us that we can do so much more if we work together.

South Africa is a country bursting with untapped potential and great possibility. We are a nation that regularly performs miracles and we have been doing so from the day of our peaceful transformation to democracy when the rest of the world thought that we couldn't do it. But like every other country, we also have our share of problems. And we all know those problems intimately, because we are confronted with them in our daily lives.

In business and in politics, we recognise the critical importance of powerful, visionary leadership. And it is through initiatives like these that we can be sure that poverty and all of our other problems, will not be the legacy that we leave to future generations. The challenge that lies ahead for business, for government and the NGO sector and for the Nelson Mandela scholars, is to take a lesson from the university on Robben Island and to work together collectively to build South Africa into a truly great nation.

Thank you