Issued by: The Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT STATE VISIT BY PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT, MR YASSER ARAFAT TO SOUT
The President of the State of Palestine, Mr Yasser Arafat, will pay a state visit to South Africa at the invitation of President Nelson Mandela from 11 to 13 August 1998.
The visit of President Arafat will serve to reinforce the growing relations between South Africa and Palestine. The simultaneous presence in South Africa of a Palestinian business delegation, as well as a technical delegation of senior officials responsible for health, education and water affairs from the Palestinian National Authority, bears testimony to this.
President Arafat's visit will, moreover, provide President Mandela with the opportunity to acquaint himself firsthand with the current state of the Middle East Peace Process, the successful outcome of which remains and has been for a considerable period, a cornerstone of South Africa's foreign policy in the Middle East.
This visit will afford South Africa the opportunity to reaffirm its desire to see a successful return to the "Oslo Process", which it firmly believes is the only way to reach a just ad lasting peace in the region.
President Arafat will commence his visit on Tuesday, 11 August 1998, in Cape Town. He is due to meet the President and Deputy President and later the same day, will attend a State Banquet in his honour at Tuynhuys. President Arafat will address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on 12 August and that evening, will deliver a keynote address to civil society hosted by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in Pretoria.
South Africa recognised the State of Palestine on 15 February 1995.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 9 August 1998