President Cyril Ramaphosa will undertake a working visit to Japan from 28 to 29 June 2019 during which the President will lead the South African delegation to the annual G20 Leaders’ Summit.

This will be President Ramaphosa’s first international engagement since his inauguration in May 2019 and since the reconfiguration of the National Executive.

This is the first time Japan will host the G20 Summit as well as the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting, the Foreign Ministers’  Meeting, and other ministerial meetings.

The Leaders’ Summit will be held in the city of Osaka while other meetings will be hosted at eight different locations throughout Japan.

The G20 was established in 1999 to increase multilateral cooperation for the recovery of the global economy, bring stability to the global financial system, promote long-term sustainable growth and to strengthen growth and global governance.

The 2019 Summit will focus on eight key themes spanning the global economy, trade and investment, innovation, environment and energy, employment, women’s empowerment, development and health.

These themes reflect, to a large degree, South Africa’s own national priorities, as set out in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address of Thursday, 20 June 2019.

South Africa’s participation in the Summit arises from South Africa’s international relations policy which is directed at creating a better South Africa and contributing to a better Africa and a better world. 

South Africa will leverage the Summit as a platform for securing financial and other support for infrastructure development; advancing the G20 Compact with Africa initiative and reinforcing the need for strong, sustainable, balanced and  inclusive growth at the national and global level.

South Africa will further seek to ensure G20 support for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa and developing regions and countries. This focus includes the combating of illicit financial flows which deprives Africa of resources that could otherwise be harnessed for development.

Since 2010, South Africa has co-chaired the Development Working Group of the G20.

Through this platform, South Africa has been able to support the Japanese Presidency’s deliverable on Human Capital Investment that brings together education and health.

Ahead of the Summit, President Ramaphosa will participate in the BRICS Leaders’ Meeting that will be chaired by Brazil.

The President will also convene the standing trilateral meeting of African Leaders in attendance at the G20 to exchange views with Egypt as Chair of the African Union (AU) and Senegal (NEPAD President) on African priorities for the Summit. 

President Ramaphosa will also join the China-Africa Leaders Meeting in which South Africa, Egypt, Senegal and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will participate.

The President will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with G20 Leaders during the course of the Summit.

Finally, President Ramaphosa will address a business round table engagement with Japanese business leaders. This session will be chaired by Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel.

The President will be accompanied by Minister of Finance Mr Tito Mboweni, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor and Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President, on 072 854 5707
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today, 26 June 2019, respond to the Debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament, Cape Town.
 
President Ramaphosa delivered the State of the Nation Address on 20 June 2019, with a focus on economic development, tackling poverty, inequality and unemployment. 
 
The President outlined seven priorities for greater impact and actions in moving South Africa forward, which are:
 
- Economic transformation and job creation
- Education, skills and health
- Consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services
- Spatial integration, human settlements and local government
- Social cohesion and safe communities
- A capable, ethical and developmental state
- A better Africa and World  
 
Yesterday, representatives of all political parties participated in a parliamentary debate to explore, reinforce or critique the commitments and priorities as outlined during the President’s State of the Nation Address.

Today, the President will respond to the inputs made by elected representatives.
 
Details are as follows:
 
Date: Wednesday, 26 June 2019
Time: 14h00
Venue: National Assembly, Parliament, Cape Town
 

Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 082 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in Osaka, Japan for the annual G20 Leaders' Summit taking place from 28 to 29 June 2019. 

The President will be joining other G20 world leaders to deliberate on issues of the global economy, trade and investment, innovation, environment and energy, employment, women’s empowerment, development and health.

These themes reflect, to a large degree, South Africa’s own national priorities, as set out in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address of  Thursday, 20 June 2019.

South Africa’s participation in the Summit arises from South Africa’s international relations policy which is directed at creating a better South Africa  through contributing to a better Africa and a better world. 

South Africa will leverage on the Summit as a platform for securing financial and other support for infrastructure development; advancing the G20 Compact with Africa initiative and reinforcing the need for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth at a national and global level.

South Africa will further seek to ensure G20 support for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa and developing regions and countries. This focus includes the combating of illicit financial flows which deprives Africa of resources that could otherwise be harnessed for development.

Ahead of the Summit, President Ramaphosa will participate in the BRICS Leaders’ Meeting that will be chaired by Brazil, which seeks to consolidate the blocs' position around the G20 agenda.

The President will also convene the standing trilateral meeting of African Leaders in attendance at the G20 to exchange views with Egypt as Chair of the African Union (AU) and Senegal (NEPAD President) on African priorities for the Summit. 

President Ramaphosa will also participate in the China-Africa Leaders' Meeting in which South Africa, Egypt, Senegal and United Nations Secretary-General will participate.

The President will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with G20 Leaders during the course of the Summit.

Finally, President Ramaphosa will deliver a keynote address at a business round table engagement with Japanese business leaders. 

The President will be accompanied by Minister of Finance Mr Tito Mboweni, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor, Minister of Trade and Industry Mr Ebrahim Patel and the Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President, on 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to a notice issued by the Public Protector with respect to an investigation into alleged violations of the Executive Ethics Code.

At the end of May 2019 the Public Protector issued a notice in terms of Section 7(9) of the Public Protector Act, which stipulates the following: “If it appears to the Public Protector during the course of an investigation that any person is being implicated in the matter being investigated and that such implication may be to the detriment of that person or that an adverse finding pertaining to that person may result, the Public Protector shall  afford such person an opportunity to respond in connection therewith, in any manner that may be expedient under the circumstances.”

Due to other pressing matters of State, the President requested and was granted two extensions for the submission of his response.

President Ramaphosa submitted his response to the Public Protector, Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane, today, Thursday 27 June 2019.

The President’s submission contains various confirmatory affidavits and supporting documents which, in his view, will enable this matter to be brought to conclusion as speedily as possible.

The President has reaffirmed his respect for the office of the Public Protector and his commitment to offer his full cooperation.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has concluded a two-day working visit to Osaka, Japan, where he led the South African delegation to the G20 Summit.

The Summit was attended by Heads of State and Government of the G20 member countries, which collectively account for 85% of global economic activity and two-thirds of the world’s population. The Summit presented a platform for critical engagement and high-level cooperation on efforts to address major global economic challenges.

In the interest of advancing African development, the Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the timely implementation of the 2030 Agenda for  Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. There are also enhanced roles for the World Bank, African Development Bank and  International Monetary Fund to implement the Compact with Africa. This initiative will contribute to the realisation of the African Union's Agenda 2063.

Future summits will also take stock of progress in curbing illicit financial flows.

On trade and investment, the Summit committed to work towards a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable, stable and open market environment.

Regarding digitalisation, global leaders agreed that to harness the full potential of data, there needs to be data flow with trust, to be enabled through international policy discussions on the sharing of good practices and regulatory frameworks.

Additionally, the G20 will implement its the anti-corruption action plan for 2019-2021, which strengthens synergies among related international instruments. There is also strong will among majority of the member countries to pursue the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement's goals of dealing with Climate Change.

Ahead of the Summit, President Ramaphosa convened the standing trilateral meeting with the African Union Chair, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt and NEPAD Chair President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal. This discussion made it possible for these leaders to consolidated Africa's position around the Summit's agenda.

President Ramaphosa was also invited to participate in the China-Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Senegal and with the participation of the United Nations Secretary General) Leaders Meeting. The meeting exchanged views on the priorities for G20, FOCAC and Africa's development agenda.

The President also participated in the standing informal BRICS Leaders’ Meeting that was chaired by Brazil. The BRICS Leaders’ Meeting reflected on the current geo-political environment and sought collaboration and synergies among BRICS members in preparation for the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

President Ramaphosa also had numerous bilateral meetings to strengthen relations with Russia, China, Japan and Saudi Arabia and the President of the World Bank. 

The President concluded his Osaka programme by engaging with business during the Japan-South Africa CEO Business Roundtable. The engagement was chaired by Minister Ebrahim Patel of Trade and Industry and included more than 20 Japanese business representatives and a South African business contingent. The event offered a unique platform to explore business opportunities and build partnerships in South Africa and Japan. 

President Ramaphosa described the working visit as a success and congratulated Japan on hosting a well-organised Summit.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President, on 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has complied with Public Protector Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s recommendations regarding an investigation into Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan.

On 19 June 2019 President Ramaphosa submitted a written response to the Public Protector in answer to a report - released on 24 May 2019 – relating to the "Investigation into Allegations of Maladministration and Impropriety in the Approval of Mr Ivan Pillay's Early Retirement with Full   Pension Benefits and Subsequent Retention by the South African Revenue Services".

In his response – which was filed within the period of 30 days set by the Public Protector – President Ramaphosa set out his compliance with the  recommendations.

The Public Protector had directed the President to take note of the findings in the report insofar as they relate to Minister Gordhan and to take appropriate disciplinary action against the Minister. No deadline was given by when such “appropriate disciplinary action” should be taken.

The Public Protector had also directed the President to submit, within 30 days, an implementation plan indicating how the President would implement the recommended remedial action.

In his response of 19 June 2019, President Ramaphosa explicitly stated that this written response was in compliance with the Public Protector’s directive for the President to submit an implementation plan within 30 days.

Setting out the implementation plan, President Ramaphosa assured the Public Protector that he had, as directed, taken note of the findings against Minister Gordhan.

At the same time, the President drew the Public Protector’s attention to the fact that Minister Gordhan had brought a High Court application on 28 May 2019 – four days after the Public Protector had released Report No 24 of 2019/20 – in which the Minister is currently seeking an order reviewing and setting aside the findings and recommendations contained in the report.

President Ramaphosa said that having considered the Public Protector’s findings against Minister Gordhan as well as the Minister’s challenges to those findings in his review application, it would be inappropriate to take disciplinary action against Minister Gordhan at this point.

The President explained that there was a dispute pending before the High Court over the legality of the findings on which to base the recommended disciplinary action. Furthermore, this dispute legally challenged the President’s alleged power to exercise such disciplinary action.

In the event, the President submitted to the Public Protector that the process of taking appropriate disciplinary action against Minister Gordhan would best be served by waiting until the legal processes of his review proceedings were concluded.

The President therefore indicated to the Public Protector his intention to defer his decision on what disciplinary action if any to take against Minister Gordhan until final determination of the Minister’s review application.

Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of multi-award winning veteran artist, Mr David Koloane, who passed away at his home in Johannesburg on Sunday, 30 June 2019.
 
Paying tribute to the Alexandra-born artist who passed away at the age of 81, President Ramaphosa said: "A giant in the arts has fallen; one who has contributed immensely to the arts in South Africa as an activist, a mentor to many and a pioneer for the development of the  black art community."
 
Mr Koloane was a widely acclaimed painter whose work has featured in the world's greatest collections. He co-founded the first black arts gallery and was  deeply respected as a cultural activist. 
 
 
Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President, on 072 854 5707
  
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Thaba Nchu – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday,13 October 2017, lead a government tour to various Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects in Thaba Nchu, Free State to highlight the contribution of the Programme in the socio-economic development of communities in the Free State province.
 
The EPWP site visit is part of the work of the government’s Public Employment Programme-Inter ministerial Committee (PEP-IMC), which the Deputy President leads.  
 
Deputy President Ramaphosa will be accompanied by various Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers, the Premier of the Free State and Members of his Executive Council as well as various senior government leaders.
 
Media is invited to attend and cover the event as follows:
 
1. Media Registration
 
Venue: Thaba Nchu Civic Centre
Time: 07h30
 
2. Deputy President to lead 2017 Grade 12 signing of the pledge ceremony in the Free State (Separate event from the EPWP programme)
 
Venue: Albert Moroka Secondary School, Thaba Nchu
Time: 08h00
 
3. Visit to EPWP Thaba Nchu Public Transport Route
 
Venue: Thaba Nchu (Selosetsha)
Time: 10h20
 
4. Visit to EPWP Thaba Nchu Ratlou Complex Renovation and Upgrade
 
Venue: Thaba Nchu (Ratlou Complex)
Time: 11h20
 
5. Round-table discussion with EPWP Participants
 
Venue: Thaba Nchu, St Paul’s Methodist Church
Time: 12h15
 
Brief background about PEP-IMC
 
PEP-IMC is a government structure aimed at achieving better synergy between the EPWP and the other poverty alleviation, employment, enterprise development and skills development initiatives. The Committee also ensures that the government scales up its Public Work Programmes to achieve the 6 million work opportunity target by 2019, as mandated by the President Jacob Zuma.
 
The Committee, which is chaired by Deputy President Ramaphosa, is composed by Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Director-Generals who are responsible for the implementation of the Public Employment Programme (PEP). In South Africa, PEPs are implemented under the auspices of EPWP which is aimed at creating short to medium term work opportunities for poor and unemployed South Africans.
 
FOR ACCREDITATION AND ENQUIRIES:
 
The Presidency
 
Terrence Manase: 082 3185251 or Terrence.manase@gmail.com
Nangamso Gxaba: 072 321 6355
Tyrone Seale: Acting Spokesperson: 083 575 7440
 
Public Works Department  
 
Kgomotso Mathuloe: 082 957 3667 or Kgomotso.mathuloe@dpw.gov.za

 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Muldersdrift - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will later today, Monday 16 October 2017, address a gala dinner function of the South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC).
 
The vision of the forum is to be the leading construction industry representative body in South Africa.
 
The construction industry is a critical stakeholder in infrastructure and skills development as well as job creation in South Africa.
 
SAFCEC promotes the image of the civil engineering construction industry by enabling members to deliver a professional construction service and encouraging members to take care of employees’ safety and welfare, the environment and the community, thus providing a foundation for national development.
 
Members of the media are invited as follows: 
Date: Monday, 16 October 2017
Time: 19h00
Venue: Misty Hills Country and Spa, Muldersdrift

 
Enquiries: Tyrone Seale on 083 575 7440

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to the late struggle stalwart Vivian Magdalene Sarah Daniels – widely and fondly known as Aunty Vivvy –  who has passed away at the age of 82.
 
The President has extended his sympathy to Aunty Vivvy’s family and friends and the many comrades alongside whom she served in the fight against apartheid and for basic services to communities around Cape Town. The President’s condolences extend also to the African National Congress as Aunty Vivvy’s political home.
 
Aunty Vivvy passed away on Wednesday, 26 June 2019. Her funeral will take place in Cape Town on Saturday, 6 July 2019.
 
As a resident of Bellville South in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, Aunty Vivvy became active in politics in 1979/80 and went on to become Secretary of the Bellville Residents’ Association.
 
This role was a precursor to her involvement in the Cape Areas Housing Action Committee and the United Democratic Front, where she worked alongside stalwart Mama Albertina Sisulu, Dr Allan Boesak and other leaders.
 
Aunty Vivvy faced police brutality and, among other contributions, lent psychosocial and material support to families affected by police violence and to activists detained in Western Cape correctional facilities at different points in time.
 
President Ramaphosa says Aunty Vivvy’s selfless activism sets a powerful example to leaders today.
 
“We have lost a great stalwart and role model with the passing away of Aunty Vivvy. At the same time, her close and loyal relationships with - and work for - communities around Cape Town have ensured that her legacy lives on.
 
“Aunty Vivvy was an outstanding servant of the people – a leader whose humility and hard work motivated her only to do and seek what was best for the communities she served, without regard for personal gain or public acclaim.
 
“This is the kind of leadership we need once more in our country as we engage in the renewal of our society and as we pursue inclusive and sustainable growth.”
 
 
Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria