Pretoria – President Jacob Zuma has a number of local and international engagements coming up, including the G20 and visits to Germany and Tanzania.
The President has today joined other African Heads of State in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the inauguration of the newly elected president. President-elect John Magufuli will take over the high office after he was elected last month in a highly contested election.
President Zuma will also undertake an official visit to Germany next week, where he will be hosted by Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel, according to Minister in the Presidency for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe.
The Minister briefed media in Cape Town on Thursday on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
South Africa and Germany have a strategic relationship, with regular structured dialogue and cooperation covering a broad range of areas, including political dialogue, trade and investment, science and technology, the environment, development cooperation, energy, defence, labour and social affairs, vocational education and training, as well as arts and culture.
South Africa and Germany also have strong, long-standing, and growing trade and investment relations.
“The President will also pay a courtesy call to President Joachim Gauck. During the visit the two countries will reconfirm their commitment to further enhance bilateral and economic relations,” said Minister Radebe.
The President is expected to also address South African and German business leaders in Berlin and provide the closing statement at a Symposium on Youth Skills Development and Employment.
On 15 and 16 November, the President will travel to Antalya, Turkey, for the G20 Summit. The gathering is expected to focus on inclusive and robust growth through collective action, said the Minister.
The leaders will discuss inclusiveness, implementation and investment to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth at a global level.
On 17 November, President Zuma will receive Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the Union Buildings.
“And following that visit, Prime Minister Rutte will lead a business delegation to Johannesburg and Cape Town which will focus on agriculture, healthcare, transport, infrastructure, water and energy,” said the Minister.
South Africa will host the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) in Johannesburg on 4 and 5 December. The objectives of the summit are to profile the 5 to 10 Year Strategic Programme for Cooperation between South Africa and China and to promote bilateral agreements between the two countries.
On Friday, the President will conduct a Siyahlola Monitoring visit to Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga, which will focus on water and sanitation.
A total of 16 600 households are benefitting from phase 1 of government’s water project in the area, which delivers water to 24 villages in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.
“Government remains committed to ensuring that all South Africans have access to basic services. Between 2002 and 2014, the percentage of households that have access to water increased from 80 percent to 86 percent, while sanitation increased from 62 percent to 80 percent,” explained the Minister.
Meanwhile, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead a high-level delegation to on official visit to Iran this weekend. The visit will further bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters will attend the Second Global Conference for Ministers of Transport from 18 to 20 November in Brazil.
Minister Radebe said South Africa will table its Mid-Term Country Report of progress made on the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 Global Plan.
“South Africa committed itself to reduce road carnage by 50 percent from 13 967 to below 7000 by 2020. South Africa is making significant strides in achieving the targets as set out on the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 Global Plan, despite challenges currently facing the country,” he said.
Cabinet, at its meeting on Wednesday further welcomed the delegates attending the 4th BRICS International Competition Conference from 12 to 13 November.
The conference brings together experts in competition law to explore how competition policy can contribute to inclusive growth and economic development in BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – countries. – SAnews.gov.za
