Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says President Cyril Ramaphosa will continue to assert South Africa’s calls for de-escalation in conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere during his deliberations at the G7 in Canada.

Ramaphosa will participate in the G7 Outreach Session in Kananaskis, Canada, later today, alongside invited heads of state and government.

Magwenya says South Africa will continue to play a supporting role in ending conflicts.

He says, “For some time now, President Ramaphosa has been quite consistent in calling for the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.”

Magwenya says, “Part of that call was to ensure that this conflict that we’ve seen in Gaza does not extend to the rest of the region and so one of Canada’s priorities for this G7 is this threatening of peace and stability, where we are going to align with the position in so far as calling for a peaceful resolution of all conflicts, Russia and Ukraine, India and Pakistan, Iran and Israel. Now we will continue making that call that those conflicts have to stop.”

He says the Leaders’ Outreach session will focus on energy security, but geo-political tensions are likely to be addressed on the margins of the forum and in the President’s bilateral meetings with a number of leaders.

Mangwenya says, “The President will proceed to participate in the outreach session where he will put forward South Africa’s objectives, as well as issues of interest at both at a multilateral level, but also with individual G7 members.”

“There will also be more bilateral meetings tomorrow with the EU (European Union), for example, a trilateral with (European Council) President (António) Costa and (EU) President Ursula von der Leyen, seeking to build on the discussions that took place in Cape Town when they visited South Africa.”

He adds: “There will also be a bilateral meeting with the Chancellor of Germany. Germany, as you know, is South Africa’s third-largest trading partner.”

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