Cyril Ramaphosa to skip Davos to deal with urgent issues at home

President Cyril Ramaphosa will not attend summits in London and Davos.

He will instead focus his attention on “pressing domestic priorities”.

The presidency has confirmed that Ramaphosa will prepare for the ANC lekgotla taking place on Sunday and Monday‚ followed by the cabinet lekgotla.

SA would be represented in Davos and London by senior government and civil society representatives led by finance minister Tito Mboweni and international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor, spokesperson Khusela Diko said.

Ramaphosa’s administration is facing intense pressure related to the dismal state of Eskom which is expected to be at the centre of fierce debate at the ANC meeting this weekend.

She said Ramaphosa was also preparing to take over as chair of the AU at its summit in February.

Earlier on Thursday‚ Mboweni announced that he would focus on structural reform in his talks at Davos.

Ramaphosa told the gathering of world leaders last year that he was serious about dealing with corruption.

Davos is often touted as a talk shop but the presidency said Ramaphosa was “confident that the nation will benefit from the participation of the government and civil society delegations in the Davos and London events”.