ambassadors

"Let me correct the misplaced idea and belief carried by the honourable member. My Ministry has more money than anybody to generate adequate power and water. Therefore the question to reserve the ESP money particularly for the current power and water shortages does not arise."

"these power cuts are a result of leadership failure, the government made a number of false promises which they never delivered on, we came with a proposal on how this should be addressed. We are feeling the pinch. We have an interest to run this country and we want to find this country in a good state."

"It is true that we are slow to connect water in your area because most of the pipes in your area are worn-out whereas many people have moved here. We are pleading with you, if you are able, dig for themselves and we will connect the water as fast as possible. We have failed what we had anticipated or thought we would do for you but that does not mean that the prices will decrease for you, you will still be charged for the services."

"We had hoped that the much celebrated ESP money would be channeled into the power and water projects to bring stability into the economy. There cannot be any development without these basic essentials."

"It does not take one or two years to accomplish the projects. The infrastructure required is big. The projects therefore are a long term initiatives."

"As it stands I do not have a reason to close those dams."

"If at all water from those dams could make any differences I could have long taken the dams and used the water for consumption. The truth of the matter is that if the rain is not going to rain as it used to seven years ago whether these dams are there or not the water will never reach Gaborone dam."

"It would be responsible for ensuring sustainable and secure supplies in the regulated sector. Ensuring tariffs in the regulated sector are fixed on the basis of a tariff methodology that has been set up in a transparent manner taking into account government policy on cross subsidies between classes of consumers and setting and maintaining standards."

"On the other hand these small dams assisted us. These dams act as catchment areas for sand. This means the final product that reaches Gaborone dam is largely water and if you go to Gaborone dam now you will realise that the dam is free of sand."

"Somarela Thothi is a project that calls for the reduction of water loss and would be implemented in Gaborone area between now and the end of 2015."

"The principle of common but differentiated responsibility must apply."

"We have engaged a team of experts to fix the problem; I can assure Batswana that we will go into the winter season with adequate power supply. I am not shaken by what is being said, the plant is going to work and serve Batswana efficiently. We will make sure that by the end of April the two boilers will be working efficiently. We have come a long way, people should relax."

"Climate change is real, nobody can deny that."

"Our industries terribly need power and water supplies. We had hoped the ESP will bring normalcy into the acute situation."

"We agree that there is global warming, we agree that it is caused by us human beings and we agree that we need to do something about it, so let's go and do it."

"There is too much usage and waste of water in schools, hospitals and government buildings hence the debate to change building standards."

"When we receive the right amount of rainfall the water will able be to reach Gaborone dam; it’s a fact. But since now because we are faced with drought, we are accusing those dams of interrupting inflows into Gaborone dam."

"Capacitate us, give us the technology and we will be good corporate citizens of the world."

"We look forward to continuing our cooperation and promoting mutual understanding through sports and culture."

"This visit is a great example of the strong bonds between our countries"

"This visit is a great opportunity to strengthen our ties and promote cultural exchange between our nations"

"…New York City designated a portion of Manhattan’s 34th Street Ernst Jaakson Way, thereby posthumously honoring an Estonian diplomat who embodied the principle that force alone is not sufficient to destroy a state if its people and the leaders of the international community refuse to accept such actions. Jaakson (1905-1998) joined the Estonian foreign service at the age of 14 as a translator for the Estonian ambassador in Riga and then worked as a diplomat in the United States, first as a consular official and near the end of his life as ambassador to the US and permanent representative to the United Nations."

"I'm thrilled to see Kaizer Chiefs here in Türkiye, a country with which South Africa has a long history of friendship and cooperation"

"We were forced to learn each and every language or syllabus in Afrikaans, doing maths in Afrikaans and doing biology in Afrikaans, doing everything."

"We will not always be right, we must be open to criticism, even when it seems harsh, there are lessons to be drawn always"

"My wish is that we do not resign our people only to raise grievances but to also use their agency to collectively work towards a common future and truly give a sense of place, security and dignity to redress the human wrongs of our past to human rights of the future"

"We seek to pursue our objective of a better life for all."

"South Africa has lessons to offer, by no means perfect, and we have so many lessons to learn from other countries in the continent may we learn from the mistakes of others in reconstructing our countries towards the future we desire"

"When we speak about heritage, we speak about legacy"

"We stand on the shoulders of cultural icons who fought for the liberation of the most oppressed people in the world in Africa"

"The pressing need to concentrate on the present does not, and must not, imply disregard for the future"

"The progress of women is the best measure of societal progress"

"We all know that where conflicts burst, the attack on women and children remains one of the most potent weapons"

"Ubuntu as a guiding principle of our cultural and economic diplomacy, echoing Agenda 2063’s Principle 6, will best be achieved with women at the centre as champions of Africa’s development"

"This generation assert their African identities and are actualizing our clarion call of a united Africa, at peace with itself"

"As leaders of society, we can draw many lessons from the younger generation to pursue radically different futures for Africa than its current state of dependency on the dominant economies"

"Peace, security and stability can never be fostered in this world without the position of women being significantly improved first through economic empowerment and safety in our bodies"

"We are in a good position to work out solutions that befit postcolonial societies"

"It is our time to assist in whatever we can and not necessarily being back, but creating a better world for everybody"

"Working in an environment where President Mandela was president of the country was very exciting"

"We are yet to truly see our unity in our diversity, first as a country and also as a continent, a continent that humanity in its entirety, calls home"

"The so-called born-frees are standing up, saying not in our name, not a minute longer."

"The majority of the conflicts the UN Security Council deals with, are in this continent"

"Our biggest cultural export to the world of diplomacy is Ubuntu"

"Through the African Union, we have worked tirelessly to see that dominant economies do not dictate to us on how to solve our problems"

"The war on our bodies as women must take first priority in this continent"

"I think for each and every woman, what happened in the last election, the first Black woman, being elected as a deputy president. It's something that we are very excited about"

"Since 1994, the dawn of democracy brought along a new determination by the democratic government. Ours was to restore human dignity from a long history of brutal oppression"

"Definitely the voice of the women have continued to prevail"

"We urge efficient use of this emergency fund to alleviate the plight of our people in the face of unfortunate circumstances such as fires, floods and other natural disasters"