SOUTH AFRICA:ST PATRICK'S Day celebrations in South Africa were a relatively low-key affair this year, as there was no official visit by a Minister of State.
Nevertheless, about 150 guests attended a St Patrick’s Day function hosted by the Irish Ambassador to South Africa, Colin Rafter, and his wife, Ashling de Búrca, at the embassy’s new Cape Town residence in Higgovale on Monday night. Among those who attended the function was former South African minister for education Dr Kader Asmal, a senior member of the African National Congress who spent many years in Ireland during the apartheid era.
Dr Asmal told the guests that while both Ireland and South Africa had bigger trading partners around the world, the strong connection that existed between the nations was rooted in the many personal relationships that citizens from both countries had fostered over the years.
Next Friday, a second St Patrick’s Day function will take place at Mr Rafter’s residence in Pretoria, where the embassy is based, to cater for the large number of Irish people working around South Africa’s northern provinces.