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SA appoints Ramaphosa to deal SL issue
Adding more muscle to its role in Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process, South Africa has officially appointed Cyril Ramaphosa who headed the African National Congress (ANC) delegation that negotiated the end of apartheid with the white government in 1991, as its envoy to deal with Sri Lanka on the matter, a minister said yesterday. After the first democratic election in 1994, Mr. Ramaphosa became a Member of Parliament and was later elected chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly. South African President Jacob Zuma, in his address to the nation, announced the appointment of Mr. Ramaphosa last week.
Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa Ibrahim Ibrahim and Roelf Meyer visited Sri Lanka and held talks with the Sri Lankan authorities. Mr. Meyer was the head of delegation that represented the white government of South Africa during talks with the ANC.
External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told the Daily Mirror yesterday a Sri Lankan delegation led by Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was to leave for South Africa yesterday to hold talks with the authorities of that country on February 20 and 21.
The delegation comprises Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha, External Affairs Minister Monitoring MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardane and Presidential Advisor Arun Thambimuttu.
Prof. Peiris said Sri Lanka and South Africa had interacted with each other over a period of time, and this was an exercise to share its experience.
“There is no need to reinvent the wheel. There are countries that had to deal with the issues of this nature. However, the contexts are different. There are no identical situations. It is always adaptable to our own interests,” he said.
The Minister said talks would focus particularly the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with the aim of understanding the manner in which that exercise can help in Sri Lanka’s own reconciliation process, following the defeat of terrorism.
This initiative is a result of the recent discussions between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and South African President Jacob Zuma when the latter visited Sri Lanka for CHOGM last year. (Kelum Bandara)
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