Luanda — The South African head of State, Jacob Zuma, will pay an official visit to Angola this year, said his special envoy Friday in Luanda after meeting with the Angolan president, José Eduardo dos Santos.

The South African minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nhoane-Mashabane, who would not specify the visiting date, said that it will be Jacob Zuma's first official visit abroad, since his coming into office on 09, 2009.

According to the minister, the new authorities are "interested in strengthening cooperation" with Angola in the framework of bilateral and commitments signed at the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the regional body to which both states belong.

President Zuma pays "special attention to the cooperation that should exist between the two countries," said the minister, who pointed out the evidence of deepening ties between the two countries.