Riyaz Patel
The Presidency has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be traveling Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) and the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London.
Both meetings are scheduled for next week.
A statement from the Presidency said the President has taken this decision to give “attention to pressing domestic priorities and preparations for the governing party and Cabinet Lekgotla.”
It’s understood that Ramaphosa is further focused on preparations towards South Africa’s assumption of the Chairship of the African Union at the 33rd African Union Summit in early February.
Political analysts believe Ramaphosa wants to deal with pressing internal economic issues of the country as well as ANC internal ructions.
South Africa’s delegations to Davos and London will be led by Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor respectively.
