US President Joe Biden and President Cyril Ramaphosa are set to meet on Friday as Washington seeks to draw African nations closer to it amid the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The US and other Nato countries have been trying to convince Pretoria to change its stance on the war between the two eastern European countries which has caused turmoil in financial markets and increased uncertainty over the recovery of the global economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In March, SA abstained on a UN General Assembly motion to reprimand Russia — a move criticised by some opposition parties, the US and EU. In April, SA again abstained on a resolution in the UN to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council because of its alleged atrocities against Ukrainians.
The government has insisted its “neutral” stance in the UN on the conflict reflects its ambition to help facilitate peace talks.
Other items on the agenda of the talks include trade and investment, infrastructure, climate and energy, and public health.
Ramaphosa will meet Biden before travelling to New York for the first full, in-person UN General Assembly since 2019.
The ANC’s road to its internal leadership contest in December is set to gather steam this week when nominations for leadership open on Monday after the nomination process was pushed back by a week.
All eyes will be on the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal as it waits on branches to decide on their selection for the ANC national elective conference. The provincial leadership has kept its choice for its preferred candidate to lead the party for five years close to its chest, unlike the Northern Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape which have all endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term as president of the ANC.
Also in ANC politics, Gauteng premier David Makhura returns to SA this week to hear his fate after a two-week official trip in Europe. Before jetting off to Europe, Makhura was at pains to explain that he has not been dismissed by the party’s provincial leadership as per media reports. Rather, Makhura said, he had asked the ANC Gauteng provincial executive committee to begin a process for him to step down as premier and for the party to choose his successor.
It is expected that the provincial executive committee will choose ANC provincial chairperson and education MEC Panyaza Lesufi to replace Makhura as premier.
In parliament this week, the impeachment inquiry into public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is scheduled to continue. Mkhwebane last week won a case in the Western Cape high court which nullified her suspension by Ramaphosa in June, prompting Mkhwebane to announce that she would return to work immediately.
Shortly after the judgment was handed down, the DA applied to appeal against it.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly will consider candidates nominated for appointment as inspector-general of intelligence services, as well as those recommended to fill four vacancies on the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa) council.
Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence in August nominated Imtiaz Fazel for the position of SA’s next inspector-general of intelligence after its previous nominee, anti-apartheid stalwart Frank Chikane, failed to garner the support of a two-thirds majority of National Assembly MPs.
Deputy president David Mabuza is set to field questions from members of the National Assembly on Thursday. Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi will on Tuesday brief the home affairs committee on progress made with the Zimbabwe exemption permit, which has been extended to June next year from December.
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