Mabuza back from Russia, standing in for Ramaphosa

Deputy President David Mabuza is back in office and serving as acting president in the absence of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa arrived in the French city of Strasbourg yesterday and later moved to the Belgian capital Brussels as part of his working visit to the European Union (EU).

Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko yesterday confirmed that Mabuza was acting president, but did not go into detail.

This is an indication that Mabuza was back at his office after weeks of absence, during which he was allegedly on sick leave and went to Russia for a follow-up on his earlier treatment.

Opposition parties lambasted the deputy president for dodging his official duties, with critics accusing him of paying too much attention to his personal political matters in Mpumalanga, his home province.

In Brussels, Ramaphosa held a briefing with his host, EU president Antonio Tajani, who invited him and Udo Bullman, president of the Socialist Democrats. He later addressed the European Parliament.

South Africa is the only African country and one of 10 countries globally that has a strategic partnership with the EU.

The partnership covered more than 20 sectoral policies that included development cooperation, science and technology, space, communications, migration, health, trade, education and skills development, peace and security and human rights.

Ramaphosa’s visit was seen by many as an extension of his investor-luring effort. He was taking advantage of the existing strategic partnership with the EU to assure its member countries that South Africa was open for investment.

Diko confirmed that after his Strasbourg stopover, Ramaphosa proceeded to Brussels. His Brussels schedule included paying courtesy calls on King Philippe Leopold Louis Marie and Prime Minister Charles Michel, and himself receiving a courtesy call from Minister-President of Flanders Geert Bourgeois.

He was also set to co-chair the seventh South Africa-European Union Summit with European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Diko said talks at the summit were expected to be centred around the South Africa-European Union strategic partnership and focused more on bilateral political, economic and development cooperation, regional and global issues.

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