Finland’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr Jaana Husu-Kallio expresses the hope that Water Affairs Minister Lindiwe Sisulu will go to Helsinki to ink the deal which has been delayed by the COVID lockdown.

Finland has launched a programme entitled WASH that involves governments, research organisations and civil society in ensuring access to clean water and sanitization -particularly for women and girls.

It is part of the Scandinavian country’s bid to win a three-year term on the United Nations Human Rights Council when elections are held in October

Ambassador Anne Lammila told the delegates participating in Pretoria and Helsinki that 2,2 billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water and 4,2 billion lack safely managed sanitation services.

“The impact on child mortality rates is devastating with more than 297 000 under five whondhe annually from diarrhea diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene or unsafe drinking water,” she says.

Dr Dhesigen Naidoo of the Water Research Commission says loss of earning globally from woman and children being excluded from the economy for health reasons amounts to $100 billion a year.

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She’ll speak to Africa  ambassadors in Pretoria about it – as he predecessor Lindiwe Sisulu did five months ago.

South Africa’s High Commission in Abuja and consulate in  Lagos have been temporarily closed because they came under attack from youths angered by the xenophobic violence in Pretoria and Johannesburg.

South African diplomatic missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia have received similar treatment.

African countries are using boycott – the same tactic employed during the anti-apartheid struggle – to express their displeasure.

Nigeria has shunned the World Economic Forum hosted in Cape Town.

Madagascar follows Zambia in refusing to play a friendly fixture against Bafana Bafana.

Air Tanzania has suspended flights to South Africa.

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It’s an embarrassment for her husband, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe and brother-in-law President Cyril Ramaphosa.

ends intro

Botswana’s decision to slap travel restrictions on Bridgette Radebe comes despite the personal intervention of President Cyril Ramaphosa who sent his Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu to Gaborone to smooth things over with President Mokwetsi Masisi.

Radebe is understood to have bankrolled former foreign minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi’s battle with Masisi for leadership of the Botswana Democratic Party.

The travel restriction is understood to have been imposed against Radebe even before Sisulu’s meeting with Masisi.

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Minister of International Relations Lindiwe Sisulu, receiving  the panel’s report, South Africa must pass on the lessons and values learned from Nelson Mandela.

Former Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, who heads the 10-person panel established by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu last year says the country prioritises the needs of South Africans and seeks to to further the African agenda and contribute to maintaining global peace and security

Things have changed dramatically since the onset of democracy and South Africa no longer occupies the moral high ground it commanded under President Nelson Mandela .

“South Africa must reposition itself as a consistent moral compass and a principled voice of reason in a changing world increasingly characterized by selfish and narrow interests,” he said

Pahad says this is necessary for South Africa to be a critical player a world that is human, just, peaceful and equitable.

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Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu tells the closing ceremony of the BRICS business council in Johannesburg that the R30-billion  development deal done between ESCOM and BRICS New Development Bank will go a long way to ensuring an end to power shedding in South Africa.

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Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says being part of the grouping with  Brazil, Russia, India and China has revolutionized South Africa’s economy and the way that it gets things done.

South Africa will help the BRICS Business Council navigate its way around Africa.

(take in the partners clip here)

Sisulu welcomes the coming into force of the African Free Trade Agreement with the ratification this week of the AU resolution by a 22nd country. 

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However Defense Minister Oppah Muchinguri, who received the cheque in Harare yesterday sent her visitor Minister  of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu home with a list of further requirements.

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Zimbabwe’s Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri says  cyclone Idai is a stark warning about the realities of climate change and urges SADC countries to beef up their early warning systems so as never to be caught out again.

She tells foreign minister Lindiwe Sisulu it is encouraging  to have big-hearted and generous friends.

(take in the Oppah clip here)

The minister lists water purification tablets, building material and temporary bridges as Zimbabwe’s immediate needs.

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He was speaking when he joined Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu in handing donations to Mozambique and Zimbabwe which have lost more than 800 people and had millions displaced by the effects of cyclone Idai.

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Patrice Motsepe and his wife Precious Moloi-Motsepe carried cheques for R30-million – R15-million each for Mozambique and Zimbabwe –  when they joined the humanitarian caravan to Beira and Harare yesterday. 

He says he came forward when government called for help.

(take in Patrice clip here)

Motsepe recalls when EBOLA struck a devastating blow in  West Africa in 2013, business  provided financial aid. 

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She’ll be accompanied to Beira and Chimanini by mining magnate and humanitarian POatrice Motsepe.

ends intro

Foreign minister  Lindiwe Sisulu will visit South African and United Nations rescue teams working to help those displaced by the flooding two weeks ago.

She’s carrying food, clothes, water and blankets collected from South African businesses and individuals.

The death toll from the cyclone in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa is approaching 700, although the final number might never be be known.

Sisulu will visit South African National Defense Force rescuers and compatriots who have volunteered  to do para-medical and rescue work for NGOs 

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This follows the assertion by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu that Manuel Chang, who has been held in Johannesburg since last December  will be returned to Mozambique.

US Assistant Secretary of State Tibor Nagy says in a telephone interview today that Washington expects South Africa to honor its 20-year-old agreement with the US and extradite Manuel Chang.

He’s wanted in the US for his part in a one-point-two-billion dollar fraud involving the purchase of fishing boats and surveillance vessels.

South Africa’s foreign minister Lindiwe Sisulu said in an interview with a website news blog that the easiest thing for everyone would be to return Chang to Mozambique once the court in Kempton Park has dispensed with the US extradition request.  

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