Mugabe’s successor, former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, will be inaugurated on Friday. Zuma’s spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said Zuma will not be able to attend the inauguration of Mnangagwa because he will be hosting Angolan President Joao Manuel Lourenco, who pays his first state visit to South Africa on Friday, the same day when the inauguration takes place.Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele will represent Zuma at the inauguration of the president-elect of Zimbabwe, Ngqulunga said. Zuma met with Mnangagwa on Wednesday in Pretoria before the latter returned to Harare to take up the presidential helm.
Mnangagwa fled to South Africa in self-imposed exile after he was removed from the post of vice president by Mugabe earlier this month. During his meeting with Mnangagwa, Zuma congratulated him and wished him well, said Ngqulunga.