President Cyril Ramaphosa: Opening remarks at Fourth session of South Africa–Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission
Your Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa,
Honourable Ministers,
High Commissioners,
Senior officials,
Distinguished Guests,
Good morning,
My Brother, I welcome you and your delegation to the Fourth Session of our Bi-National Commission.
This meeting testifies to the deep and historic relations between our peoples.
We meet, Dear Brother, in the aftermath of the tragedy on Lake Kariba, where the capsizing of a ferry claimed close to a hundred lives.
Our heartfelt condolences go to you, the people of Zimbabwe and to the bereaved families.
May we all rise to observe a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in that tragedy.
Your Excellency,
We are one people. Our spirits are inseparable.
Our past has been shaped by shared culture, history and language.
Our future will be shaped by shared aspirations.
We stood together in the fight against colonialism, white minority rule and apartheid.
As South Africa, we will forever remember that the people of Zimbabwe gave us shelter, protection and support in the darkest times of our struggle.
Since then our countries have held high the values of cooperation over division, peace over conflict, and partnership over competition.
Zimbabwe is one of our largest trading partners.
Over the last four years, the value of our bilateral trade has almost doubled.
However, there is a significant imbalance in trade between our two countries.
South Africa exports much more to Zimbabwe than it imports.
Through instruments like the Memorandum of Understanding on Economic Cooperation, we need to work together to narrow this deficit.
We must use the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area to increase the volume and balance the composition of trade between our two countries.
We must enable both Zimbabwe and South Africa to expand the production and export of goods that we manufacture from our abundant natural resources.
We therefore look forward to the presentation of the Ministerial report to this meeting, which will assess progress and identify opportunities in areas such as mining, energy, agriculture, transport, logistics and water management.
The growth of our economies and the expansion of trade rely on increased investment in infrastructure.
We should be working together to build the bridges, roads, dams, airports, health facilities and schools that will drive our economies into the future.
Institutions like the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation stand ready to invest in high-impact projects in Zimbabwe.
These are projects that connect factories and farms to markets.
Projects that connect power stations to businesses and homes. That connect dams to taps. That connect countries to their neighbours.
Working together, we must convert our abundant mineral resources into jobs, opportunity and prosperity for our people.
Zimbabwe’s mining revenue continues to rise as the country increases investment in technology and efficiency.
With growing production of gold, platinum and critical minerals such as lithium, Zimbabwe is fast emerging as a global participant.
South Africa is increasing its investment in exploration and beneficiation.
We have said for many years that our minerals should be processed at home, that we should export finished products.
Together, we need to put that aspiration into practice.
Together, we need to deepen cooperation in energy.
We have seen the value of the Southern African Power Pool.
Now we must embrace its potential to establish Southern Africa as a leader in the generation of clean, affordable and reliable energy.
There is great potential for cooperation on water.
The agreement to supply water from Zimbabwe’s Beitbridge Water Works to Musina is one example of how we can work together to meet our people’s basic needs and make our countries more resilient in the face of climate change.
We must work together to ensure that all our people have enough food.
Let us use our vast arable land for intensified production and support our communal and commercial farmers.
I was deeply impressed by the 115th Zimbabwe Agricultural Show last year, where I saw some of the capacities, technologies, tools and services available to industrialise farming – to make it more productive, resilient and sustainable.
This is particularly important as we strive to expand our agricultural base amid accelerating climate change and the El Niño droughts that erode our water sources and grazing land.
As neighbours that have so much to offer each other, it is critical that we continue our cooperation on migration and border management.
To ease the movement of people and goods, we must modernise our facilities and systems.
We must strengthen our combined efforts to counter trans-border crime.
The development we seek depends on the maintenance of peace and stability, in our countries, in our region and on our continent.
We remain concerned about the ongoing conflict and instability in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, and Madagascar.
We must also be concerned about civil strife and armed conflict beyond our region.
Sudan is of utmost concern, given the grave loss of life, displacement and suffering, and the challenges it poses for the Horn of Africa.
We are also worried about the enduring impasse in South Sudan and the continued armed insurgency in the Sahel region.
In a geopolitical environment that has become unpredictable and fractured, there is now even a greater need for the peaceful resolution of conflict, mediation and dialogue.
We congratulate Zimbabwe on its election to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2027-2028 term.
We know that Zimbabwe will focus the world’s attention on conflicts that are impeding Africa’s development and mobilise global support for Africa’s home-grown efforts to resolve them.
South Africa and Zimbabwe stand together.
We are two countries with a common history and a common destiny.
This Bi-National Commission affirms our determination to deepen the bonds between our peoples.
To build inclusive economies that create work and sustainable livelihoods.
To build societies in which every person may equally enjoy the fruits of freedom.
Our people expect that this Bi-National Commission will deliver concrete results.
As we prepare to receive the report from the Ministers, I am proud to oversee these proceedings with you, my Brother.
It is my great privilege to declare this Fourth Session of our Bi-National Commission open.
I thank you.
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