Cape Town - South Africa wants to learn how Oman has been able to protect its coastline, given the threat of piracy in the Mozambican Channel, the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu said today after the signing of a defence co-operation memorandum with Oman's Minister of Defence Sayyid bin Saud bin Harib al-Busaidi.
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed at the Castle in Cape Town on Tuesday, includes an agreement on technical co-operation, an agreement to share lessons around peace-keeping operations and the sale of military hardware to Oman by South Africa.
Sisulu said Oman had vital lessons to share with South Africa around maritime protection and pointed out that both countries were strategically placed on international sea routes between Asia and the rest of the world.
Oman was the first country in the Gulf to acquire military hardware from South Africa, and Sisulu encouraged her counterpart for Oman to continue doing so.
She said she was confident that with South Africa's large military industry, the country would be able to sell what Oman required.
She also invited her counterpart to the upcoming air force exhibition at Waterkloof to take place in September.
The signing of the agreement today follows the state visit by President Jacob Zuma to Oman in November last year.
Sisulu, who accompanied Zuma on last year's visit, thanked her counterpart for his hospitality while on last year's visit there and for taking time to explain to her Oman's military history.
Oman and South Africa have enjoyed good relations with one another since 1995 and in 2002, the embassy in Muscat was established and in 2003, the Oman embassy was set up in Pretoria.
Her Omani counterpart expressed his deep thanks and gratitude to the hospitality that Sisulu had extended to his delegation.
"I am confident that what is in this memorandum will enhance the co-operation between the two countries in the military field," he said.
