NEW DELHI, JAN 20: Congress president Sonia Gandhi is sending a four-member party delegation for a week to South Africa with a personal message from her to South African President Nelson Mandela and his deputy Thabo Mbeki.The team, consisting of Tiwari, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni and T Basheer, will leave tonight on the invitation of the African National Congress (ANC). This is the first time that an official Congress delegation is being sent to the important African nation after Sonia became party president. India and South Africa have a long history of friendship and common links including a crucial phase of Mahatma Gandhi's life in South Africa where he launched his non-violent movement against discrimination.Some months ago, Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar had led a team from Maharashtra to South Africa but that on the invitation of a sugar manufacturing association and was termed a ``private visit''. Now, Sonia is sending her own team. Ambika Soni has been an international electionobserver for the path-breaking South African elections which ended the segregation policy and voted Mandela to power.Anand Sharma has headed an anti-apartheid body when he was Youth Congress head during Rajiv Gandhi's time. T Basheer is a former Congress Lok Sabha member from Kerala. An statement issued by the AICC said the ``purpose of the visit is to reiterate the solidarity between the INC and the ANC and to further strengthen the historic relationship between the two Congresses dating back to India's struggle against colonialism and the South African people's fight against racial discrimination.''The delegation is expected to hold substantive discussions with the ANC leadership at the highest level and will be received by ANC president Thabo Mbeki, who is also South African Deputy President, on Thursday.
