South African president Ramaphosa to make state visit to UK

FILE PHOTO: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to questions in parliament surrounding cash allegedly kept on his private farm, and on frequent power outages, as South Africa's struggling power utility Eskom implements regular power cuts, in Cape Town, South Africa, September 29, 2022. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will make a state visit to Britain, Buckingham Palace said on Monday, the first such visit since King Charles succeeded his late mother Queen Elizabeth last month.

Ramaphosa and his wife, Tshepo Motsepe, have accepted an invitation from the new British monarch for the Nov. 22-24 state visit, the palace said.

Former South African presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma all made state visits to Britain.

Britain exported 4 billion pounds ($4.5 billion) of goods and services to South Africa in 2021 and its imports from the country were worth about 8 billion pounds, according to British data. Britain is South Africa's fourth-biggest export market.

($1 = 0.8961 pounds)

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Nick Macfie)