Lamola: SA-Canada business ties must deliver on the ground

Ronald Lamola wants projects, not pleasantries. South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister told business leaders at the Southern Africa-Canada Chamber of Commerce Business Leadership Engagement on Friday, 06 November 2026 that stronger commercial ties between the two countries should be measured in concrete delivery, networks and work on the ground rather than general goodwill.

Lamola urged the Chamber to work closely with government and institutions to build a structured programme of commercial projects. His focus was implementation: a defined pipeline of projects, deeper business-to-business networks, and engagement reaching beyond national capitals into provinces, research institutions and investor circles.

“I encourage the Chamber and its members to work closely with our government and institutions in developing a focused programme of commercial projects within our 5+1 family. Let us continue to strengthen our business-to-business networks, expand engagement between Canada and South African provinces, and bring research institutions and investors into the same conversations,” Lamola said.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation publicised the occasion as the two countries’ business communities gathered under one roof. In the Minister’s framing, the measure of the relationship lies in whether a focused pipeline of projects can be developed and carried through with government and institutional support, rather than remaining at the level of general encouragement.

Chamber Chief Executive Officer Mike Morgan echoed the emphasis on delivery, describing the conditions under which that work must now happen. “We’re coming off a strong base where the mutual trust between Canada and South Africa is at an all-time high. It’s incredibly strong, and it makes our task as a chamber of business a lot easier,” Morgan said.

For Morgan, the Chamber’s role is fundamentally operational: moving engagement across borders in both directions and channelling it into investment. “But primarily we’re there to drive cross-border engagement, Canada to South Africa and also South Africa to Canada, and primarily to drive foreign direct investment. That is absolutely important,” he added.

What gets built after the speeches is the familiar question that follows any such gathering. Lamola’s answer was to specify the mechanisms. A focused programme of commercial projects within the 5+1 family would give the relationship a defined work plan rather than a loose set of aspirations. Expanding engagement between Canadian and South African provinces would widen the base of participants beyond the usual national-level interlocutors. Bringing research institutions and investors into the same conversations would connect the knowledge base with the capital needed to act on it.

Morgan, meanwhile, addressed the operating environment. High mutual trust, in his assessment, lowers the friction that typically slows cross-border business formation. But he was equally clear about what the Chamber exists to do: drive engagement in both directions, with foreign direct investment as the primary objective. That investment flow is the practical output against which the Chamber’s efforts will be judged.

The gap between plans and outcomes is where attention will now shift. The Minister has outlined the programme architecture; the Chamber has described its mandate and the favourable trust base it can build on. What remains is execution: converting a strong relational foundation into commercial projects, provincial-level engagement and investment that materialise in both directions. Further coverage of the engagement is available at https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/lamola-calls-for-stronger-canada-sa-business-ties/

For now, both government and the Chamber have positioned themselves as implementers of a shared delivery agenda. The next test is whether the focused programme of projects Lamola called for takes shape, and whether the cross-border investment Morgan prioritises follows.