Mandela says past year showed difficulty of change

South African President Nelson Mandela has said 1997 brought home to South Africans the difficulties of change, and showed that progress in the economy, in reconciliation with the past and the fight against crime and were only a start.

"If the early years of our democracy brought celebration of our very freedom and common humanity, if these first three years of freedom meant the outpouring of national pride in the prowess of our sporting teams, in our new constitution and more ; then this past year has been one in which slowly but surely, we are all coming to better appreciate the difficulties of change, as well as the sweat and toil required to improve our lives and forge our unity as a nation," Mandela said in a New Year's address carried by the South African news agency SAPA.

At a time when some of the world's economies experienced difficulties, South Africa's had performed relatively well, he said.

The numbers of people gaining access to basic services was growing by the day, and the fight against crime was achieveing results.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was taking South Africans on "a difficult journey" , but one which had helped in understanding the past.

"Incomplete and imperfect as the process may be, it shall leave us less burdened by the past and unshackled to pursue a glorious future," Mandela said.

"Though we take rightful pride in these achievements, we know that they are only a start ... We know that our tasks will take years to complete.

"For us all, therefore, the New Year must be one in which each and every one of us shares the responsibility for building on the foundation that has been laid."

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.