Pretoria: South African President Thabo Mbeki was sworn-in for a second term, pledging never to betray the trust of those who sacrificed for the freedom of the country, which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the end of apartheid today (April 27, 2004).

Sixty-one-year-old Mbeki took the oath of office at the Union Buildings, the seat of Government, for his final term as President in a ceremony watched by hundreds of invited guests from around the world, including Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Presidents of Zimbabwe, Congo and Nigeria.

Mbeki's second inauguration coincided with the Freedom Day. Today, the country commemorated the day in 1994 when South Africans of all the races voted together for the first time, electing the first Black President Nelson Mandela.

In his inauguration speech, Mbeki said that 300 years of colonialism and apartheid had demonstrated that South Africa could never become governable unless the system of Government was based on the will of the people.

He pledged never to betray the trust of all those who sacrificed for the freedom and those who helped the country achieve Democracy.

Mbeki, who arrived with is wife Zanele for the ceremony, also said that struggle to eradicate poverty will continue to be a central part of the national effort to build a new South Africa.