The UK and SA will use President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state visit to the UK next week to announce new partnerships in areas such as healthcare, science and innovation and clean energy technologies, including hydrogen.

A carriage procession with King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla down the Mall, a State Banquet in Buckingham Palace hosted by Charles and Camilla and other royals, a Horse Guards Parade, and an address to members of Parliament and others in the Royal Gallery at the Palace of Westminster are just some of the honours Britain will lay on for Ramaphosa. And of course, Ramaphosa will meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street for serious intergovernmental talks.

British high commissioner to South Africa Antony Phillipson. (Photo: Christopher Goodney / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“This is a hugely significant moment,” Britain’s high commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, told South African journalists on Wednesday, stressing that it would be the first state visit hosted by Charles since he succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September.

He notes that this will be the fourth South African state visit to the UK since the advent of democracy in SA in 1994, following the visits of presidents Nelson Mandela in 1996, Thabo Mbeki in 2002 and Jacob Zuma in 2010.

Valued partnership

“I don’t think there are many other countries that have enjoyed that number of state visits, four in under 30 years. That’s a testament and a clear signal of the way we value the relationship, the modern-day partnership with South Africa.” 

The UK also sees Ramaphosa’s visit as important because South Africa is a key member of the Commonwealth, which Charles also now heads.

In some ways, the visit will come at an awkward and uncertain time for both countries. Sunak is Britain’s third prime minister in a matter of months and the British economy is still reeling from global shocks like the aftermath of Covid-19 and the continuing impact of the Ukraine war, compounded by the economic blunders of Sunak’s short-lived predecessor, Liz Truss. On the SA side, Ramaphosa faces a testing ANC elective conference which he may not survive.

Phillipson acknowledges that the visit “comes at an interesting time politically. My view is that we rise above that a bit … the state visit is an opportunity to showcase the enduring depth and breadth of the relationship and the modern-day partnership between the UK and South Africa as well as use it as a platform to launch new ambitions and activities.”

As examples of these enduring and deep links, he notes that more than 1,300 South Africans took UK citizenship in 2021, that some 400,000 British tourists visit SA each year; that the UK is the largest investor in SA and that SA is the UK’s largest trading partner in Africa.

Just Energy Transition

Phillipson says the UK and SA work very closely together on inclusive economic growth and health, bilaterally and globally. And currently, they are most focused on climate change, particularly through South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET) to wean itself from coal.

The UK, US, European Union, Germany and France have committed to providing $8.5-billion of financing for the JET and Phillipson said the UK was waiting for greater clarity from South Africa on how it intended to implement its JEP investment plan before deciding on how to invest its $1.8-billion share of the $8.5-billion.

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During the visit, some UK companies will announce investments in green hydrogen production in South Africa and the two countries will also launch other partnerships in clean energy technologies as well as in strengthening healthcare in South Africa and in science and innovation, “all under the banner of inclusive growth”.

A business forum will bring together UK and SA companies in these areas as well as infrastructure finance and big retail. The forum will allow companies to discuss the impediments to trade and investment between the UK and SA.

Russia and Ukraine

Ramaphosa and Sunak will inevitably discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine, now in its eighth month. Phillipson noted, with some understatement: “Yes, we have been on slightly different pages when it comes to how we vote in the UN General Assembly, for instance.”

The UK, like all other Western countries, has voted in favour of all resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion and calling for action against it, while South Africa has abstained from all. The most recent was this week when the General Assembly adopted a resolution aimed at exacting reparations from Russia for its destruction in Ukraine.

Despite these differences, “I don’t think we are divided on what the substantive ambition is here,” which, says Phillipson, is an end to the conflict and substantive peace for Ukraine.

“And I think the visit will be an excellent opportunity for a detailed discussion, which is always easier in person, between the president and the prime minister, who will be able to take account of recent developments and have a good substantive discussion on moving towards that shared ambition.”

South Africa has remained studiously “non-aligned” on the war, but Phillipson noted the war had “global ramifications”. These included the war’s impact on global food, fertiliser and commodity prices, which everyone was feeling.

Geopolitical challenges

There could be wider geopolitical consequences if the war spreads — as initially seemed possible this week when a missile fired over Ukraine killed two people in Poland, a Nato member, threatening to draw other Nato members into a much wider war against Russia. Later, tensions were defused when it seemed the fatal missile strike had probably been fired by Ukraine to try to bring down a Russian missile during a major attack by Moscow across Ukraine.

Phillipson said the incident highlighted the risk of the war spreading, either because Russia chose to spread it, or due to unintended consequences. “It’s a deeply unstable situation, which is why we continue to focus on how we end this and to see it as a global, geopolitical challenge.”

Phillipson said the two governments might also discuss concerns about terror threats in South Africa, in the light of the recent alert about a possible terror attack in Sandton, which the US embassy issued to its citizens and which was echoed by the UK high commission and others. He said Sunak and Ramaphosa were also likely to discuss next year’s elections in Zimbabwe.

“I think everyone wants to see the same thing, which is free and fair elections. We want to see action taken on human rights. We have a shared ambition. We want to see greater prosperity and security for the people of Zimbabwe.” DM