Pretoria - South Africa and Germany have signed five agreements amounting to about R5.89 billion aimed at boosting development cooperation between the two countries.
The agreements were signed by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and German Ambassador Horst Freitag on Friday.
Freitag said Germany continued to support South Africa as it tries to address some of its challenges. “South Africa is one of our most important global development partners,” said the Ambassador.
“Our development cooperation is an integral part of our broader cooperation in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres, bearing testimony to a successful partnership between countries of the Northern and Southern hemisphere in a changing world,” Freitag said.
Minister Nene welcomed the support from Germany, saying he was looking forward to the successful implementation of the cooperation which is aligned to the priorities articulated in the National Development Plan.
“On behalf of the citizens of South Africa, the recipients of your support, we would like to express our gratitude for the long standing partnership with the German government and hope to strengthen the collaboration going forward.” Minister Nene said.
Development cooperation between South Africa and Germany dates back to 1992.
To date, the financial and technical contribution from the Germany to South Africa is just over R 14.4 billion, which includes the allocation from the last round of government to government negotiations held in 2012.
This amount has gone towards empowering people, transfer of skills and the building of institutional capabilities.
Over the last 20 years, bilateral cooperation has matured into a partnership, where Germany supports South African priorities. The partnership is focused on the areas of energy and climate change, HIV/AIDS prevention and good governance.
