Africa-Press – South-Africa. Forced to postpone his initial scheduled working visit to the oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in April, after floods wreaked havoc in KwaZulu-Natal, President Cyril Ramaphosa will finally honour the invitation this weekend.
The invitation from King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud comes on the back of a South Africa-Saudi Arabia joint Economic Commission and Trade and Investment Forum in Pretoria last week.
The visit was preceded by Ramaphosa’s working visit to the United States at the invitation of US President Joe Biden.
Thembisa Fakude, a senior research fellow and director at Africa Asia Dialogues, spoke to News24 about the significance of the engagement between SA and Saudi Arabia and what the countries’ leaders could discuss.
What do you think is the purpose of the visit?
The visit was expected because, if you remember, President Cyril Ramaphosa had to cancel his visit earlier in the year, following the floods in April that mainly affected KwaZulu-Natal. Therefore, the invitation stood, so he was still expected to visit Saudi Arabia.
Trade and Industry Ebrahim Minister Patel hosted the 9th session of the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission and the Trade and Investment Forum in Pretoria. Did this lay a foundation for the engagement?
I want to think the engagements between the delegations from the two countries on the 3rd and 4th of October were meant to lay the foundation for this trip by Ramaphosa, especially if you look at the composition of the delegation accompanying him.
His delegation includes people such as Agriculture, [Land Reform and Rural Development] Minister Thoko Didiza, Patel and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, and these are people who are involved in the economic cluster in South Africa. These are key people on this trip. Saudi Arabia needs fresh produce, so, Didiza, who not long ago had a meeting with Agri SA, is one very important minister on this trip.
As the country (Saudi Arabia) continues to expand, they are building a city at the moment called Neom; this will require the know-how from SA, and Mbalula is relevant in terms of transportation. I am not sure if he (Mbalula) will assist or learn from the Saudis because they are much more advanced compared to us. We have managed to run down our train system, so maybe for Mbalula, it will be more of a learning trip …
In terms of the discussions, what could they mostly revolve around?
I think the discussions will revolve around business, but Ramaphosa keeps his cards close to his chest, and it is going to be more than just business for Ramaphosa.
He is now seen as more of an ambassador, particularly when it comes to just transitions. He is likely to have that discussion with Bin Salman, and he is likely to talk about the upcoming 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP27, in Egypt.
More importantly, Ramaphosa is expected to talk about the reduction, in terms of the pumping of the oil. You’ll remember, a couple of days ago, OPEC (the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) decided to cut the supply of oil, and that is going to impact heavily on the price of oil as we are already having difficulties with the price of energy. So, this is going to add to that.
The meeting also comes after Ramaphosa’s visit to the USA. Its president, Joe Biden, recently criticised the kingdom over cutting its oil supply. Do you think the relations between the USA and the oil-rich nation will come up during the two leaders’ discussions?
As I have said, they are going to talk about USA-Saudi Arabia relations. I was scolded for saying yesterday … part of the reason Mr Ramaphosa is undoubtedly going to raise the frosty relations between the Saudis and America is because the USA is having its mid-term elections. Joe Biden risked it all, as you’ll remember, [during] that trip when he bumped fists with Bin Salman shortly after being elected, when he said during his campaign that he would render him a pariah and would not deal with him. However, he was forced to engage Bin Salman because the Gulf Cooperation Council countries invited him to attend that meeting. Now you have Bin Salman compromising him (Biden) when the world and the US are looking for cheaper energy prices amid a global crunch [caused by the Russia-Ukraine war]. He decides to go and reduce the oil supply, which is going to impact the international price. This will probably also affect Biden’s electability, given that it happens during the mid-terms, making it hard for him to retain both houses of power.
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