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As a delegate from the South African Parliament attending the plenary of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) today, I can confirm that individual members have expressed their concerns regarding comments made in Johannesburg this week by President Jacob Zuma that: “We can’t think like Africans in Africa. It’s not some national road in Malawi.”

For the President of the host country of the PAP to make comments such as this is deeply concerning and entirely unacceptable. It is no small diplomatic blunder. It has major implications for the work of South Africans who represent our country in these multi-national forums.

I will urge the delegation from the South African Parliament to support calls for President Zuma to retract and apologise for his comments regarding Malawi. It has no place in our discourse and should not have been uttered in the first place.

President Zuma now has an opportunity to correct this mistake by answering questions in Parliament, as submitted by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP.

He should make use of this opportunity, so that he can start cleaning up the mess he has created.