IRISH Prime Minister Bertie Ahern will visit South Africa and Lesotho next week in the first official visit by an Irish prime minister to southern Africa, officials said on Friday. Ahern, accompanied by a delegation of trade and aid officials, will visit Lesotho’s King Letsie III on Monday. The prime minister will also meet his Mountain Kingdom counterpart, Pakalitha Mosisili, for talks likely to focus on Irish aid to the impoverished country. On Tuesday Ahern will travel to Pretoria, where he will meet separately with President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Talks are likely to review the precarious security situation in Africa’s Great Lakes region, where several countries are embroiled in conflicts, and the peace process in Northern Ireland. The Irish delegation will leave South Africa on Friday.