South Africa News

German president salutes President Ramaphosa

German president salutes President Ramaphosa. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday praised President Cyril Ramaphosa for probing the state capture scandal, saying the government’s newfound commitment to fighting corruption was an encouraging sign for German investors.

He says the government’s commitment to fighting corruption is encouraging foreign investors. At a joint media briefing with Ramaphosa after one-on-one talks at Tuynhuis, Steinmeier said: “We have come at a time when interest in Germany in South Africa has grown anew.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier“In Germany we are following, with interest, acknowledgement, and respect, the new politics you have founded here in South Africa, with the strengthening of the independence of the judiciary, with the pursuit of transparency, and with the prosecution of corruption, the efforts of state institutions against what you, here in South Africa, call state capture.

“It is a very important message to the international community that is being noted.”

Steinmeier said there was nothing as likely to dissuade German investors as a climate in which corruption flourished and he, therefore, believed that his visit, the first by a German president to South Africa in 20 years, was well-timed and would serve to deepen ties.

The German president is being accompanied by a strong business delegation, which includes the executives of Siemens and state-owned development bank KfW, on his three-day trip.