President Emmanuel Macron hosts South African creatives at the French Residence in Pretoria

President Emmanuel Macron hosted a dinner on Friday 21 November 2025 at the French Residence in Pretoria, bringing together leading figures from the South African cultural and creative industries for an exchange on current priorities and future cooperation.

Guests included artist William Kentridge, visual artists Mary Sibande and Lawrence Lemaoana, poet and performer Xabiso Vili, singer and composer Zoë Modiga, film producer Anant Singh, Standard Bank Gallery curator Same Mdluli, visual artist Banele Khoza, fashion designer Thebe Magugu, art collector Anton Taljaard, and filmmaker and Friend of IFAS Ramadan Suleman.

President Macron was in South Africa to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg on 22 and 23 November.

On 21 November, President Macron also visited Freedom Park Heritage Site in Pretoria, where he unveiled the names of 20 French citizens who supported the struggle against apartheid. He was received by South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile and the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie. The names honoured were Danielle Mitterrand, Paul Vergès, Breyten Breytenbach, Jean-Paul Sartre, Frantz Fanon, Jean-Jacques de Félice, Elisabeth Mathiot, Alfred Kastler, Albert Lévy, Jacqueline Grünfeld, Charles Palant, Marcel Trigon, Maurice Cukierman, Paul Ricoeur, Marie-José Moumbaris, Henri Curiel, François Moncla, Aimé Césaire, Eve Hall and Claude Bourdet.

Photos: Top left: President Macron with Mary Sibande and Lawrence Lemaoana. Top right: President Macron with Thebe Magugu and William Kentridge. Bottom left: Banele Khoza, Anton Taljaard, Mary Sibande, William Kentridge, Lawrence Lemaoana, Same Mdluli, Zoë Modiga, Xabiso Vili, Ramadan Suleman and Thebe Magugu. Bottom right: President Macron with Zoë Modiga.