. . . to elect a government of their own choice. Today is a wonderful day indeed. It is the realisation of our dreams for which we have prayed so hard and long. It has been costly in human lives. But Laat ons die verlede vergeet. Wat verby is, is verby.
I stand next to two Deputy Presidents. One, who came from the ruling class but today who has engraved a niche for himself in South African history because he has turned out to be one of the greatest reformers, one of the greatest sons of our soil, Mr De Klerk. We have on our left another Deputy President who has never known his youth, the joys of youth, who plunged himself into the struggle the moment he realised what was happening in this country.
The three of us are going to work together in order to build South Africa, to promote a spirit of reconciliation, and to engage in nation building. Let us forget the past. Let us now work together to make this country a great country. And if you give us your support, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that we have a country that is going to play its role, not only in regard to our region, but throughout the continent and indeed throughout the world.
I ask you to pray for us, because we need your prayers. I ask you to give us your wholehearted support, because we need it. We ask you to give us your good wishes because we need them.
That is all we need in order to secure a better life for all of you. The three of us have committed ourselves on various occasions that this is what we were fighting this election for. Now we have won. We have forgotten our differences. We are now busy healing the wounds of the past and it is for you to support us in that task.
I thank you