The Director-General of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Zane Dangor, and his counterpart, Mr Lounes Magramane, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Community Abroad, of the People`s Democratic Republic of Algeria, held Political Consultations during a Working Visit to South Africa. The consultations formed part of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) mechanism at the Senior Officials level between the two countries.

South Africa and Algeria enjoy very good political and fraternal relations dating back to the period when Algeria supported the South African anti-Apartheid struggle. Furthermore, these consultations took place within the current context of a challenging global geo-political landscape characterised by rising tensions and conflicts that threaten to further destabilise international peace and security, including the multilateral system. During the meeting, among others, they exchanged views on developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the Sahel, and other conflict situations on the African continent, as well as other critical matters of global concern such as climate change.

Director-General Dangor and Secretary General Magramane also discussed areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly in many areas such as political, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, and people-to-people matters. Relations between South Africa and Algeria in the past three decades were initially anchored in the formation of a Ministerial Joint Bi-National Commission of Cooperation (JBC) in 1998 and later with its elevation to a Bi-National Commission (BNC) at Heads of State, established in 2000. The latter provides a framework for the consolidation and deepening of bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of both countries. In this regard, the visit and the consultations held, contributed towards the strengthening of bilateral relations.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.