King Charles III hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in London on Tuesday for the first state visit of his reign, with climate change, trade and the Commonwealth likely to be on the agenda.
Charles and Queen Consort Camilla were joined by heir apparent Prince William and his wife Catherine to welcome Ramaphosa and First Lady Tshepo Motsepe to a formal reception at Horse Guards Parade in central London.
The monarch and Ramaphosa inspected the honor guard together.
The parties then traveled in a procession of carriages, escorted by mounted Household Cavalry soldiers, to Buckingham Palace – the route lined with the flags of Britain and South Africa.
The two-day state visit is the first since Charles became king following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September.
It comes more than a decade after the last of a South African leader when Jacob Zuma came to the UK in 2010.
For Ramaphosa, a protégé of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, however, there are also political difficulties and the threat of impeachment at home.
During the last state visit of Elizabeth’s record-breaking 70-year reign, the Queen received US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania in June 2019.
Later in the day, Ramaphosa will visit Parliament to address the Upper and Lower Houses.
A tour of Westminster Abbey includes the memorial stone to Mandela, who was President of South Africa between 1994 and 1999.
In the evening, Ramaphosa attends a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Ramaphosa will also visit Downing Street to speak with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
– ‘Turbo Charge Growth’ –
At the start of the visit, the UK and South African governments announced the launch of the next phase of the UK-South Africa infrastructure partnership.
“South Africa is already Britain’s largest trading partner on the continent and we have ambitious plans to jointly boost infrastructure investment and economic growth,” Sunak said.
Trade with South Africa, the continent’s second largest economy, is worth £10.7 billion ($12.7 billion) a year.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the choice of Ramaphosa for Charles’ first state visit was a sign of Britain’s “ongoing commitment” to Africa, even as it eyed new partners in Asia post-Brexit.
But he added: “It is important…that we also show that this will not come at the expense of the incredibly important partnerships we have through the Commonwealth, through international fora, as well as the bilateral relationship (with South Africa). “
In addition to trade, climate change and Charles’ vision for the Commonwealth will also be discussed during the visit.
But political troubles in South Africa threaten to overshadow the ceremonial pageantry and pageantry of the state visit.
Ramaphosa is facing impeachment for allegedly covering up a crime he is accused of concealing a multimillion-dollar cash theft.
He is accused of failing to report a robbery at his luxury cattle ranch home, in which robbers stole $4 million in cash, and instead arranged for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed to silence them.
He has been asked to resign and the deeply divided ruling African National Congress (ANC) is due to vote on his leadership in December.
The president has admitted a break-in but denies kidnapping and bribery and said he reported the break-in to police.
South African lawmakers will next month discuss the findings of a special panel tasked with determining whether Ramaphosa should face impeachment.
