Cyril Ramaphosa to visit Zimbabwe in March, Lindiwe Sisulu announces via Twitter

South Africa's President, Cyril Ramaphosa will be visiting Zimbabwe on March 12 to discuss bilateral issues affecting the two countries.

In a statement, South Africa's International Relations and Cooperation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu opined top on the agenda would be the issue of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West. "We are preparing for a bi-national meeting with Zimbabwe on March 12, 2019. Our President (Ramaphosa) will lead the delegation to Harare. I thought by now sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe Government and its people would be lifted to enable the country to start afresh after all the challenges they have gone through," she said in a statement posted via Twitter (official account).

"We call on EU and particularly the United Kingdom to give the Government and the people of Zimbabwe a chance to change their situation by urgently lifting the sanctions. Without lifting the sanctions, the Government of Zimbabwe will never be able to address its economic challenges, and this is compromising the political gains achieved since the coming in of the new President," Lindiwe Sisulu said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recent Davos-based World Economic Forum, Cyril Ramaphosa said that Zimbabwe confronts "serious, serious, economic challenges and they can be assisted by the world if those sanctions are lifted." The US has sanctions on Zimbabwean officials including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and says certain human rights reforms are needed to lift them.

"We remain available to support the Zimbabwe Government and its people whenever they need us. We are neighbours and the ties that bind us are very deep." – Minister Lindiwe Sisulu #DIRCOMediaBriefing pic.twitter.com/Tm9BlVdjzw

— DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) February 19, 2019

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