President Edgar Lungu is this week expected in South Africa for a three-day State visit at the invitation of his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma.

The two heads of State will hold a series of bilateral meetings aimed at strengthening cooperation between countries.

Zambian High Commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba, who announced the occasion, said Mr Lungu, is expected in that country on Wednesday.

The President would be accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba, Energy Minister David Mabumba, Tourism and Arts Minister Charles Banda and Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Kayula Siame, among other Government officials.

“On Thursday, President Lungu will hold meetings with President Zuma in Pretoria, during which important decisions are expected to be made by the two leaders.

“President Lungu and President Zuma will also address a gathering of Zambian and South African captains of industry, business entities and executives organised under the auspices of the Zambia-South Africa Business Forum (ZSABF),” Mr Mwamba said.

This is according to a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday by Press Secretary at Zambia’s High Commission in South Africa, Nicky Shabolyo.

Mr Mwamba said Mr Lungu’s visit will be preceded by the signing of a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) between the two countries, through which issues of common interest and concern will be addressed.

He said the session of the JCC would be held in Pretoria today and tomorrow, after which a ministerial session would follow on Wednesday.

Mr Mwamba said additional cooperation agreements in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, trade and energy between the two countries were also earmarked for assent.

“Mr Kalaba and South African Minister for International Relations, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, will sign the memorandum of understanding of the JCC on behalf of their countries.

“Ms Siame will lead the senior official delegation from Zambia to the JCC session that will consider areas of cooperation under political and diplomatic, economic, social, security and defence segments,” he said.

Mr Mwamba said President Lungu will, on Friday visit an energy project as part of the quest to find solutions to the power deficit that has befallen Zambia.

He said Mr Lungu would also meet Zambians living in South Africa and visit Freedom Park in Pretoria, where he will lay a wreath.

Freedom Park is the memorial site for the people killed in the first and second wars and the apartheid era.

Meanwhile, Patriotic Front Kasama Central Member of Parliament Kelvin Sampa has urged lawmakers to revisit the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) Act and ascertain if the organisation is still functioning within its original mandate.

Mr Sampa alleged that LAZ has veered away from its mandate of providing guidance to the nation on legal matters owing to its current style of operating like a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).

He alleged that the association is peddling the agenda of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), a situation which had compromised its relevance in the country.

“I am calling on our seasoned lawyers in this country to stand up and salvage the image and the crucial role of LAZ which is on the verge of being compromised under the current leadership.

“Society looks up to LAZ to provide unbiased and non-politically inclined guidance and should demand that the original LAZ is brought back,” Mr Sampa said in Lusaka yesterday.

He said it was important to interrogate whether or not LAZ was designed to serve as a political pressure group, hence his interest in consulting the parliamentary statute that enshrines its existence.

Mr Sampa also warned UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and his vice Geoffrey Mwamba to desist from taking politics to places such as markets because such maneuvers were detrimental to effective service delivery.