The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has underscored the importance of Ghana-South African relations.

He therefore called upon the two countries to collaborate and strengthen the bargaining position on gold pricing in order to get competitive pricing for gold on the international market for their benefit.

The Lands Minister maintained that "Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire are responsible for 60% of cocoa output and the two countries have worked closely to secure what we call the floor price of cocoa and therefore today there is a minimum price level regardless of what happens at the International stage where cocoa cannot be sold below a certain price".

He further indicated that Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire are taking a step further and working jointly to get the International community to take out the issue of premiums.

The Minister stated this when a high-level delegation from South Africa called on him to among other things, exchange ideas and best practices on the mining sector particularly small-scale mining operations.

Samuel Jinapor was of the view that the move by Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire in the cocoa industry could be replicated by Ghana and South Africa in the gold sector.

The Minister said the government is doing all it can to come to grips with illegal mining activities known in Ghana as 'Galamsey'.

He charged his technical team to consider the governance structure of the South African delegation since their system is of a broad sectoral nature.

On her part, Major General Zulu, the leader of the delegation applauded Ghana for allowing her country's top principals to engage them while they are on their knowledge sharing tour in the country.

She added that the South African President tasked them to use Ghana as a benchmark to yield broader results.

She further stressed that Ghana's small-scale mining sector is focused on improving the lives of the community as well as the economic sector.

Ghana and South Africa are leading producers of gold in Africa and relations between the two countries date back to pre-colonial times as both countries are members of the African Union and the Commonwealth of nations.