Pretoria - The South African and Zambian governments are set to strengthen cooperation on wide ranging fields including science and technology, agriculture, defence, and energy and culture.
The governments, which form part of the SADC bloc of countries, also reaffirmed their committed to focus on economic cooperation and had identified areas in which their companies could do business.
The remarks were made by President Jacob Zuma in the capital city Tshwane on Thursday following his official talks with his Zambian counterpart, President Edgar Lungu. He is in the country on a state visit.
Zuma said there 21 agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries, which covered a wide range of fields.
The South Africa-Zambia Business Partnership Forum which was currently meeting at Freedom Park, Tshwane, “presents yet another initiative to strengthen existing cooperation and further explore new areas for growth”, Zuma said.
He also spoke about the historic relations between the two African states, noting that Zambia once hosted the ANC’s headquarters during the “difficult times” of apartheid rule in South Africa.
On developments in the SADC region, Zuma said they welcomed the “fact that our region is relatively peaceful and stable. We committed ourselves to working together to assist those sister countries facing political and security challenges. We also called for the implementation of SADC industrialisation strategy to create industrial capacity and value chains”.
However, the damaging drought wreaking havoc across the region and threatening food security, was a cause for concern. The countries pledged to work closely and “mitigate its negative impact”.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced during his Medium Term Budget Policy Speech in October that the National Treasury had allocated R212 million to the agriculture support grant to provide drought relief.
In February, Gordhan allocated R15 million over the next three years to the Land Bank’s concessionary loan facility to aid farmers recover from the drought scourge, but this was dubbed a drop in the ocean by commercial farmers, who were forced to auction off their livestock to stay afloat.
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