The State Visit by King Willem- Alexander and Queen Máxima to South Africa will take place from 18 to 20 October 2023. This will be the second visit of a Dutch monarch since Queen Beatrix visited South Africa at the invitation of President Nelson Mandela in 1996.
President Ramaphosa will officially welcome their Majesties at a Welcome Ceremony on Thursday, 19 October 2023, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Following the welcome ceremony, President Ramaphosa and King Willem-Alexander will lead their respective delegations in official talks.
The King will be accompanied by a delegation including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, as well as the Minister of Education, Culture and Science. The delegation will also include a business component of about one hundred people, as well as the Presidents of twenty-five universities and academic institutions of the Netherlands.
It is further envisaged that a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Fields of Higher, Technical and Vocational Education, will be signed on the margins of the visit.
The Netherlands is a major investor in the South African economy and one of South Africa’s significant trading partners. Total trade doubled between 2019 and 2022 when it reached R122 billion. The Netherlands is also the fourth largest source of overseas tourists to South Africa, even though the numbers declined significantly during the covid pandemic. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, South Africa received 144,071 Dutch tourists, but the number declined to only 21,755 in 2021, before recovering to 90,289 in 2022.
The visit by Their Majesties the King and Queen not only illustrates the importance of the bilateral relationship between the two countries, but will accelerate cooperation in areas that bring benefits to the peoples of both countries.
Incoming kingdom of the Netherlands state visit media programme
Date: Thursday, 19 October 2023
Arrival of media and issuing of media accreditation
Time: 08:00 - 09:00
Venue: Government Avenue Entrance, Union Buildings
Welcome ceremony
Time: 10:00
Venue: Nelson Mandela Amphitheater, Union Buildings
South Africa – Netherlands official talks
Time: 11:00
Venue: Union Buildings
Official talks report back
Time: 12:30
Venue: Courtyard, Union Buildings
Media enquiries:
Vincent Magwenya
Spokesperson to the President
E-mail: media@presidency.gov.za
