South Africa: Ramaphosa to skip key US-Africa summit
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - The South African presidency has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be attending the African Leaders Summit to be hosted by US President Joe Biden this week.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya would not divulge reasons why Ramaphosa will not attend the summit, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
However, Members of Parliament (MPs) will this week vote on whether he should be subjected to impeachment proceedings after an independent Parliamentary panel found he may have breached the Constitution.
The National Assembly will decide whether to adopt the report and set up an inquiry, which would see Ramaphosa facing impeachment proceedings.
Forty-nine governments, the African Union Commission, civil society, businesses in the private sector and young leaders are expected to attend the event in Washington DC which ends on Friday.
Representatives from the US State Department's Bureau of African Affairs said numerous pressing global issues would be discussed, such as democracy and governance, security, trade and investment, development, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the negative effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
-0- PANA CU/RA 12Dec2022
