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Joint Communique on the Ministerial Meeting between South Africa
and Zambia, 18 October 2005 1. At the invitation of the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Zambia's Foreign
Minister Hon. Rev. Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha, visited South Africa on 18 October
2005. This was a follow-up to the Deputy Ministers meeting which took place in
Tshwane on 3 October 2005. 2. Minister Shikapwasha was accompanied by Ambassador
Sinyinza, Director for Political Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
as well as other senior officials. 3. Minister Dlamini Zuma was accompanied
by South Africa's High Commissioner to Zambia and senior officials of the Department
of Foreign Affairs 4. Minister Dlamini Zuma welcomed Minister Shikapwasha
and his delegation to South Africa, remembering with appreciation the solidarity
and support Zambia had given to the liberation struggle in South Africa. She further
reiterated South Africa's commitment to close fraternal relations with Zambia.
Discussions were held in a friendly and constructive manner. Both Parties noted
with satisfaction the excellent relations between the two countries. Minister
Shikapwasha thanked the South African Government and its people for the quick
reaction and excellent gesture shown to the Zambian people during the recent fuel
crisis. The Zambian Foreign Minister, further congratulated South Africa on behalf
of his government on the efforts to bring about peace and stability on the Continent. 5.
The Heads of Delegation reaffirmed their intention to work towards the further
strengthening of bilateral relations, as well as to intensify the close co-operation
between the two countries for the future well-being of both their peoples, and
for the benefit of the African continent as a whole. The heads of Delegation noted
that although they meet often in multilateral meetings, most recently at the SADC
summit and at UNGA, these forums cannot replace bilateral meetings of this nature,
which provide a platform to examine closely, issues of mutual importance between
the two countries. 6. Amongst other issues discussed were; The status
of bilateral political and economic relations between both countries; political
and economic relations in the SADC region; developments in Africa including conflict
areas and post conflict reconstruction and development initiatives in the DRC
and Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan and the Comoros. 7. The Ministers noted the report
of the senior officials meeting between South Africa and Zambia which took place
on 14 October 2005 in Pretoria. Areas of co-operation and agreements still outstanding
between the two Governments were discussed. 8. An Agreement on the Establishment
of a Commission for the Operation of the 1996 General Agreement on Cooperation
in the Economic, Social, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Fields, was signed.
This agreement would provide the two Governments with a process to implement co-operation
in a structured and workable format. The need for such an instrument had been
expressed by the Zambian Government in 2004. 9. The Ministers noted progress
already made with regard to Agreements already signed. These are in the areas
of Air and Road Services [1992], Mutual assistance on customs matters and Defence
Cooperation [2002]. 10. The Ministers further urged officials to expedite
discussions on the outstanding agreements so that they could be concluded in the
near future. Pretoria, 18 October 2005 | 
