Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma will today attend the inauguration of Prime Minister-elect Pakalitha Mosisili of the Kingdom of Lesotho, after receiving an invitation from the Majesty King Letsie III.
The inauguration comes after Lesotho held National Assembly Elections on 28 February, where Mosisili emerged as the leader of the winning coalition.
The elections were declared credible, free and fair by various election observer missions and were facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The observer missions included representatives of SADC, the African Union and the Commonwealth and Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), which were deployed to that country during the election period.
“President Zuma will be accompanied by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as SADC Facilitator, as well as International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane,” said the Presidency on Monday.
The Presidency said Deputy President Ramaphosa arrived in Maseru on Monday ahead of the inauguration ceremony to be held at Setsoto stadium.
“The inauguration is expected to be attended by, among others, SADC Heads of State and Governments, including the chairperson of the SADC Troika Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, President Jacob Zuma, who is expected to deliver a message of support on behalf of the regional body,” said the Presidency.
The Presidency said the elections were an integral part of SADC efforts to help bring about peace and stability in Lesotho.
It said the SADC mission to Lesotho under, the leadership of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, facilitated the signing of the Maseru Facilitation Accord and the Maseru Security Accord among political and security role players respectively in Lesotho.
“The two accords were part of SADC’s road map towards the stabilisation of the politico-security situation in the country. At the last SADC Troika meeting held in Pretoria, the SADC leadership agreed to continue to assist the people of Lesotho post elections in a process aimed at constitutional and security sector reforms,” said the Presidency.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to return to South Africa later today. - SAnews.gov.za
