South Africa President Says It ‘Can Learn A Lot’ From Israeli Tech

Perhaps President Cyril Ramaphosa is reconsidering his support for the anti-Semitic BDS Movement. You see South Africa is currently being ravaged by it’s worst drought in decades, putting millions of South Africa’s citizens at risk.

Israel can help South Africa’s deal with it’s profound water and agriculture challenges, as it has done with dozens of countries across the continent of Africa. Unfortunately, the terrorists in the Palestinian Authority have been successful in preventing such life saving co-operation.

How much longer can the Palestinian Authority prevent South Africa from engaging Israel? When Israel and South Africa begin to have warm relations, it will be the beginning of the end of the automatic majority against Israel at the United Nations.

As South Africa cools ties, leader says it ‘can learn a lot’ from Israeli tech

A month after confirming intention to downgrade Tel Aviv embassy to liaison office, Cyril Ramaphosa hails Startup Nation as ‘leading by leaps and bounds’

By Times Of Israel, November 7, 2019:

The president of South Africa this week hailed Israel’s startup economy as “leading by leaps and bounds,” saying that his country has much to learn from the Jewish state.

Addressing a Women in Business Conference in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed so-called challenge funds, a tool he said Israelis had successful used to boost their tech sector.

“In many ways, that is what has gotten Israel to lead in the technology space,” he said. “They are leading by leaps and bounds, and they are actually innovative in a number of sectors of the economy, in agriculture, in maritime and in a number of other areas. They have shown that they can lead. And we can learn a lot from what they do.”

Israel’s Ambassador to South Africa Lior Keinan took to Twitter on Thursday to welcome Ramaphosa’s statement:

We are delighted to see #Israeli tech discussed by President @CyrilRamaphosa . Israel has become a world leader in #innovation and #entrepreneurship and will continue to encourage avenues of cooperation between Israel and South Africa. ???????????????? https://t.co/FeKq793XyC

—Lior Keinan (@LiorKeinan) November 7, 2019

The prowess of Israel’s tech industry has been widely acknowledged, but Ramaphosa’s comment is noteworthy because the South African government has long been publicly vowing to downgrade its embassy in Tel Aviv to a mere “liaison office.”

In December 2017, the African National Council — the country’s ruling party headed by Ramaphosa — at its biannual National Conference unanimously passed a resolution calling on the government to turn Pretoria’s embassy in Ramat Gan into a liaison office.

The last South African ambassador to Israel, Sisa Ngombane, ended his tour in mid-2018. Jerusalem does not expect Pretoria to send a replacement in the near future, which could be described as a de facto downgrading of bilateral ties.