Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma has told the National Assembly that SA relations with neighbouring Botswana were set to deepen.
Zuma was responding to an oral question in Parliament, which touched on media reports that the ANC Youth League planned to send a team to that country to "consolidate opposition parties."
"Botswana is a democratic country, it goes to democratic elections. Whatever the government does there is in line with the will of the Batswana people.
"Political relations between South Africa and Botswana remain strong, cordial and mutually beneficial, and with good reason.
"History has bound the two countries and peoples in a friendship and kinship that goes beyond normal diplomatic relations.
"Our relations were cemented during the days of our struggle for liberation from colonial oppression and apartheid," the President told MPs and a gallery packed with both local and foreign visitors.
Zuma said Botswana President Lieutenant General Seretse Ian Khama visited SA last October, and he would be visiting that country early next year following an invitation.
During the visit, he said the two countries had cemented bilateral relations to the level of Bi-national Commission (BNC) chaired by the respective Heads of State.
"The BNC will meet annually, alternating between Tshwane and Gaborone," he said.
Asked about the Libyan question by the house, the President said South Africa was part of the African Union and likewise would not recognise the newly formed National Transition Council (NTC) set up following the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
He condemned the bombing of Libya by Nato, saying that some countries, including the Arab League, had "abused" the 1973 UN Security Council resolution.
"We have criticised the Nato forces," he said, indicating that the world was clear on SA's position on the Libyan matter. - BuaNews
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