Your Excellency Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic,
Honourable Ministers,
Ambassadors,
Senior Officials,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening.

Allow me to begin by thanking you, Your Excellency, President Macron, for receiving us and for the generous hospitality to our delegation.

Earlier today I co-chaired the Leaders Group meeting of the High-Level Steering Committee on Education alongside the Director-General of UNESCO; and attended the Transforming Education Summit +4.

These engagements were productive and outcomes oriented; and South Africa is honoured to be part of shaping the future of global education that really is the bedrock upon which the entire Agenda 2030 rests.

France is a key strategic partner for South Africa, and we enjoy longstanding bilateral cooperation spanning trade and investment, energy, defence, education, people-to-people exchange and other fields.

Today’s engagement is a welcome opportunity to exchange views on global developments of mutual interest, as well as to review our progress in advancing our bilateral priorities. 

The South Africa–France Forum for Political Dialogue has played a key role in this regard.

Following your state visit to South Africa in 2021, Mr. President, the Forum was elevated to a Joint Ministerial Commission. (JMC). I am pleased that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed today by our respective Foreign Ministers. This step affirms our shared commitment to deepening our bilateral cooperation.

The economic relationship between South Africa and France is growing from strength to strength.

In March this year we held a successful 6th South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg where there was a strong showing by French companies.

This is a premier event for showcasing the opportunities for domestic and international investors in the South African economy, aligned with our national investment drive. This year, thirty French companies pledged approximately EUR 1,11 billion (ZAR 20,7 billion) in investments across a range of key economic sectors.

This demonstrates the increasing confidence French business has in our economy and future growth prospects. As we embark on the largest mass infrastructure build in our country’s history, we look forward to participation by French firms in this as well as other sectors.

Further to deepening cooperation, I have been briefed by our officials that several agreements are currently under negotiation, including an Agreement on Transport Related Matters; on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy; and a Draft Declaration of Intent on Mobility.

Our two countries continue to collaborate in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation. Allow me to congratulate France for becoming a full member of the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), making it the 14th Member State of the intergovernmental organization.

I am told that the recently held Joint Committee Meeting on Science, Technology and Innovation was a productive one. The priority focus areas for cooperation include Artificial Intelligence (AI), oceans and Marine Sciences, and soil health and water.

We welcome this ongoing cooperation in pursuit of innovation-led growth and environmental sustainability.

With respect to bilateral defence cooperation, both sides have agreed to convene the long overdue 13th Defence Strategic Dialogue to take stock of implementation of the MoU on Defence Cooperation, and to explore additional areas of cooperation. It is expected that the Strategic Dialogue will take place in South Africa in October this year.

France and South Africa continue to advance cultural diplomacy between our two countries to develop our respective creative industries. This relationship has a key role to play in harnessing the potential of the sector to support growth, transformation, social cohesion and job creation.

Your Excellency, President Macron,

At a time of significant geopolitical and economic shifts, we are confronting multiple, complex and interconnected challenges.

Conflicts and wars, trade tensions, climate impacts, pandemics, poverty and unemployment, and inequality within and between nations - threaten to undermine our quest to achieve a more peaceful, egalitarian and sustainable world.

Multilateralism is the most effective means for addressing these collective global challenges.

No country can resolve these issues in isolation. The current global environment requires stronger partnerships, collective action, and a renewed commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.

Allow me to take this opportunity to thank France for your support of our G20 Presidency convened under the theme ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.’ It remains critical that the actions contained in the historic Leaders Declaration are taken forward in both letter and spirit.

Lastly, your Excellency,

This coming Sunday I will be presiding over the commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood at the Memorial in Longueval.

South Africa wishes to thank the French government and the people of France for its ongoing support in maintaining the Memorial.

The commemoration of Delville Wood is a reminder that even in an era shaped by new global challenges, the values for which so many sacrificed—peace, freedom, human dignity and equality—remain the enduring foundations of our shared humanity.

Our common destiny lies in working together to uphold these universal ideals for the benefit of present and future generations.

Your Excellency, with these words I thank you once again for welcoming us and I look forward to our engagement.
 

Director-General of UNESCO, Prof Khaled El-Enany;
Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Ms. Amina Mohammed;
Distinguished Ministers and global education leaders;
Permanent Delegations and Ambassadors accredited to UNESCO;
Delegates;

The founding father of democratic South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, said that education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

These words ring as true today as when they were first spoken. 

Education builds. It unlocks human potential. It dismantles ignorance. Every classroom and every lesson empowers the individual to transform not only their own lives but also their communities, their societies and their countries.

Across the world we see examples of this transformative potential.

In the east African nation of Rwanda, sustained investment in education has helped rebuild a nation once scarred by conflict into one of Africa’s fastest-growing knowledge economies.

In China, investment in education over the past four decades has transformed a once predominantly agrarian society into the world’s second largest economy, lifting more than 800 million people out of poverty in the process.

In India, education investment has helped build a skilled workforce whose tech talent is amongst the most highly sought in the global marketplace.

From my own country, South Africa, comes a story of optimism and hope.

Last year we achieved the highest school-leaving certificate pass rate in our democratic history. 

What makes this all the more extraordinary is that the majority of those passes qualifying for university entry were learners from poor communities.

These are young people who will go on to pursue their dreams at a university, technical or vocational college of their choice, where they will study for free.

This is a generation taking up opportunity that would have been denied to their parents and grandparents under apartheid.

These stories are a powerful reminder that when opportunity is extended, education becomes not merely a ladder out of poverty, but a tool with which a nation can transform itself, as President Mandela said.

It has been four years since the Transforming Education Summit called us to action, and the 2024 Global Meeting strengthened that call through the Fortaleza Declaration. 

When we convened in 2022, the global education crisis had been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 140 countries committed to recover learning losses, to close equity gaps, to strengthen our teachers, and to ensure that no child would be left behind.

The pandemic may be behind us, but serious challenges remain. Tightening fiscal conditions impact our ability to invest in education. Conflicts and climate-related shocks are disrupting education and displacing millions. At the same time, we stand at the threshold of a technological revolution that will fundamentally reshape the skills our young people need to thrive.

TES Plus 4 must take stock of the targets and objectives that Member States set for themselves, assess the progress we have made, learn from the challenges we have encountered, and renew our commitment to delivering on the promise of transforming education. Our credibility will be measured not by the aspirations we declare, but by the progress we achieve for learners everywhere.

Today, as we review progress toward SDG 4, we must celebrate genuine achievements while confronting uncomfortable truths. 

The dashboard of country commitments launched at our 2024 stock-take shows us where nations are advancing, where progress has stalled, and where urgent action is required.

This transparency is not meant to shame us—it is meant to empower us.

Much work still lies ahead to make sure that all children have access to educational opportunities in which they build strong early learning foundations and then go on to develop the skills needed to thrive in a fast-changing world.

The teaching profession stands at the heart of any meaningful education transformation. Across our world, teachers strive to perform their duties under extremely difficult conditions. These include inadequate compensation, insufficient professional development, overwhelming classroom sizes, and the profound emotional toll of teaching in an era of growing uncertainty and mental health crises among young people. We cannot transform education without transforming the conditions under which our teachers work and the respect with which we treat them.

Similarly, we cannot achieve SDG 4 without prioritising equity and inclusion with absolute clarity and purpose. Inclusive quality education means reaching all learners, whether they are male or female, able-bodied or living with disabilities, urban or rural, rich or poor. 

Without equity at the centre of education policy, reform risks reproducing the very inequalities it seeks to overcome.

We are now at the midpoint between our 2022 commitments and the 2030 deadline. This is not a time for incremental adjustments or business as usual. This is a time for bold, system-wide transformation that builds more resilient, adaptive, and future-ready education systems.

Resilience means building education systems that are not fragile branches bending in the wind, but sturdy forests with deep roots and the capacity to regenerate. 

The work ahead requires coordinated action across the entire global education community. It demands sustained political commitment at the highest levels. It requires adequate, innovative, and sustainable financing. It depends on the voices and agency of young people themselves who are most affected by education transformation and who must be partners in shaping it.

During South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 last year, we sought to align the outcomes of our Presidency with the SGD4 global agenda by championing foundation quality learning, strengthening the education profession and promoting mutual recognition of qualifications and skills across borders.

We encourage Member States of the TES Plus 4 to maintain strong alignment between the education priorities advanced through the G20 and the work of this important Summit.

As we move forward from TES Plus 4 to the critical milestones of 2027 and beyond, we must carry with us a clear sense of shared purpose. We must move from commitment to implementation, from promises to results, from statements to accountability.

To the young people in this room, I say this: your education is not simply about gaining qualifications. It is about equipping yourselves to solve the problems of your generation.

Your education must prepare you not just to inherit the world we leave you, but to transform it.

To my fellow leaders, I say: education is the most powerful investment we can make in the future of our respective nations. Every dollar spent on quality education returns many times over in economic growth, social stability, and human dignity.

The time for transformation is now. The responsibility is ours. The future belongs to those we educate. Let us move forward together. 

I thank you.

Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and my co-chair of today’s meeting, Prof. Khaled El-Enany;
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina Mohamed;
Your Excellencies, members of the High-Level Steering Committee;
Ministers and global education leaders;
Guests;
Ladies and gentlemen;

Good morning.

It is indeed an honour for South Africa to co-chair this Leaders Group meeting alongside the Director-General.

SDG 4 occupies a unique position in that it is the bedrock and the enabler of the other SDGs. It is a catalyst for expanding human capability, unlocking opportunity, and delivering progress across the full ambition of Agenda 2030.

We meet at a time when our world faces complex and interconnected challenges including conflicts, pandemics, poverty and inequality, and the worsening impacts of climate change. This makes the global SDG 4 agenda more critical than ever.

Inclusive and equitable quality education is the key to building resilience and to fostering sustainable societies.

Three pillars are at the center of our Committee’s work, namely; foundational and lifelong learning, the teaching profession, and inclusive digital transformation.

Strong literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills are the scaffolding that holds up the educational journey.

The learning environment thrives and outcomes vastly improve when teachers are capacitated, given the necessary resources, and supported in their work.

Digital transformation in education is a non-negotiable if we are to adequately prepare today’s learners for the workplaces, economies and societies of the future.

Global public policy has long recognised that beyond being a universal human right, education is a public good.

As such, it must be safeguarded against commodification, and from becoming a privilege that excludes millions of people on account of geography, age, income, gender or personal circumstances. This is what leaving no-one behind means.

For education to deliver on its universal and timeless promise, we have to fix the way it is financed.

Last March, the Global Partnership for Education, UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and G7 partners endorsed the Sustainable Financing Pathways. This is a country-owned blueprint that moves us away from fragmented aid to credible, long-term fiscal frameworks.

Leveraging domestic resources is at the heart of this model, as is ensuring that both concessional finance and private capital are aligned with national strategies.

Innovation is key, and we are already seeing instruments such as debt-for-education swaps being piloted in Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire, with the view to scale.

We know that in far too many instances globally, scarce financial resources that could be invested in education are being lost or witted away due to mismanagement, corruption and poor planning.

There are notable initiatives underway to strengthen public financial management in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordon, in Madagascar, in Burkina Faso and other countries, and these must be encouraged and supported.

Finally, we are already shaping what comes after 2030.

Through an ambitious consultation that began in January, 20,000 young people from 95 countries have told us what they need. They want barriers to education access removed: greater attention to mental health, flexible learning pathways, and a tangible role in decision-making.

At the same time, 747 experts from 111 countries are mapping the megatrends that will define education in the decades ahead. Their insights will feed into the Global Education Futures Outlook that will be presented at the 2027 Global Education Meeting.

Resilience, financing and the post-2030 agenda are streams travelling towards one destination, namely; resilient education systems that anticipate disruption, that adapt with equity, and that are ultimately transformative.

The responsibility now falls to each of us.

Member States must embed risk-informed policies into every sectoral strategy, partners must align with country-led investment plans rather than creating new projects, young people must be treated as co-creators and not only beneficiaries, and gender-responsive planning must become the norm.

During South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 last year, we sought to align the outcomes of our Presidency with the SGD 4 global agenda by championing foundation quality learning, strengthening the education profession and promoting mutual recognition of qualifications and skills across borders.

We encourage Members of this Committee to maintain strong alignment between the education priorities advanced through the G20 and the work of the HLSC.

Let us leave Paris today with the resolve to turn the decisions of this Committee into the daily reality of every learner. The generation of today and the generations of the future are counting on us to build and deliver education systems worthy of their promise.

I thank you.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will undertake an Official Visit to the French Republic from 10 to 12 July 2026 that will include discussions between President Ramaphosa and host President Emmanuel Macron, as well as bilateral engagements between senior members of the two governments.

President Ramaphosa is scheduled to co-chair high-level engagements at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris.

President Ramaphosa will also attend the 110th Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood in Longueval.

On Friday, 10 July 2026, President Ramaphosa will, at the invitation of UNESCO Director-General Professor Khaled El-Enany, co-chair the Leaders' Meeting of the UNESCO High-Level Steering Committee (HLSC) on Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on Quality Education. 

South Africa's appointment as Co-Chair of the High-Level Steering Committee underscores the country's growing leadership role in global education governance and reflects the international community's confidence in South Africa's contribution to advancing inclusive, equitable and quality education for all.

The Leaders' Meeting will provide strategic political direction on strengthening resilient education systems and is expected to endorse priorities for the global education agenda for the 2026–2027 period. 

Discussions will focus on strengthening the teaching profession, advancing foundational and lifelong learning, promoting inclusive digital transformation, and ensuring sustainable financing for education.

Following the High-Level Steering Committee meeting, President Ramaphosa will participate in the Transforming Education Summit +4 (TES+4) Stocktake. Convened by UNESCO and the United Nations, the Summit will assess global progress made since the 2022 Transforming Education Summit and identify priority actions required to accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030.

The President's participation will reinforce South Africa's commitment to strengthening education systems, promoting skills development, expanding opportunities for young people, and ensuring policy coherence between South Africa's G20 Presidency priorities and the global education agenda.

On Friday, 10 July 2026, President Ramaphosa will also meet with President Macron and attend a dinner hosted by President Macron. On Saturday, 11 July, President Ramaphosa will hold discussions with French business leaders.

Relations between South Africa and France remain of a comprehensive and productive nature and are underpinned by strong cooperation at national, regional, and multilateral levels across a multitude of sectors. South Africa-France relations include cooperation on a wide range of sectors including Energy cooperation; Science and Technology; Defence cooperation; Trade and Investment; Cooperation in the fields of Arts and Culture; Tourism; Higher Education and Training, and Health. 

Cooperation in multilateral bodies and institutions remains fruitful with robust dialogue on several issues, including climate change and the environment. France has also shown a keen interest in the South African perspective on international and regional peace and security issues.

On Sunday, 12 July 2026, President Ramaphosa will travel to Longueval in northern France to attend the 110th Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood at the South African National Memorial.

The commemoration honours the courage and sacrifice of South African soldiers who fought during the Battle of Delville Wood in July 1916, one of the most significant battles involving South African forces during the First World War.

The ceremony will include laying of wreaths in remembrance of those who lost their lives in service of their country, as well as the unveiling of a UNESCO plaque recognising the historical significance of the memorial.

President Ramaphosa will be accompanied by the First Lady, Dr Tshepo Motsepe; the Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola; the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga; the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean MacPherson; the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton MacKenzie; the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela; and senior Government officials.

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the final report deadline of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.

The Commission will submit its report on Monday, 16 November 2026, instead of 31 August 2026, as anticipated originally.

The extension granted by the President sets an evidence deadline of Friday, 2 October 2026, and a reporting deadline of Monday, 16 November 2026, to enable the Commission to close off topics it has opened up in the course of hearings to date.

The extension allows the Commission to hear evidence on all of the matters listed in its terms of reference.

Without an extension, the Commission will have to leave large parts of its work unfinished.

President Ramaphosa once again expresses his deepest appreciation for the work conducted by Commission as well as for the manner in which law enforcement agencies are following up testimony emerging from Commission hearings.

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria