Pretoria – South Africa has reinforced its relations with countries of the world in the past two decades, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.
He welcomed new ambassadors and high commissioners accredited to South Africa during a ceremony at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.
The heads of mission have been sent to Pretoria to strengthen ties between South Africa and their respective countries.
Pretoria has the second largest number of foreign missions in the world, second only to Washington.
This can be attributed to the fact that South Africa’s foreign policy has shifted since 1994, with the country moving from being isolated, to taking up active membership in the United Nations, the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.
South Africa was elected in 2006 and again in 2010 by the UN General Assembly to serve on the UN Security Council, which it did until 31 December 2012.
On Wednesday, Zuma received letters of credence from heads of mission from 13 countries.
They are the Republic of Cape Verde, Uruguay, Israel, Venezuela, Austria, Algeria, Vietnam, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Senegal, Greece and Mongolia.
“We are humbled that your respective countries have chosen South Africa as your country of accreditation,” said Zuma.
A quick search by SAnews indicates that South Africa enjoys a relatively impressive trade relationship with most of the countries.
In 2008, the total bilateral trade between South Africa and the US was R123.7 billion and last year, it was R122.7 billion, according to the Department of Trade and Industry. The United States is also SA’s second largest export destination and the third largest import partner.
Bilateral trade has recovered and is at 1.6% above the 2008 economic recession levels. Top South African companies such as SASOL, Dimension Data and Sappi have invested and created jobs in the United States. Similarly, 600 US companies have invested and created jobs in South Africa.
Two-way trade between South Africa and Senegal stood at less than R850 million, with South Africa exporting just over R830 million in goods to Senegal, while the Senegalese exports to South Africa totalled over R12 million.
Pretoria believes there is still room for improvement in trade relations.
There was a growing tide of cooperation between South Africa and the United Kingdom, especially in trade and investment, tourism, culture, education and people-to-people contact.
In this regard, the two countries recommitted to strengthening bilateral cooperation. With trade between the two countries valued at over R60 billion, it was not surprising that Pretoria sees relations with London to be more critical than ever.
Today, Zuma noted that energy remains crucial to South Africa’s ability to attract foreign direct investment.
By 2030, he said, South Africa planned to produce twice the amount of energy than it was currently producing.
Three new power stations will be running in the next few years among the Medipi and Kusile coal fired stations. The country was also investing massively in green energy, with two major solar power stations being built in the Northern Cape.
With regards to water, Zuma said every household needed to have clean water by 2030, as envisaged in the National Development Plan (NDP).
“We are doing a lot to achieve this goal already. We have built two massive new dams in the last five years and are working on two more.”
The two new dams in Limpopo and Pietermaritzburg will be officially unveiled next month.
Zuma added that the government had brought electricity to 6.9 million new houses since 1994, equivalent to more than 1 300 new connections every day. – SAnews.gov.za
