United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria on Tuesday. Picture: Twitter/@PresidencyZA
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday morning received a courtesy visit in Pretoria from United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken landed in South Africa on Sunday to kick off a three-nation visit of Africa aimed at countering Russian influence on the continent.
Since he arrivied in the country, Blinken on Sunday visited the Hector Pieterson Museum in Orlando West, Soweto in honour of the Soweto Uprising of 1976.
On Monday, the US Secretary of State held discussions with International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor on US-SA partnerships on climate change, health, infrastructure, trade and investment.
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Blinken also delivered a public address at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Institute on the US government’s new Africa strategy.
Blinken’s trip to South Africa was expected to wrap up on Tuesday, but just before he could leave the country to depart to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he met with Ramaphosa.
Meanwhile, Blinken said the US was seeking a “true partnership” with Africa and not trying to “outdo” other world powers in vying for influence on the continent.
He said the United States did not see the region as the “latest playing field in a competition between great powers”.
“That is fundamentally not how we see it. It’s not how we will advance our engagement here,” Blinken told a press briefing, speaking alongside Pandor.
“Our commitment to a stronger partnership with Africa is not about trying to outdo anyone else.”
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