Joint Statement by the Embassies of Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States, and the High Commission of the United Kingdom

"We appreciate the meeting with the Director General and members of the senior staff of DIRCO this morning.

We made clear that we had not sent any official document to any branch of the South African government.

What media have been referring to is an informal discussion paper, drafted by our missions in June 2018 in the run-up to the President's Investment Conference.

This discussion paper was intended to support South Africa's investment drive and to underpin our constructive dialogue with the South African government.

We have strongly supported South Africa's drive to attract foreign investment from the start and we will continue to do so in the future.

We are happy with the positive engagement we have had with the South African government and civil society partners. We will continue to engage in this spirit."

Pretoria, 4 February 2019