Embassy Activities

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the South African Embassy website and a New Year full of hope to any challenges. It is without a doubt that the year 2019 was a busy year for the Embassy and we concluded it successfully. Winning the Rugby World Cup towards the end of 2019 is one of the big and beautiful achievements that were brought by the year 2019. We look forward to the year 2020 and we take it as another opportunity to pursue our national objectives. We are fortunate to have the “stronger together” spirit encouraging us to focus on common goals that are in line with our constitution. Furthermore, for the year 2020 program prime meetings (Cabinet Lekgotla and SONA) will set tone and the marchings orders in the early part of the last quarter of the current financial year.

Please find below the highlights of this month;

South Africa will Chair the African Union in 2020

South Africa was elected at the 32nd AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government to the Chair the AU in 2020. The role of the Chair will be inherited from the Arab Republic of Egypt to continue the good work. A high level delegation from the African Union visited South Africa on 22 November 2019. The purpose of the visit was for President Ramaphosa to be briefed on his upcoming crucial role and the state of Affairs at the African Union. On the political side, during her tenure as the AU Chair, South Africa will focus positive efforts on unresolved conflicts on the continent. On the economic side, South Africa will support proper implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement. An increase in intra-Africa trade should be taken very serious for the good that it can do to the continent. Therefore, African solutions to African problems is expected to be a way forward chanted.

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will take place on 21—24 January 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is the foremost creative force for engaging the world's top leaders in collaborative activities to shape the global, regional and industry agendas at the beginning of each year. In this regard, the Forum's mission – improving the state of the world – guides the design and development of the Annual Meeting objectives.

Participants will come together at the Annual Meeting to address the most pressing issues on the global agenda. South Africa is a regular participant at the WEF, carrying the mandate of promoting South Africa’s ease of doing business.

24th East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition- EMITT 2020

South Africa will be participating at the EMITT 2020 in Tuyap Fair Convention and Congress Center, Istanbul from 30 January-2 February 2020. As usual, led by SA Tourism, South Africa’s participation will be facilitated by the South African Embassy in Ankara and South African Tourism (SAT). The MEC of Free State Economic Development and the MEC of Free State Agriculture will attend EMITT on the margins of their investment promotion part of economic diplomacy duties. This includes interacting with organised business structures in Istanbul.

As one of the top four tourism exhibitions worldwide, EMITT annually attracts about 60,000 industry professionals and tourists looking for new and exciting travel opportunities from destinations and travel service companies from across the globe. South Africa’s participation is expected to showcase a whole spectrum of South Africa’s tourism potential which includes but not limited to leisure, hotel, vehicle, food, health, art, outdoor safari, etc. I can guarantee you that as an exciting destination, South Africa continues to have more activities and wonders that haven’t been fully explored.

I encourage you to visit our website and social media accounts more often to keep up with developments and events realized both in South Africa and Turkey.

I wish you all a better 2020 full of accomplishments.

Tshepo Ranamane
South African Embassy in Ankara, Turkey