The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will begin an official three-day visit to South Africa this Monday, as part of the official celebration of June 10, Portugal Day, Camões and the Portuguese communities. The visit – which will also include the Prime Minister (who will arrive in the country on the 7th Wednesday) – will also be marked by the presence, in Cape Town, of the NRP patrol vessel setubal and the submarine Harpoonwho are on mission in that part of the Atlantic.
That is why the Minister of Defence, Helena Carreiras, will also be present in South Africa during the visit. The remaining delegation will also include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, and the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Paulo Cafôfo. Members of the PS (Carlos Pereira), PSD (António Maló de Abreu), Chega (Rui Paulo Sousa), Liberal Initiative (Carlos Guimarães Pinto) and PCP (João Dias) will also be present. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, General José Nunes da Fonseca, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo will also be present, as well as the President of the Organizing Committee for the Commemorations. from June 10. , winemaker João Nicolau de Almeida.
Portuguese community speaks at the biggest event “of the last 30 years”. It is expected that 700 people will be present at the gala dinner.
For Portuguese emigrants in the country, the government’s visit is seen as an opportunity to strengthen the community. In a country with between 200,000 and 450,000 Portuguese inhabitants, there are those who speak of the greatest event “of the last 30 years”. For Lusa, Tony de Oliveira, president of the Association of the Portuguese Community of Pretoria, assumed the happiness of the emigrants for the visit – including a “gala dinner” offered by the president to the emigrants. “We are very happy, the management and our community in Pretoria and beyond, there are already many people trying to confirm their place. [no jantar] and for us emigrants it is fantastic, of course there are many things that are not as we wanted, but it will be a unique day”he said, later noting: “From Portugal, from the embassy and the consulate, more than 100 people come, and then we have all our organizations that we estimate at 400 people, and also those who helped us in these last difficult years who would want us to be together.” Some 700 people are expected to attend the meeting.while the menu is still being designed, but according to Tony de Oliveira, the organization is trying to “make Portuguese food”.
Unlike other years, the festivities abroad start five days before the official date. Initially, the ceremonies in South Africa were scheduled for 2020 (along with Madeira, where they would eventually take place in 2021), but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, in 2022, June 10 was celebrated in Braga and London. With this, the community in South Africa complained about the delay. In Portugal, the chosen location this year is Peso da Régua.
The celebration of June 10 at two different points has been a tradition since Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was first elected in 2016.
Source: DN
