President Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, Mayor Marie Atkins, Mayor-Elect Senator Desmond, McKenzie Ladies, Mrs. Portia Simpson-Miller Minister of Local Government, special guests, ladies, and gentlemen, I am more than conscious of the signal honor that has been bestowed on me to give the main address at this Ceremony this afternoon. At the same time, this great privilege has left me in a deep quandary. What can I say to a man who has succeeded the giant Nelson Mandela, and is not considered a midget even by his most ardent detractors? What can I say to the Leader of the African National Congress, which fought and triumphed over one of the most oppressive and heinous systems of oppression, Apartheid, the world has seen and, in its victory, has not embarked upon revenge and retribution, but rather has started the journey down the road of reconciliation? What can I say to the Leader of a nation that has had the moral courage to seek reconciliation through truth, truth not only from the oppressors with respect to what they did but also from the oppressed in terms of what they did to resist the oppression?
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