President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid his condolences to Russian leader Vladimir Putin after more than 133 people were killed in an attack in Moscow.

Ramaphosa said he will call Putin in the next few days to pay his condolences for the loss of many lives in the attack.

Other than to discuss the latest attack on Russian soil, Ramaphosa will discuss with Putin the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Director-General in the department of international relations Zane Dangor and Ramaphosa’s legal adviser Nokukhanya Jele were in Kyiv this week where they met with senior officials to discuss the peace process.

Ramaphosa led six African leaders to Ukraine and Russia last year when they met with Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin.

The president said he was sorry about the events on Saturday in Russia.

“We were shocked and saddened to hear that up to 40 people, if not more, have been killed. We pay our condolences to the people of Russia. I will be talking to president Putin in the next few days and intend to pay our condolences and, of course, we congratulate him on his victory and to discuss many other things, including the Ukraine-Russia war or conflict.

“Its always sad when so many people are killed in a terror attack. Our condolences go to the people of Russia during this difficult time for them,” said Ramaphosa during his campaign in the Eastern Cape on Saturday.

Earlier he addressed the youth on a number of issues.

Ramaphosa said government will spend R300 billion in infrastructure projects across the country.

He said they were also working on fixing the ports and the electricity challenges.

Transnet is said to be costing the economy billions a year because of the damaged railway network. But the government said a few weeks ago Transnet was improving its efficiencies and this has seen a drop in the number of ships waiting to offload cargo.

Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa also said they will expand transmission lines as part of Eskom’s transmission development plan. They are seeking investments from the private sector to invest in the expansion programme.

Ramaphosa said on Saturday they will invest R300bn in infrastructure projects in a bid to boost the economy.

Ramaphosa was campaigning in the Eastern Cape when he raised the issue.

He said the African National Congress (ANC) will deliver on six priorities outlined in the manifesto.

One of the priorities for the ANC was create millions of jobs in the five years.

The second priority for the ANC was to build new industries.

But the government will be investing billions in infrastructure projects.

“We are going to be spending about R300bn around the country on infrastructure. Our infrastructure build programme is now taking off and this infrastructure build programme is going to be supported by you, by the skills that we are learning.

“I want you to also focus on asking yourself as you go on with your education, what skills does the economy need, what skill is the economy going to need going forward,” Ramaphosa told young people during a dialogue in the Eastern Cape.

He also said more than 60% of the government budget goes to health, education and social services.

The government will continue play a role in the transformation of the economy.

siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za

IOL Politics

#act-of-bioterrorism

Ramaphosa shocked by attacks in Russia

‘Africans have traditional ways of addressing conflict, and we should look towards those approaches’