Remarks by Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya during a media briefing on the President's Public Engagement Diary, the Union Buildings, Pretoria

SUMMIT OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA HAVANA, CUBA 15-16 SEPTEMBER 2023

Following the passing of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the honour accorded to his funeral a Special Official Funeral-Category 1, President Cyril Ramaphosa has delegated Dr Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation to lead South Africa’s delegation to the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China.

The Summit will be hosted in Cuba on 15 and 16 September under the theme, "Current development challenges: The role of science, technology and innovation"

President Ramaphosa, values the importance of the the Group of 77+China as the largest intergovernmental organisation of developing countries in the United Nations.

This is a platform where countries of the Global South can articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their collective negotiating capacity.

This capacity is brought to bear on global issues that are deliberated within the United Nations system and on the advancement of South-South cooperation for development.

The President welcomes the opportunity for South Africa to contribute to the Group’s debates, analysis and consensus on the main challenges facing the South.
 

PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA TO DELIVER THE EULOGY AT THE SPECIAL OFFICIAL FUNERAL OF THE LATE PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI

President Cyril Ramaphosa will, on Saturday, 16 September, deliver the eulogy at the Special Official Funeral of the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal.

Prince Buthelezi, passed away on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at the age of 95.

President Ramaphosa has honoured Prince Buthelezi by declaring his funeral a Special Official Funeral-Category 1.

In accordance with the State, Official, and Provincial Official Funeral Policy of the government, a Special Official Funeral, Category 1, is a recognition reserved for individuals of extraordinary distinction as designated by the President of the Republic of South Africa.

The funeral will include elements of military honours.

The President has directed that flags be flown half-mast at flag stations around the country until the evening of Saturday, which is the day of the funeral. 


PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA TO PARTICIPATE IN UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY UNGA78

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead South Africa’s delegation to the General Debate of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) which takes place from 18 – 26 September 2023 in New York, United States of America.

The President will deliver the South Africa statement to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, 19 September 2023, at 13h00 US Eastern Time, which will be 19h00 in South Africa. 

The address to the UN General Assembly will be preceded by a number of High Level engagements.

These include summits on Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Sustainable Development Goals, a High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, as well as the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response and Climate Ambition Summit to be hosted by the United Nations Secretary General.

President Ramaphosa will also lead discussions during the Presidential Roundtable that will hosted by the United States Chamber of Commerce and US-Africa Business Center.

In addition, the President’s programme will also include several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of UNGA.

UNGA78 is convened under the auspices of “rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”.

The theme has been set by the incoming President of the UN General Assembly Ambassador Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago.

South Africa’s participation at the United Nations is directed by its international relations policy objectives of among others:

(i) Mobilising support for South Africa’s domestic objectives, as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP), including reducing inequality, unemployment, and poverty eradication.

(ii) Support for the African Agenda and promoting Africa’s sustainable development by advocating for Africa’s priorities under the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.

(iii) Influencing the reform of the global multilateral architecture; and advancing the agenda of the South in the North-South Dialogue platform.


THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT AND OTHERS VS MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND OTHERS CASE NO:2023-005779

The United Democratic Movement and its co-applicants, which include NUMSA and Build One South Africa, took government to court on an urgent basis, on an issue that required government to coordinate numerous department responses in relation to the very complex matter, of load shedding.

This legal challenge questions the lawfulness and constitutionality of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan.

This process to coordinate government’s response required government to spend a great deal of energy, time and money to respond in detail, as it always does on any matter before the courts.

This process has cost taxpayers money and to some extent taken attention away from the urgent related issues to which government has to attend operationally.

The UDM, Building One SA, NUMSA and others made government spend public funds and time on this gathering of information before suddenly withdrawing the application.

Government always approaches such matters with a view that it is not only responding to the applicants, but it is responding to the public, while attending to the underlying issues in the normal course of the administration.

Therefore, for all these applicants to take up time and taxpayers money to then simply walk away because they finally appreciated the detailed substantive and indisputable response submitted by government is in fact an insult to both the court and the South African public.

In particular, the UDM is well represented in Parliament where government continuously accounts to elected representatives of the people in work in progress and challenges faced.