Official Visit of Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa Paul Mashatile, 10 to 12 December 2023

Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa Paul Mashatile wrapped up his Official Visit to Singapore today. Deputy President Mashatile called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 11 December 2023. Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat also hosted him to lunch today.

President Tharman and Deputy President Mashatile welcomed the longstanding relations between Singapore and South Africa, underpinned by strong people-to-people ties. President Tharman encouraged Deputy President Mashatile to continue working with Singapore on areas of mutual benefit such as water management, vocational education, the digital economy, pandemic preparedness, and air connectivity.

Prime Minister Lee and Deputy President Mashatile noted the positive momentum in bilateral relations, which included Prime Minister Lee’s Official Visit to South Africa in May 2023. Prime Minister Lee and Deputy President Mashatile reaffirmed both sides’ commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations, including through technical cooperation and improving air connectivity to facilitate greater exchanges between our respective regions. Prime Minister Lee and Deputy President Mashatile also agreed to continue both countries’ close cooperation at multilateral fora.

During their lunch today, Deputy Prime Minister Heng and Deputy President Mashatile reaffirmed the close ties between both countries and discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation, including in water management and through enhancing air connectivity. Deputy Prime Minister Heng and Deputy President Mashatile also visited the Giant Cola Tree in the Singapore Botanic Gardens that was dedicated to former President Nelson Mandela during his visit to Singapore in 1997.

Deputy President Mashatile also delivered a public lecture titled, “30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Africa and Singapore: Celebrating a journey of mutual respect, strategic partnership and cooperation” at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy this morning. Over the course of his visit, Deputy President Mashatile met Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment and Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Amy Khor and Minister of State for Education and Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang, and visited Marina Barrage and ITE College Central. He was also briefed on Singapore’s SkillsFuture movement.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

12 DECEMBER 2023

Photo Credit: MCI Photo by Betty Chua