South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo to participate this Thursday in the 12th session of the bi-national commission between the two countries. After a face-to-face meeting with his counterpart Félix Tshisekedi at the Palais de la Nation, the two heads of state are expected to attend the work of an economic forum.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargeles
While South Africa remains a strong partner for the DRC in terms of imports, exports and investments, relations between the two presidents are cordial, but far from being as close as those which united their predecessors, Jacob Zuma and Joseph Kabila.
Cyril Ramaphosa and Félix Tshisekedi however exchange regularly, as during the last Mining Indaba, at the beginning of the year, in Cape Town, and around thirty bilateral agreements already unite their two countries. However, it would be possible to go further, according to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, by ” taking advantage of the opportunities created by Zlecaf “.
The discussions between the two Heads of State should go beyond the strictly economic framework and also concern the security situation in the east of the DRC, while South Africa is among the countries of the continent which provides the most troops to the Monusco. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Pretoria and Kinshasa are part, should also deploy troops, although it already participates in Monusco through the intervention brigade. All this while President Félix Tshisekedi expressed his dissatisfaction with the force of the Community of East African States (EAC) already deployed.