Your Excellency, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,
Distinguished Ministers, Ambassadors and Members of Delegations,
Leaders of Business,
Ladies and Gentlemen.,
 
It is a great honour for to be with you today in Brasilia.
 
Brazil and South Africa are much alike. 
 
We are large, complex and diverse democracies. We are resource-rich and full of talent. 
 
We carry the weight of significant inequality and we both carry the ambition to overcome it. 
 
We are members of BRICS, partners in IBSA, advocates together within the G20 and at the WTO.
 
We have consistently championed the view that the rules governing global trade and investment must be made more fair, more inclusive and more responsive to the realities of the Global South.
 
This visit presents us with an opportunity to re-imagine a world of opportunities anchored by our shared values and vision. 
 
As Team South Africa, we are keen to rebalance our trade by growing and diversifying South African exports to Brazil.
 
Both countries have an interest in improving market access and product coverage through the MERCOSUR-SACU Preferential Trade Agreement.
 
Among other things, we need to work on reducing trade friction by strengthening cooperation on trade remedies and resolving non-tariff constraints affecting priority products.
 
There is huge scope for advancing industrial cooperation in identified high-impact sectors.
 
These sectors include biofuels, defence, agro-processing, aerospace, energy, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing and automotive.
 
These cooperation should include technology transfer and skills development.
 
We want to position South Africa as Brazil’s gateway into African markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area, and to position Brazil as South Africa’s gateway into Latin America.
 
Many South African companies have operations in Brazil. These include companies like Sasol, MTN, Naspers, FNB, Aspen Holdings, Grindrod, Standard Bank, AngloGold Ashanti and others. 
 
Brazilian companies such as Petrobras, Embraer, Marcopolo SA have operations in South Africa. 
 
We welcome the establishment by Embraer of an aviation training academy at OR Tambo International Airport, building South African aerospace talent and embedding our country in a global aviation value chain. 
 
Marcopolo has invested in automotive manufacturing in the Gauteng province, contributing assembly capacity and workforce development. 
 
The Brazilian industrial engineering group WEG has built a manufacturing and distribution presence that serves South Africa’s mining, energy and water sectors. 
 
The foundation for greater trade and investment is in place.
 
Within BRICS, we have both championed development-oriented reform of the international financial architecture. 
 
Within IBSA, we have demonstrated that South–South cooperation can deliver real outcomes in health, agriculture, science and education. 
 
In the G20, South Africa has built on the momentum of Brazil’s distinguished Presidency in 2024, advancing shared priorities of inclusive growth, climate finance and fairer trade rules.
 
We have the foundation of a preferential trade agreement, the MERCOSUR-SACU Preferential Trade Agreement, covering more than a thousand tariff lines. 
 
We see this agreement as a platform with much greater potential than has yet been realised.
 
We are eager to work with our Brazilian partners to expand its product coverage and increase its use within the business community. 
 
South Africa is open for business.
 
We both have the policies, infrastructure and financial and technical tools to make it happen. 
 
Our Industrial Development Corporation and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa are in the room. 
 
They are available to support a joint financing fund instrument targeting large scale infrastructure projects in manufacturing, biofuel, transport and energy. 
 
Both countries have sound technical standards regulators and agencies. 
 
There is therefore good opportunity for technical exchanges in the field of standards, accreditation, specification and conformity assessments.
Agreements have been signed. Now is the time to accelerate implementation. 
 
To Brazilian executives who are considering where to deploy capital and build partnerships in the decade ahead, South Africa is not simply a market of 63 million people. 
 
South Africa is the gateway to a continent of 1.4 billion people, integrated through the African Continental Free Trade Area into a single market with a combined GDP approaching $4 trillion. 
 
Our main ports – Durban, Cape Town and Richards Bay – are among the busiest in the southern hemisphere. 
 
Our financial system is the most sophisticated on the African continent. 
 
Our logistics infrastructure, legal framework and depth of skilled human capital together provide a competitive advantage.
 
South Africa and Brazil are not simply trading partners. 
 
We are fellow architects of a more equitable international order. 
 
At a time when multilateralism faces real pressure, when the rules governing international trade are in flux, when the voices of the Global South risk being marginalised, our partnership carries a greater significance.
 
Let our economic partnership be the living expression of that shared political purpose. 
 
When South Africa and Brazil trade more, when we invest in each other’s economies, when we build value chains that span the South Atlantic, we are not merely creating jobs and generating returns. 
 
We are demonstrating that the Global South can shape its own prosperity.
 
I am here today with a business delegation representing South Africa’s most capable export and investment-ready companies across aerospace, mining, chemicals, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, energy, defence and advanced manufacturing. 
 
They have made this journey not as observers, but as partners ready to build.
 
As I look around this room at the companies, the entrepreneurs, the investors and the decision-makers who have made the journey to be here I see something powerful. 
 
I see two nations choosing partnership over isolation. Cooperation over competition.
 
In closing, I invite you all to join us at the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg on the 31st of March 2026, not simply as guests, but as partners in building a future of shared prosperity between our nations. 
 
The door to South Africa is open. And the time to invest and grow together is now.
 
I thank you.
 

Your Excellency, President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva,
Ambassadors,
Ministers,
Distinguished Members of our Delegations
Ladies and gentlemen of the Media
 
I wish to thank you, President Lula, for the warm welcome extended to me and my delegation and for the constructive manner in which our discussions have been conducted.
 
We wish to pay our respects to the victims of the recent floods and landslides in the state of Minas Gerais and to convey to the families of those who lost their lives our deepest condolences. 
 
Our meeting takes place in the year that South Africa celebrates the 30th anniversary of the adoption of our democratic Constitution. 
 
On this occasion, we reflect on the progress our democratic nation has made and the sacrifices that made our freedom possible. 
 
We remain deeply grateful for the solidarity of the people of Brazil during our struggle for freedom. This support contributed meaningfully to the achievements we celebrate today.
 
Our visit takes place against the backdrop of renewed conflict in the Middle East. We reiterate our call for the peaceful resolution of all disputes in line with the United Nations Charter. We condemn the loss of civilian life and the destruction of vital infrastructure. 
 
We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
 
Your leadership has strengthened the foundations of our strategic partnership. We value your guidance on how our cooperation can be deepened and made more impactful.
 
South Africa and Brazil share a commitment to equality, economic growth and the eradication of poverty. These shared values provide a strong basis for building practical, mutually beneficial programmes that advance our respective national development priorities.
 
I am joined by several Ministers and officials. Working with their Brazilian counterparts, this delegation is well positioned to expand cooperation across key areas of mutual interest.
 
Our interactions with the Brazilian government and the forthcoming Business Forum are important steps in strengthening and expanding our strategic partnership. 
 
The South Africa–Brazil Joint Commission is a central platform for this work and we look forward to hosting its eighth session later this year. 
 
We also welcome progress in several sectors, including the conclusion of the Memorandum of Intent on Agriculture and the Memorandum of Understanding on Basic Education. 
 
Deepening our economic cooperation is imperative. 
 
South Africa remains committed to strengthening cooperation in agriculture, agro‑processing and value‑added exports. 
 
Enhancing reciprocal market access, including through the MERCOSUR–SACU Preferential Trade Agreement, will be vital. Our business delegation stands ready to pursue new commercial opportunities.
 
South Africa serves as a strategic entry point for Brazil into the African continent, just as Brazil provides a gateway for South Africa into Latin America and the Caribbean. This visit strengthens these linkages and supports broader regional engagement.
 
As we conclude our engagements, I reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to advancing our Strategic Partnership. 
 
The clarity and warmth of our discussions give me confidence that the momentum generated during this visit will yield concrete outcomes for both our nations and our respective regions.
 
President Lula, thank you once again for your generous hospitality and the spirit of partnership that continues to define our relationship. 
 
We look forward to welcoming you to South Africa soon.
 
I thank you.
Obrigado.
 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has amended the period in which the Judicial Commission of Inquiry Commission into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System arising from specific allegations by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on 6 July 2025, must complete its work and submit its final report.

Accordingly, the Commission shall submit a second interim report by 29 May 2026 and a final report on the completion of the inquiry, on 31 August 2026.

This extension was granted at the request of the Commission due to the number of persons who must still appear.

The President appointed the Judicial Commission Inquiry in terms of section 84(2)(f) of the Constitution on 21 July 2025.

Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga was appointed Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry and Advocates Sesi Baloyi SC and Sandile Khumalo SC were appointed as members of the Commission.

The Commission submitted its first interim report to the President on 17 December 2025 and resumed its activities in January of this year.

In its interim report, the Commission referred a number of matters for immediate criminal investigation and urgent decisions on prosecution, as well as recommendations on the employment status and recommended suspension of individuals.
 

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President- media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria