Charles III welcomes the South African president on a state visit, the first since he became king
Charles III welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife from Tuesday to Buckingham Palace in London, for a first state visit since he became king.
The last state visit to the UK was in June 2019, when Queen Elizabeth II hosted US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
Charles has yet to announce where he will be traveling for his first overseas visit. But his first invitation after taking over from his mother who died on September 8 was to the South African president.
This diplomatic meeting comes in a delicate context in South Africa for Cyril Ramaphosa.
For Christopher Vandome, research fellow at the Chatham House Institute of International Affairs in London, “setting the right tone will be crucial”.
London, a former colonial power in South Africa, will have to avoid lecturing on Pretoria’s vote at the UN on Ukraine, as South Africans still struggle to digest the lack of Western support during the crisis. of the Covid, he believes.
Climate change, trade and Charles III’s vision for the Commonwealth will also likely feature prominently in the discussions, according to Mr Vandome.
Two Commonwealth member countries are landlocked in South African territory, Lesotho and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) plagued by bloody repressed protests since 2021.
Cyril Ramaphosa’s last visit to London was at the funeral of Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in September. In 2010, the year of the World Cup in South Africa, it was Jacob Zuma who came on a state visit to Great Britain.
– Meeting with Rishi Sunak –
Cyril Ramaphosa is due to arrive on Monday, the eve of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Charles and Queen Consort Camilla will welcome Cyril Ramaphosa and First Lady Tshepo Motsepe, but the latter will also meet other members of the royal family, including the heir to the throne, Prince William and his wife Kate.
Charles’s younger brother, Prince Edward, will accompany Cyril Ramaphosa to the famous Kew Botanical Gardens in west London, and to a biomedical research centre.
Also on the program, a speech to both Houses of Parliament and a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Downing Street.
Protected by Nelson Mandela – who was close to Elizabeth II -, Ramaphosa was alongside the icon of the fight against apartheid when he was released from prison in 1990.
The South African leader will visit on Tuesday a stele in memory of Mandela, installed in Westminster Abbey in 2018 for the centenary of his birth.
– Mysterious burglary –
After leaving politics to become one of Africa’s wealthiest businessmen, Ramaphosa returned to the limelight in 2014 as Jacob Zuma’s vice president before assuming the presidency in 2018.
For several months, Mr. Ramaphosa has been hampered by a dark case of burglary which he denounces as a political maneuver while his party, the deeply divided African National Congress (ANC), must decide in December whether or not to present him as a candidate. for a second presidential term in 2024.
The South African president is accused, which he denies, of having bought the silence of burglars who fell on several million in cash in one of his properties in February 2020, feeding suspicions of money laundering and corruption.
He allegedly organized the abduction and interrogation of the thieves, then bribed them to remain silent.
He must also deal with the anger of South Africans because of the economic situation, with an official unemployment rate of 33% and constant power cuts.
Charles has visited South Africa on several occasions and it was from South Africa that his mother pledged her life to the service of the Commonwealth in a speech given on her 21st birthday when she was still a princess.
Since becoming king, Charles has met with several African leaders, including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo.