ANC and RPF want closer relationship

The ruling parties of South Africa and Rwanda have agreed to build a “closer working relationship” and to work against ethnic and racial intolerance to enable the “African Renaissance” to take root. A statement by South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) on Friday said a two-day meeting in Johannesburg with a delegation from the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by its secretary-general, Charles Murigande, had discussed efforts to bring peace and stability in the Great Lakes region. The two parties shared “a number of commonalities”, including liberation struggles waged against discrimination, segregation and oppression and a strong commitment to national unity and reconciliation, the statement said. The ANC and the RPF agreed to promote “inter-party political, economic and social activities” and to influence their respective governments to achieve goals “recognised as mutually beneficial,” it said.