Angola and SA sign historic agreements

Angola and South Africa signed five bilateral agreements during Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s first state visit to South Africa on Tuesday.

“These are the Memoranda of Understanding on Public Works and Infrastructure Development, as well as Telecommunications and Information Technologies, and also a Declaration of Intent on the Utilisation of Financial Facilities,” President Jacob Zuma said, according to a statement issued by the presidency.

“In this regard, we have just witnessed the signing of five memoranda of understanding.”

Angola is the second largest oil producer on the continent after Nigeria.

“We have also directed our ministers to work towards the finalisation of other outstanding agreements. These include the Arts and Culture Agreement, Agreement on Education, and the Merchant Shipping Agreement.” Angola assumed the Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2011.

South Africa will take over the Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security.

“Therefore, our two countries will be entrusted with responsibilities ranging from economic integration to peace, security and stability in the region.”

They also discussed the need to reform the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, and the Bretton Woods Institutions, which deal with funding.

Historic meeting
He said the visit was an historic one. Angolan territory provided a base for many African National Congress (ANC) operatives working towards dismantling the apartheid administration in South Africa.

South African Defence Force soldiers made incursions into Angola in an attempt to quell resistance from that quarter, as well as providing support to Unita rebels in Angola during that country’s prolonged 17-year, post-colonial civil war. That was part of the South African government’s attempts to rid its neighbours of Marxist influences.—Sapa