Following almost a decade of political chaos in Zimbabwe, a glimmer of hope emerged on Wednesday as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was finally sworn in as the country's Prime Minister.
Tsvangirai stood across from his long-time rival President Robert Mugabe as he took his oath, vowing to "well and truly serve Zimbabwe in the office of Prime Minister."
The ceremony was attended by former South African President Thabo Mbeki who mediated in the power-sharing talks, as well as President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza and Swazi King Mswati III.
Over ten thousand people gathered in a stadium in Harare to hear Tsvangirai's first address to the nation as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai used the opportunity to inspire a sense of hope among the people of the country, declaring his commitment to rebuild Zimbabwe.
Among Tsvangirai's key priorities will be to restore democracy in the country. "The people's representatives in the MDC and Zanu PF will pass legislation to restore the people's freedoms, create the mechanism through which a people's constitution can be created, re-establish the rule of law and promote independent media," he said.
His second priority, said Tsvangirai, would be to tackle the humanitarian crisis that had befallen Zimbabwe, referring in particular to cholera and hunger. "It will be the mandate of this government to do all we can to make it easier to help alleviate the suffering of every Zimbabwean as we tackle the humanitarian issues gripping our country."
Tsvangirai thanked all those who had come to the aid of Zimbabwe particularly with emergency food aid. He said that a senior member of cabinet would soon be appointed to coordinate all aid efforts, "[This] will ensure greater impact and efficiency in the distribution of emergency and development aid," he said.
Tsvangirai's third priority would be to stabilise the country's economy. One of the key commitments made in this regard was to see that all civil servants received their pay in foreign currency until such time as the Zimbabwean economy had been stabilised.
"As Prime Minister I make this commitment that, as from the end of this month, our professionals in the civil service, every health worker, teacher, soldier and policeman will receive their pay in foreign currency until we are able to stabilise the economy," he said.
"Those hard currency salaries will enable people to go to work, to feed their families and to survive until such time that we can begin to sustain ourselves as a country."
While world leaders have largely welcomed Tsvangirai's inauguration as Prime Minister, saying that it does signify change in the country, many remain wary of the road ahead with Mugabe still in power.
EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said the new unity government has a heavy responsibility to ensure positive change for its citizens. "All parties within this power-sharing government must now work, without delay, to immediately improve the social and economic conditions for the people of Zimbabwe," Michel said.
The United States said it was too early to be overly optimistic. "We need to see evidence of good governance and particularly real, true power-sharing on the part of Robert Mugabe before we are going to make any kind of commitment... to provide further development assistance or to easing sanctions," State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.
A more optimistic British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "Morgan Tsvangirai's appointment offers the possibility of a change for the better."
South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe said, "South Africa and indeed the entire (southern African) region stands ready to support the people of Zimbabwe morally, politically and economically as they embark on this difficult path of reconstruction and development of their country."
Tsvangirai himself has publically acknowledged his concerns with the power sharing deal saying "it is not a perfect agreement but still a workable one."
The new Prime Minister has called upon regional leaders from SADC and the African Union to assist in ensuring that the power sharing agreement is upheld. He asked that the international community engage with Zimbabwe in rebuilding the nation and that the citizens of the country support the efforts of the transitional government "on this promising phase of our journey to a true and lasting democracy."
SAPA / SAGN
Steuart has done some 500 talks on South Africa's progress since 1994 and SA's prospects for the future' 
