The head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will be received in Pretoria today by the President of the South African Republic, Cyril Ramaphosa, on an official visit to South Africa.

This official visit, qualified as a state visit by the South African authorities, takes place in the middle of the celebrations of the Day of Portugal in South Africa, which Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began on Monday, in Cape Town, and which will continue on Wednesday.

At the presidential palace, Union Buildings, in Pretoria, there will be a reception ceremony, a meeting for two between the presidents, later extended to the respective delegations and the signing of a bilateral agreement in the field of Defence.

Before an official lunch, a joint press conference by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled.

In the afternoon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will lay a wreath at the memorial in Parque da Liberdade.

The last time a Portuguese President was in South Africa was ten years ago, in December 2013, when Aníbal Cavaco Silva travelled to Johannesburg for the funeral ceremonies of the historic anti-apartheid leader and first black President of the country, Nelson Mandela.

The consular registrations of Portuguese in South Africa are around one hundred thousand. As for the total number of the Portuguese population residing in this country, there are disparate estimates, which vary between 200,000 and 450,000, including Portuguese descendants.

Many Portuguese went from the former colonies of Angola and Mozambique to South Africa.