Your excellencies, President Festus Mogae of Botswana and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Minister of Commerce and Industry in Botswana, Minister Kwelagobe, Premier of the Northern Cape, my colleagues from government, distinguished guests, the people of the Kgalagadi, ladies and gentlemen.

It is a great honour to be here today on the border of Botswana and South Africa as we make history with the opening of the first transfrontier park in southern Africa and one of the first transfrontier parks established in the world by legal statute.

Today we are not only creating a very special conservation area that will be one of the largest in our region -- we are also creating history between our two countries and for the Southern African Development Community as a whole.

Through our ability to work together in the collective interest of conservation, Botswana and South Africa, as two sovereign countries joined in the joint management of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, are proclaiming the regional unity of the subcontinent of Africa.

By joining our assets in this park we are realising a greater goal for both conservation and our region.

I am also pleased to add that the opening of the Kgalagadi is not the end of the road but a milestone in our plans for other transfrontier conservation areas in southern Africa, and in particular between Botswana and South Africa.

In South Africa we have been working hard to consolidate the land near the Vhembe-Dongola National Park in order to open up a transfrontier conservation area on the land where the elephants already freely cross the Limpopo River without regard for the borders of Botswana, South Africa or Zimbabwe.

Through a phased development, and with the support of NGOs and the private sector, a number of farms in the area have become part of South African National Parks.

I am happy to inform you that one crucial property that will form the corridor between Vhembe-Dongola and the Venetia Limpopo Reserve is being registered today in the Deeds Office in South Africa.

The acquisition of this land makes it possible for us to start making the dream of a transfrontier area along the Limpopo a reality, and build on the cooperation we have established in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

This area has one of the most unique attractions that southern Africa has to offer: Mapungubwe, a complex of ruins lying largely undisturbed on Greefswald near the Limpopo River in Northern Province. This used to be a provincial park but was signed over to South African National Parks this year to facilitate the consolidation of these conservation areas.

Older than Great Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe is a valuable archeological site that has not even begun to take its rightful place in our history, let alone the continent's. It tells the story of this region centuries before colonisation when our cultures and people were undivided by borders. It is fitting that it should be an integral part of a transfrontier conservation area where we, as southern Africans, can regain our heritage and our pride as Africans on this continent.

The opening of the Kgalagadi today is the start of a new chapter in the history of conservation and tourism in our region. I take great pleasure in welcoming you here today to celebrate with us what we have achieved and to share our dream for the future.