Pretoria -The South African deputy minister of international relations and cooperation, Luwellyn Landers, and his Cuban counterpart, Marcelino Medina, will jointly chair the 13th Session of the Joint Consultative Mechanism.

The meeting between the foreign ministries of South Africa and Cuba is held annually in the framework of solid and fraternal ties between the two countries that go beyond the establishment of formal diplomatic relations in May 1994.

According to an official communiqué published by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), last year, this mechanism was held in Havana, where the two parties agreed to meet here to celebrate the 20th anniversary of bilateral cooperation in 2016.

South Africa benefits from Cuba's assistance through joint programs in the fields of public health, defense, social development, housing and infrastructure, the DIRCO said.

A concrete result of the success of this cooperation is that more than 500 South Africans from unprivileged regions have graduated as physicians and are rendering their services in primary health care in their communities, the communiqué noted.

On the other hand, the presence of Cuban doctors, engineers and technicians in South African provinces shows the strongest ties between the two countries, the text added.

On Sunday, the Cuban first deputy foreign minister participated in an event on the 20th anniversary of bilateral cooperation in Polokwane, in the northern province of Limpopo.

At the event, Medina noted that cooperation with South Africa inherited the friendly ties forged during the years of struggle against Apartheid.

He recalled that in (February) 1996, the first Cuban doctors, some of whom were present at the event, arrived in this country as a result of an agreement signed by Presidents Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela.

That cooperation was expanded and now "it implies the presence of 62 Cuban professionals in the province, 56 of whom are physicians, four are engineers specialized in human settlements and two are engineers who are experts in water and sanitation," Medina noted.

The Cuban first deputy foreign minister, who was accompanied by Cuban Ambassador Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Consul Ivan Ferrer and Foreign Ministry official Meylin Suarez, thanked South Africans for their many shows of hospitality.

During Medina's visit to Limpopo, two buildings of the Provincial Health Department were renamed after the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and the Argentinean-Cuban guerrilla fighter and physician Ernesto Che Guevara.

Medina's agenda until Wednesday includes laying a wreath and a guided visit to Freedom Park and a lecture at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he will speak about the 20th anniversary of bilateral cooperation.