KIGALI- President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa’s borders need to be open for people, particularly Africans said that they can move more freely and to promote business.
He supported the need for a single currency on the continent.
Ramaphosa speaking to journalists after a summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area on Wednesday said,
“The easy movement of people across borders and countries should never be seen in a negative sense by us as South Africans”.
“There is a deep yearning in Rwanda and the region for this visa matter to be resolved, and we need to open up the borders of our country and allow people to move,” he said.
South Africa and Rwanda have had tough and weakened relations since 2010, and the relations worsen in 2014, when diplomats from both sides were suspended after a Rwandan opposition leader was murdered in South Africa.
This resulted of the South African visa office to Rwanda close and Rwandans had to travel outside the country to get visas to South Africa.
Ramaphosa on Wednesday signed the Kigali Declaration, a sign of South Africa’s commitment to moving towards a free trade area in the continent.
However it stops short of signing of an actual African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and the Protocol on the Free Movement of People, as the process needs to go through outstanding internal legal issues and Constitutional processes need to be followed.
Photo Credit- eNCA
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