SA: Ramaphosa set for Mnangagwa talks at Beitbridge

By Staff Reporter

SOUTH African officials have revealed that President Cyril Ramaphosa will, on Thursday, meet Zimbabwean counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa at the Beitbridge Border Post between the two countries.

According to the South African president’s office, Ramaphosa will be preside over the formal launch of the country’s Border Management Authority which was established in April this year.

“As part of the launch, President Ramaphosa will receive President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the Republic of Zimbabwe to hold official talks and undertake a guided tour of the Beitbridge border, supported by members of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on the BMA,” Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement Wednesday.

Ramaphosa was one of the regional leaders who attended Mnangagwa’s inauguration after his re-election last month in a ballot whose outcome was rejected by the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party led by Nelson Chamisa.

Chamisa’s dismissal of the vote as a sham was buttressed by reporters from regional and continental observer missions which said although the election was peaceful, some aspects “fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe” and regional standards.

Meanwhile, establishment of the Border Management Authority in South Africa follows a cabinet decision reached in 2013.

“The decision was taken in recognition of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC) 2012 Feasibility Study, which had highlighted weaknesses in border management,” the Pretoria government said in its statement.

“The authority will be responsible for the execution of frontline border law enforcement functions related to, inter alia, port health, immigration control, access control, biosecurity, food safety and phyto-sanitary control, land border infrastructure development and maintenance, and border information and risk management.” The Zimbabwean side of the Beitbridge border post was also redeveloped at a cost of some US$300 million.