President Cyril Ramaphosa’s historic state visit to the UK starts on Tuesday. 

The visit, aimed at strengthening ties and securing investments, comes amid rolling blackouts in South Africa as Eskom bumped up load-shedding to stage five on Monday.

Ramaphosa is expected to begin his morning with the prince and princess of Wales, William and Kate, who will escort him to the ceremonial welcome, the Horse Guards Parade.

This is where he will be welcomed by queen consort Camilla at the Royal Pavilion. He will then meet King Charles III and later head to Buckingham Palace.

Ramaphosa will also tour Westminster Abbey, where he will honour the Unknown Warrior and later address MPs in a joint sitting at the Palace of Westminster.

Later there will be a state banquet to welcome Ramaphosa and his delegation at Buckingham Palace, where he is expected to toast the king.

Ramaphosa is in the country for a two-state visit at the invitation of King Charles. The invitation was initially extended by the late Queen Elizabeth II before she died in September.

First lady Tshepo Motsepe, who was to join her husband, has been advised by doctors not to travel because she is recovering from eye surgery.  

This will be Ramaphosa’s fifth visit to the UK, having attended events such as the G7 Summit in Cornwall and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth. Former presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma also met the late queen.

Trade between the two countries is worth £10.7bn (about R219.4bn) annually and accounts for more than 30% of the UK’s trade with Africa. Direct investment is worth £19.4bn (R397.7bn), with UK companies the largest investors in South African renewables.

During his meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Ramaphosa is expected to raise the just energy transition, sanctions on Zimbabwe, Ukraine and African continental matters.

TimesLIVE