Presidency clarifies Zuma’s scheduling changes

The Presidency has clarified why President Jacob Zuma was not able to attend a panel discussion with other leaders at CNBC.

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Johannesburg - The Presidency has clarified that President Jacob Zuma was not able to attend a panel discussion with other leaders at CNBC because of scheduling changes.

This comes after news broke on Thursday that Rwandan President Paul Kagame had replaced his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, on a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum 2016 in Davos, Switzerland.

Independent Media had been told by forum organisers that Zuma had a prior engagement and that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had been suggested as his replacement.

However, according to forum protocol, a head of state cannot be replaced by any other government official and the debate will now proceed without any South African input.

The Presidency says it informed the organisers “last week already” that Zuma was unavailable for the CNBC panel and they knew before Team SA left the country that he could not attend due to scheduling changes.

”We indicated early his non-availability. We also indicated the availability of the Minister of Finance Mr Pravin Gordhan for the slot. Our advance team in Davos also emphasised the message to the Organising team last week.”

The Presidency did not indicate what other appointment Zuma had to keep.

In Zuma's absence, the debate - Africa's next challenge - continued, with Kagame joined by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina and Ericsson CEO, Hans Vestberg of Sweden.

The focal point of the debate is to centre around how the Fourth Industrial Revolution may impact Africa.

IOL