Ramaphosa set to host King Swati III in Pretoria, before heading to Uganda to meet Museveni

Ramaphosa set to host King Swati III in Pretoria, before heading to Uganda to meet Museveni

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to host King Mswati III of the Kingdom of eSwatini who in Pretoria for a Working Visit on Monday.

The two heads of State will engage at Mahlamba Ndlopfu – Ramaphosa’s official residence in Pretoria.

“The visit follows a courtesy visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa to His Majesty King Mswati III in Lozitha, eSwatini on Wednesday, April 3 2024,” said Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

“South Africa and eSwatini share strong historical bonds as well as mutually beneficial political and trade ties.”

After the diplomatic engagement with King Mswati III, Ramaphosa is expected to go to East Africa, starting off with the Republic of Uganda.

During the two-day Working Visit to Uganda, Ramaphosa will meet President Yoweri Museveni.

“The two leaders will discuss regional security and stability, including the situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Magwenya.

From Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, Ramaphosa will proceed to the Republic of South Sudan.

“The purpose of the visit, from April 16-18, 2024, will be to strengthen the existing bilateral relations between South Africa and South Sudan.

“The president will also use the visit to receive a detailed briefing from President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and all other stakeholders, on the status of implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) which was signed on 12 September 2018,” said Magwenya.

The R-ARCSS is coming to an end on February 2025 and must be preceded by elections scheduled for December 2024.

“It is in this context that President Ramaphosa has designated Deputy President Paul Mashatile, as his special envoy, to provide practical and political support to the parties to the R-ARCSS and the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU), towards achieving the measures set to achieve a democratic and peaceful end to the transitional period,” said Magwenya.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile. Picture: Timothy Bernard /IndependentNewspapers

To this end, Mashatile has visited South Sudan and based on his engagements with stakeholders, recommended a follow-up visit by Ramaphosa.

South Africa has been walking with South Sudan on its path to reconstruction and development since the dawn of independence in in 2011.

Magwenya said South Africa has participated in various conflict resolution and mediation mechanisms, State building, capacity building of State institutions and programmes for post-conflict reconstruction and development.

South Africa is also the chair of the African Union High-Level Ad-hoc Committee for South Sudan (also known as C5), which has been mandated by the African Union to support South Sudan in its transitional process.

“South Africa enjoys cordial bilateral relations with South Sudan and the two countries have a long-standing historical relationship that pre-dates South Sudan’s independence on July 9 2011. An agreement establishing official bilateral relations was signed on 24 September 2012,” said Magwenya.

Bilateral relations between South Africa and South Sudan are conducted through the General Cooperation Agreement (GCA) which was signed in 2013.

IOL