Anti-Zuma march forces state visit by Qatar leader to proceed earlier
President ends up hosting Sheikh Tamim at night, a diplomacy first for SA
In a bid to prevent Qatari visitors from witnessing first hand the calls for President Jacob Zuma to step down‚ there was an eleventh hour change to the Amir of Qatar’s state visit to South Africa, sparking some discontent between the gulf state towards their host.
Last night Zuma hosted his counterpart Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani in a state visit that was initially planned for today. The event was moved around until it was finally held at night at the Union Buildings, a rare occurrence in South African diplomacy.
TimesLIVE understands that due to the protest march to the Union Buildings planned by opposition parties for today‚ security officials advised that the event be held a day earlier.
Sources with knowledge of the matter said the event was moved to yesterday to avoid any embarrassment of the Qatari guests witnessing the protesters.
Protocol teams were then advised to make preparations for the event. However‚ according to sources‚ Zuma changed his mind asking for the event be moved to today once again‚ sparking disapproval from the Qataris.
The gulf state refused to be dictated to by Pretoria and insisted that the event go ahead. Zuma’s spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga, however, denied that the SA government was protecting itself from embarrassment by rescheduling the planned state visit.
“Marches to the Union Buildings have not prevented the president from executing his duties or the Presidency from functioning before‚” he said.
Ngqulunga said the president will today host a luncheon for the emir at the presidential guesthouse - a few hundred kilometers from the Union Buildings.
He earlier stated that the state visit was aimed at deepening good relations between the two countries. “The visit by the Emir will further review progress in South Africa-Qatar bilateral political and economic relations and identify three short-term projects in the fields of trade and investment‚ agriculture and oceans economy‚” the statement read.
Political parties, including the DA‚ the EFF and the UDM pledged to march to the Union Buildings today, citing Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle which saw the axing of finance minister Pravin Gordhan and the subsequent downgrade to junk status by S&P and Fitch as the reason for the mass action.