President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to make an announcement on whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin will visit South Africa during the BRICS summit in August.
According to Ramaphosa, he has noticed that there is a great deal of impatience around the issue of Putin, but he was attending to it.
Ramaphosa told the ANC Western Cape provincial conference on Sunday that he was seized with the issue of Putin.
He appointed his deputy, Paul Mashile, a few months ago, to head an inter-ministerial committee on Putin’s visit.
Ramaphosa met with Putin two weeks ago during his peace mission with other African leaders.
The leaders from Senegal, Comoros, Zambia, Egypt, Congo-Brazzaville and Uganda had formed part of the peace mission to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
They met with both Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin.
Ramaphosa and Putin, said after the meeting with the African leaders, they will continue with the discussions in St Petersburg in August during the Russia-Africa summit.
Addressing the provincial conference in the Western Cape on Sunday Ramaphosa said he was handling the issue of Putin.
He said the BRICS summit will go ahead in August as planned.
“We will hold the BRICS summit in August. Yes, that BRICS summit is going to take place, it is going to go on. We will be outlining precisely how that summit will be held. There is a great deal of impatience. Is so and so coming?. Is so and so not coming? I have often said we will make that announcement. People are very impatient. We will address that question,” said Ramaphosa.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics