France’s  Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness Minister Franck Riester, reaffirms his country’s commitment to stand by South Africa in these challenging times and to support mutual economic partnerships with South Africa 

A statement from the French Embassy in Pretoria says that as a key partner within the G20 and the United Nations, and also as chair of the African Union, South Africa has been a key partner for France in the fight against the pandemic. 

Riester visit “ sends a strong message of support and solidarity to Africa, following the initiatives taken by President Emmanuel Macron and President Cyril Ramaphosa since the start of the crisis. 

“These initiatives have made it possible, in particular, to set up a collective, coordinated international response under the guidance of the WHO, as well as a new mechanism for research and the pre-purchase of vaccines for vulnerable countries, namely the COVAX initiative supported by France and South Africa. 

“The SANOFI laboratory, with a strong presence in South Africa, has just announced that it will supply 200 million doses through this mechanism, once a vaccine has been found,” concludes the statement. 

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It’s raised questions about how the de facto ruler of the kingdom will be received at the G20 summit in Argentina this weekend.

Tunisian protestors displayed  posters showing Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman wielding a chain saw.

It’s a reference to the dismemberment of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul six weeks ago.

They also depicted Tunsian President Beji Caid Essebsi pouring cleansing water on the blood-stained hands of the prince, who is said to have ordered the killing.

The Tunsians demonstrations shocked the Saudi authorities. On his first foreign trip since the killing of Khashoggi, the prince was well received in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirate and Egypt.  

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Ramaphosa  also takes an oblique swipe at US President Donald Trump scrapping the nuclear deal with Iran.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he’s humbled by the African nomination for democratic South Africa to have a third term as a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council in 2019 and 2020.

But he reminds the more than 100 envoys assembled at the presidential guest house that this will require a vote in the UN General Assembly next month and he asks for the strong and lasting support of their countries.

Ramaphosa says South Africa will use its membership of the 15-nation UN powerhouse – as it has on the two previous terms it served there – to further peace and security globally  and more specifically in Africa where most of the world’s conflicts are located.

He reiterates South Africa’s strong commitment to multilateralism with the United Nations at its centre and expresses satisfaction at the G20 foreign ministers underlining this at their meeting in Buenos Aires this week.

Without mentioning his US counterpart Donald Trump by name , Ramaphosa expresses concern about the threat to the rules based system posed by the unilateral revocation of binding international agreements.

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