President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki yesterday (26) at the Presidential Secretariat, marking Mbeki’s first official visit to Sri Lanka.
During the meeting, Mbeki expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to visit the country, stating that he has long observed Sri Lanka’s progress toward national unity and reconciliation with great interest.
According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), Mbeki emphasized that although South Africa and Sri Lanka are geographically distant, both nations share multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multicultural societies, as well as similar challenges in achieving peace and reconciliation.
He conveyed his willingness to share South Africa’s experiences and lessons learned from its own reconciliation journey, offering support to Sri Lanka during this critical time.
Mbeki also voiced his confidence in President Dissanayake’s leadership, saying he believed the President had the ability to unite Sri Lanka’s diverse communities and navigate the country through ongoing economic and reconciliation-related challenges.
President Dissanayake reaffirmed his commitment to fostering national harmony and advancing reconciliation efforts. He stressed the importance of building unity among all ethnic groups while steering the nation toward stability and economic progress.
Among those present at the meeting were:
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Sandile Schalk, South African High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
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Maxwell Boqwana, CEO of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation
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Lukhanyo Neer, COO of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation
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Ananda Wijepala, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs
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Roshan Gamage, Senior Additional Secretary to the President
The visit reflects growing international interest in Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process and underscores the potential for knowledge exchange between nations with shared post-conflict experiences.
