BUJUMBURA - Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza on Sunday morning left for South Africa where he will participate centenary anniversary of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the government said in a statement.

The Burundian government statement said President Nkurunziza is responding to an invitation extended by South African President Jacob Zuma.

South Africa's ruling ANC party was formed on January 8, 1912 in the central city of Bloemfontein by a group of Africans against the systematic segregation in South Africa.

Burundi and South Africa are traditional friends.

Their bilateral relationships especially were heated when former South African President Nelson Mandela initiated the facilitation of the Burundian conflict which ended up by the signing of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in the Tanzanian town of Arusha on August 28, 2000.