Pretoria - South Africa is a free country and continues to build a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and a prosperous future, says Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.
"We continue to believe as a nation that our successful negotiated settlement was not a miracle but the logical outcome of human will disposed to the notions of political pluralism and an on-going search for consensus," he said.
Delivering a lecture at the University of Uppsala in Sweden on Friday, Motlanthe said South Africa today prides itself on being fully driven by these same ideals of a better world grounded in human solidarity.
"As a beneficiary of selfless solidarity, South Africa espouses the view that the values that it seeks to implant in our national consciousness have no physical or geographic frontiers and are universally resonant," he said.
Motlanthe said the values that inspire and guide South Africa as a nation are deeply rooted in the long years of struggle for liberation.
He said South Africa's foreign policy can be articulated as people-centred as it promotes the well-being, development and upliftment of all people.
"This philosophy derives from our shared historical experience, which has over the years created a common consciousness of Africans as one people with a single destiny," he said.
"We know from history that peace and stability are among the key requirements for any prospects for development in any social system."
