President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday attend the 8th Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) Heads of State and Government Summit in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
He will lead a delegation comprising Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel; Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza; Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana and the South African Revenue Service Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter.
The working visit is at the invitation of the current Chair of SACU, His Majesty King Mswati III and the iNgwenyama of the Kingdom of Eswatini. This year’s summit will be preceded by the meeting of the Council of Ministers taking place on 27 – 28 June 2023.
According to the Presidency, the Council of Ministers meeting will reflect and update on the status of the implementation of the SACU Strategic Plan 2022 – 2027, of which the Heads of State and Government will provide political and strategic guidance.
Established in 1910, SACU is the oldest Customs Union in the world. Since its agreed new dispensation by its five members states (Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) in 2002, it has assumed the status of an international organization, which facilitates compliance with the World Trade Organisation treaty in pursuit of its goal of regional economic integration.
