International Cooperation, Trade and Security Cluster Briefing

Journalist: The first question is for the Minister of Defence. Minister can you clarify for us South Africa’s position on Madagascar exactly. My understanding is that a previous SADC resolution resolved that the former President will not be allowed back into the country before the elections. However the Sandton resolution appears to contradict that. I am not sure where exactly South Africa stands on this issue; can you clarify for us please? The second question is to the Minister of State Security. Minister you say that South Africa is worried about the circulation of weapons in Libya and yet our own National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) approved the sale of weapons to that country since 2003 and the latest we know about is in 2010 possibly in 2011. We will only know once the NCACC Report comes out. Can you just tell us how the South African Government reconciles those two positions please?

Journalist: Also for the State Security Minister on the circulation of weapons in Libya. Have you been informed that terror groups have benefited from this and are there any current threats to Africa or South Africa? Also to the Trade and Industry Minister, is there a kind of figure on how trade is being affected by piracy along the African East Coast?

Journalist: Ii have two questions for the DIRCO Minister. For tomorrow’s AU Panel on Libya meeting. If you can just give a few more details on what is on the agenda and if at all the recognition of the NTC will be discussed. And secondly looking ahead for next month the Dalai Lama has asked for a Visa to visit South Africa. Two years ago you said he was free like any person to visit the country, can we just have a follow up on that, it will be welcomed. Thank you.

Journalist: When you talk about an inclusive transitional authority in Libya does this mean that it has to include elements of the Kaddafi regime and is that precondition for recognition by South Africa and the African Union? And Minister Cwele can you tell us more about your Parliamentary Commitments this week?

Journalist: I see in the handout statement that we have been given I get the impression that there is a feeling that perhaps SADC is not doing enough in combating piracy in Africa. Could you elaborate a bit particularly on this need for robust rules of engagement and the current practice of catch and release? And then also what is the extend of our naval involvement at the moment and have we had any engagements with pirates?

Journalist: This is for Minister Peters. Can you just furnish us with a few more details about the Koeberg stress test? When it is going to happen, will it only be for natural disasters or will there be other sort of tests in terms of outside threats and so on?

Journalist: I have two questions for Minister Malema. I am sorry Minister Molewa, so any way.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: Don’t worry it is just in their minds.

Journalist: It is fine I am not worried. Does Government support the European Union’s (EU) Unilateral Emissions Trading Scheme or are we going to apposing it like China and the US? And then Minister Peters I am sorry to bring it up but is Mr Ompeyapane (unclear) has he been suspended, is he still in charge of the conference tomorrow where we are going to be discussing, we are inviting bidders for renewable projects even though he is being linked to being involved with some very nefarious deeds. If you could just comment on that please?

Journalist: Minister Cwele please. A week ago Chief Government Spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said that Cabinet Ministers were declining to answer questions about their hotels and their air travel because in foreign countries they could be ambushed. Could you tell us whether SASS has identified any real threats and what they are please? I might add that one of the refusals for personal security reasons was yourself sir.

Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane: Thanks Minister Sisulu. I see an inter relation between some questions here particularly about Libya so I could summarise the answer so that when I come back for the second bite I will deal with follow up questions. On Madagascar there was a special or extraordinary summit hosted by Namibia prior to the Sandton Summit which focused largely on Madagascar and Zimbabwe. On Madagascar the extraordinary summit of Heads of States received a report with recommendations from the facilitator of the peace process in Madagascar just to say that the Heads of States received or welcomed the report but asked the facilitator to work further on just one point. That all former Heads of States of Madagascar should all be allowed to return to Madagascar without conditions including former president Ravil Monana. Because there was a clause in the recommendation from the facilitator’s report and the roadmap that said that all other former Head of States are allowed to return say for former President Ravil Monana. That is why there is a Ministerial delegation that has gone to Madagascar at the moment to discuss this point further. To make sure that there are no preconditions to any other former Head of States of Madagascar to participate in the future rebuilding and return to constitutional normalcy of Madagascar.

On details of the high level panel meeting on Libya tomorrow. This is a follow up of the special AU Peace and Security Council of the AU which was held recently on the 25^th and the 26^th of August by Head of States who are members of the AU Peace and Security Council. The high level panel made of 5 Head of States, President Zuma, President on Mauritania, President of Mali, President of Uganda and President of Congo Brazzaville will be meeting tomorrow to review progress on the outcome of the AU Peace and Security Council which was held last month. The details thereof will be shared with the ladies and gentlemen of the media at the conclusion of that meeting. What is key to this element would also be the political situation in Libya post Colonel Gaddafi’s regime fall. Now the main call that was made in that particular special extraordinary summit of the AU Peace and Security Council was that the Interim Transitional National Council (NTC) is an opportunity to create an all inclusive interim Government to prepare for a democratic Government through a democratic election preceded by an interim constitution that would be drafted, it will also be given a mandate to the interim Government. This elements are very much elements picked out of the original AU Roadmap on the resolution of conflicts in Libya which was also captured very well in resolution 1973. And also reputedly extracted by other interest groups like the International Contact (unclear) that there is a need for a process towards a return to democracy and constitutional normalcy in Libya to avert the problems that Minister Cwele had revered to earlier on.

We need to confirm here that our mission in New Delhi a Visa application from His Holiness Dalia Lama. Like all other high profile or ordinary visa applications this application is under process. That is how much I can say for now about this application. Thank you.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: We are now going to ask Minister Cwele to deal with the issues that affect him. You can skip the one about what your Parliamentary commitments are. It is very internal and we are dealing with International Relations now.

Minister Siyabonga Cwele: I can share privately with the lady. On the issue of circulations of weapons in the region around Libya are not only circulations of weapons inside a country. We are worried about circulation of weapons in the Magrad region (unclear) because this is where there has been a lot of terrorist groupings operating in that area. We are concerned about these weapons being controlled by those terrorist groupings and we then foresee that can continue to destabilise Libya itself and the countries around it. Secondly we are very concerned because some of these weapons are not just ordinary small weapons these are medium weapons including anti  aircraft missiles which are now in the hands of people who are not supposed to have those things. It can affect a lot of things including the flying of commercial aircrafts around that region. So it is a concerned which we are dealing with and discussing with the international community on how to deal with this. It is the view of the African Union that if we follow the roadmap because we are worried about this right from the onset. We shouldn’t have come to this state of affairs where there are now regional threats because of insecurities in one country. It is in that respect that we are calling that there should be stability mechanism, urgent mechanism to establish legitimacy and stability in that country to form a conclusive Government.

The other question was in relation whether we are selling arms to Libya, how do we reconcile this. As a matter of policy and as a member of that NCACC we do not sell or allow, because we don’t sell weapons we control. We monitor or allow the selling of arms from the South African companies to the areas with conflict or where there is an UN embargo. So as long as that country is imposed with a UN embargo as a matter of policy we do not allow the sale of arms to that country.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: There was a one last question and that is there was a question that was asked of GCIS about the issue of travel and whether or not SASS actually is able to identify and determine whether there is an ambush threat in this case.

Minister Siyabonga Cwele: No we don’t have the South African Secret Service (SASS) anymore we have State Security Agency and when we are asked to deal with questions we do sought advice from the Departments on how to deal with such issues. Maybe the issue of threat, when you start giving details, what type of aircraft, was it military aircraft, was it private aircrafts, where did you sleep, whom did you meet, what was the purpose of that visit? It does affect our operations and it can affect the security of those who are involved in those activities. And it is in that respect that we engage the members who are concerned and decline to answer that question.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: That would cover your own accommodation.

Minister Edna Molewa: The issue of EU whether we agree with the unilateral trading scheme of the EU I have this to say. As South Africa we really are committed to engaging within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a view of ensuring that we secure a binding multilateral international agreement that is inclusive, that is fair and effective, that is upholding multilateralism in dealing with matters of climate change. So that is a basic requirement. If there is anything that comes across as unilateralism it shouldn’t really be supported and that is our position.

With regards to the issue of the trading scheme however in particular here related to two issues. There is a programme within the Aviation Industry, the Aviation ensuring that we actually cut emissions within the aviation industry. There are some challenges that we were reported by particular countries including South Africa that indeed it is necessary that we engage the EU because matters that relates to aviation. There is a bit of indication or some indication that the EU has begun implementing some unilateral decisions in that regard. And those matters have been put on the agenda for the UNFCCC in particular most vigorously by the basic group members which is ourselves South Africa, India, China and Brazil. As it was reflected in our statement arising from the meeting that sat here in South Africa previously.

The issue of carbon trading in particular again there is a discussion that we are having with regards to the carbon trading in particular. In that regard we believe that it is necessary that the discussions going forward in Durban, in particular in as far as they touch on the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. We are in negations and discussions with the EU because they have put some conditionalities linked to their engaging and agreeing to the second commitment period and those conditionalities are related to trading in carbon. We don’t believe that there should be again unilaterism, there should be discussions and that engagement will actually yield some results as we see it going forward. But unilateralism is something that we don’t agree on because what we want to see is an outcome that is fair, inclusive within that multi-latersim context.

Minister Rob Davies: I just wanted to add to the point that Minister Molewa was making about what is the danger of unilaterism. It can take the form of public regulations or it can take the form of actions by private players. But for example in the United States there has been a long debate about border adjustment taxes using carbon emissions a basis on which you are going to set new tariffs. That can be a form of trade exclusion and trade protection. Another one is that you can have private standards introduced and some of them are not taking into account of flows of trade and things of that sort or else actually it can be a protectionist device. Just recently there were some new regulations introduced in Britain which meant that more of our wine will go to Britain in bulk rather than in bottled. And the bottling jobs will be migrating from South Africa to Britain as a consequence. And I think that whether these things are genuine or whether they are actually disguised trade protectionist devices they can have a negative impact on developing countries and hence the need for multi-laterism. The question that was posed to me was has there been any impact of Somali piracy on our trade with Africa and I think the answer to that has to be no discernable impact at this point in time. But the presence of Somali pirate vessel in SADC waters at the end of last year shows the potential threat this could have including on our inter regional trade. I think that is among other things the basis on which the SADC programme that I think Minister Sisulu is better qualified to speak about has come through. It is a potential threat to our trade with the East Coast of Africa, it is a potential threat t the tri-partite SADC Committee South African Community Project as well in that respect as well.

Minister Dipuo Peters: Just to indicate to the panel that in March you would remember we did a routine maintenance and operational test at Koeberg and thereafter we wrote to the DG of the Atomic Energy Agency. But also Cabinet called on us to reassure South Africans on our own capacity to prevent and respond to any potential nuclear crises.  And that is why we then had to get that type of support for an NNR which is the National Nuclear Regulator to build its capacity to do routine assessments in between the agency’s own assessments that we usually do, But also to deal with issues related to the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA) and NNR’s capacity for storage of spent fuel. So I just also want to say that it is important that I reassure you that we will as the Department of Energy make it possible that we take appropriate action to protect the integrity of the Renewable Energy Procurement Process and like the Minister said other matters are not of international interest.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: I would like us now to go to Pretoria if it is possible but before we do that I could see that my friend here De Lange was straining to hear what Minister DIRCO was saying. Jimmy do we have recording facilities? Is it possible for us to provide independent newspapers with a transcript of the response from the Ministers? Oh that is great then it means anybody here who feels that they might want to return to a question that perhaps they may not have understood, we have services that will provide you with a full transcript. So don’t stress.

Journalist: Minister might I add it is a very valuable service but unfortunately we usually are only able to get those transcripts a day or two after the event.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: But the story will run the whole week. All I am saying is that I could understand your frustration but we are able to give supplementary assistance to you in that particular case. Or if there is anybody who feels that they might have lost out on something as they were scribbling we would like to make sure you are sufficiently supplied with information.

On the matter that was raised here by Andre on SADC and our Maritime strategy. We have a conference at the end of October; we would like it to be as inclusive as possible. We will invite all of you to that preconference briefing and the after conference briefing. In the interest of time now if you would allow me please to park that question and make sure that we have a full understanding of our involvement in SADC. It is an initiative we are very proud of, it was adopted by the SADC Head of State if Lawanda and we are very willing to share4 it with the rest of South Africa.

Journalist: Minister Mashabane I am sorry to insist but could you please tell us on Libya what concretely inclusive means?

Journalist: Just a follow up on my earlier question to the Minister of State Security. Minister you say it is policy of the NCACC not to allow the export of weapons to countries where UN embargo is being applied. However the NCACC Act is actually far stricter than that and the conditions that the Act imposes on the NCACC appears to have been breached on a regular basis year after year. Because that Act also says we are not allowed to approve the export of weapons to areas where spending on defence is going to undermine the development of those communities and to areas where an infusion of weapons might contribute to the destabilisation of those areas. In that regard the NCACC has approved weapon exports to many countries that fall into that country. That is why I asked how do we reconcile as a Government our commitment on the one hand not to fuel these kinds of conflicts. And on the other hand we are still exporting weapons or allowing weapons to be exported to these countries.

Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane: I think we should be reminded of the history of Libya. That when Colonel Kaddafi toppled Monachi (unclear) in  1969 he promised democracy and good governance to the people of Libya. Forty Two years later all the people who were part of this regime were largely people from the region where he came from and the neighbouring plans. People from areas like Bengasi and the surrounding areas felt excluded in that throughout this decade. At the moment we all know that revolution started in Bengasi and Mezerati and it started unfolding towards the other areas. The people of Bengazi and largely the current NTC know exactly what the AU means by an all inclusive interim Government. That would include all sectors and representatives of all the regions that complete Libya. So that we are able to say for sure we are safeguarding the interests of the people of Libya.

Minister just to conclude in Libya at the moment many people who come from the south part of the country are black like me and we have been getting reports of killings and atrocities against people of colour because of lack of these considerations. Now that is why we are saying that the NTC remains an opportunity which should not be missed by wanting to just gallop and not want to expand this and be as inclusive as possible. There are people who served in Colonel Gaddafi’s Government like the Minister of Oil with now the additional responsibility of oil and finance. But I don’t think if we have one or two people who would then say that this is all inclusive because we picked one person from that part of the world. We are saying and I want to close by saying that the NTC remains an opportunity but they need to be assisted that they include elements of all the sectors of the population including representatives of the regional groupings to make sure that Libya closes the old chapter and really opens up a new one and will be fully supported by the AU through the AU Roadmap.

Minister Siyabonga Cwele: I think all of us are competent; most of us are members of the NCACC. Maybe just to try and attempt to answer the question again. I repeat the conflict in Libya really in earnest began early and since then I am not aware that South Africa has sold any weapons to that regime or Government. Unlike other countries in Europe who have been supplying arms and they were confessing that they were arming certain components of that Government, the South African Government has not done so. The guiding approach is the same principles they are quoting  in that Act that in assessing what has been happening in that region or what the call Arab revolution. The State Security Agency has been doing comprehensive assessment in order to advice our approach in dealing with those countries because some of them are not involved in conflicts but there is potential for conflict.

The DIRCO has also been doing assessment which had been advising the NTC in terms of political stability working together with the State Security Agency. That has been the guide in how we dealt with the developments in that Arab revolution. The main maybe my other colleagues here may add, the main components in this is to ensure that we don’t give arms which can be used in the internal conflict. We don’t give arms to a regime we can use conflicts against its own citizens. We don’t give arms to Governments who have international bodies like the UN has said there must be an embargo in terms of dealing with those countries. We have other structures of the NCACC like inspections which all the risks including the risk of diversion of the arms. Those are the things which are in place when we meet on a monthly basis to consider these applications for the sell of the arms. My colleagues nay add but in broad sense I refute any suggestions that South Africa has sold any weapons during this type of conflict in Libya. If you have any information please brings it to our attention and we will take the necessary action.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: I think I would like to add onto that. I am a member of the NCACC and the NCACC is a committee, oversight committee of Ministers that intend to ensure that the Defence industry complies with certain international norms and standards. The purpose is indeed to make sure as the Minister of State Security has indicated that we do not sell arms to countries that might use them against their own people and might use them at the expense of their own development. Beyond that however we have instruments that we use to measure. Who are these countries that might be on the brink, who might use these against their own people and the instrument we use is the United Nations embargo. The second instrument we use is the assessment of whether or not there is a possibility of strife in a particular country. We have never sold to any country that has been embargoed by the United Nations or that we perceived to have been on the brink of a civil war. When we sold the sniper rifles that you might be referring to Libya, Libya was as secure to the extent that it was possible for us to determine as any other country. In fact at that particular time a number of EU Ministers and Presidents were in Libya with Kaddafi having discussions so it went on. In some countries we were not able to predict that there might be unrest and when there is unrest we stop immediately. But at no point have we been in b reach to the extend that it is possible for us to determine now of the Regulatory Framework as set out by the NCACC.

Minister Rob Davies: Also as a member of the NCACC I think that if we were sitting there and taking judgments purely on commercial basis we would be selling a huge amount more arms than we are actually selling with gains to jobs in this country on a very significant scale. In fact I think we are very much on the side of caution, there are many proposals which come to us which we put on hold or reject. I think that the reports that will come from the committee as a whole will probably indicate from time to time the value of this business as a commercial operation. I think that we are actually erring on the side of caution rather than on the side of recklessness.

END OF MEDIA BRIEFING

Media briefing: International Cooperation, Trade and Security, 13 September 2011

13 September 2011

Ministers
Deputy Ministers
Directors-General
Members of the Media

We welcome you to this second Ministerial Cluster briefing for 2011.

African agenda

The 31^st Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which was held in Luanda, Republic of Angola in August elected President Zuma, as Chairperson of SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The Organ is one of the most important forums of SADC with the mandate to deal with various activities relating to politics, defence and security challenges currently existing in the region that requires implementation and action by the Organ under the leadership of the Chair.

The Organ has since been pre-occupied with matters relating to the implementation of decisions related to the consolidation of democracy, defence and security matters, political and security situation in the region and the political developments in the DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.

 

On 11 September 2011 the South African Government deployed the South African National Defence Force to a rescue and humanitarian mission following the ferry accident in along the island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania. SANDF has deployed a team of eleven specialist divers, four medical personnel and a range of highly specialised equipments like chambers and oxygen gases to be used during the operation.  The team consists of defence force members form the Navy, the Airforce and the SA Medical Health Services.

 

South Africa is and has always been committed to the peaceful resolution of conflicts on the African continent and globally; and has made substantial contributions in mediation efforts, peacemaking, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction.  Our contributions in countries such as the Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Madagascar, South Sudan and Zimbabwe – speak for themselves.

 

Regional political and economic integration

Deeper regional integration in Africa and Southern Africa are prerequisites for engaging more competitively with the world economy. South Africa’s continental trade agenda is focused on supporting Africa’s economic integration in line with the NEPAD and the AU and the Abuja Treaty to establish the African Economic Community. The formation of the SADC-EAC-COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will assist in rationalising the different regional economic communities on the continent.

This will create a market of 26 countries with a combined population of nearly 600 million people and a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately US$1.0 trillion.

South Africa hosted the 2nd Tripartite Summit in June. The TFTA is one of the key priorities for South Africa – our trade with African countries is not in commodities but in value-added products. Extending the regional FTAs already in place on the continent has the potential to build and sustain more diverse markets for our products. In the context of markedly improved growth prospects for Africa alongside intensifying global competition for Africa’s resources and markets, the need to enhance South Africa’s access to African markets is more urgent.  The Tripartite agreed on a developmental integration agenda premised on the three pillars, which include market integration, infrastructure and industrial development.

The overall objectives are to:

• build on the improved economic development prospects and potential in Africa;
• promote socio-economic development;
• reduce poverty and inequality;
• deepen our integration to compete more effectively in the global economy;
• build common positions in our international economic engagements and
• contribute to the objectives of the Abuja Treaty.

South Africa has been chairing SACU from 15 July 2010 to 15 July 2011. During its tenure it has successfully refocused the SACU work programme resulting in the development of a five-point work programme that is expected to unlock the development potential for the region when fully implemented.

The five-point programme consists of Trade Facilitation, Industrial Development Unified Engagement in Negotiations, Development of Common Institutions and Review of Revenue Sharing Formula. The action plans for each priority area are in the process of development.

We have facilitated linking of Botswana and Angola’s National Early Warning Centres to the SADC Regional Early Warning Centre (REWC). At the moment South Africa, Botswana and Angola have fully implemented the system as pilot projects. We will facilitate development of this capacity in the remaining nine SADC member states once the project proves successful.

 

Proposed SADC strategic plan for combating of illegal migration, smuggling of migrants and trafficking of persons for 2011-2015

The Ministerial Committee if the Organ (MCO) in June 2011 considered the marked increase in migration activities, most of which are illegal and stream from Asia, Horn of Africa, West Africa and the Great Lakes Region, sometimes with the assistance of nationals of Member States through corrupt means.  The discussion attributed the threat of illegal migration, human trafficking and smuggling of persons to the following:

• The lack of border monitoring mechanism, including proper demarcation and the porosity of the borders;
• Difficulties in repatriation for lack of documentation and there is no concerted effort in the region to deal with the issue;
• The lack of cooperation between SADC Member States and other regions on migratory issues;
• The increasing numbers of organised migratory crime syndicates; and
• Also the corruption by some officials manning ports of entries in the region.
  The Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO) directed that a collective strategy be developed before November 2011.

SADC maritime security

Piracy undoubtedly constitutes a serious challenge to the development and stability of SADC member states, given the importance of the region’s international seaborne trade and its vital contribution to regional food-stocks and economic development.
The sea plays an extremely important role in both SADC’s economy and international commerce and there can be no doubt that maritime-security is essential for SADC’s continued economic and political stability.

SADC therefore has both an international and regional responsibility to help promote good order at sea. Threats of piracy are of particular concern to SADC, whose coastline and shipping lanes are extremely vulnerable to maritime crime. As SADC’s coastal area do not fall within patrol areas of the international anti-pirate forces, SADC will have to take responsibility for its own maritime security.

A threat around the Horn of Africa and SADC waters will detrimentally affect SADC’s trade and economy. Maritime security is a regional concern to all SADC Member States. Both SADC coastal states and SADC land-lock states are equally dependent on maritime trade. A policy is required to combat piracy in SADC waters and to safeguard the economies of the many landlocked countries.

SADC’s Maritime Strategy must entail a regional partnership with all Member States contributing within their means. Not all Member States necessarily have the essential maritime and military capabilities, but they may still contribute in other ways. Some countries may for example provide land-based equipment such as radars, as well as soldiers to patrol coastlines and islands.

SADC must establish robust Rules of Engagement (ROE) for anti-piracy, which should be largely consistent with the ROE of other regions and tasks forces.

With regard to the legal framework, SADC Member States should ratify or accede to international maritime conventions/treaties/regimes and the incorporation of these into their national law. SADC Member States should seek to put in place comprehensive legal regimes at national level, consistent with international law, to prosecute pirates.

The current practice of “catch-and-release” of pirates should be stopped, since it allows experienced pirates to execute more sophisticated acts of piracy. Therefore SADC should strengthen and harmonise regional and domestic legal frameworks for arrest, awaiting trail detention, prosecution and imprisonment or repatriation of pirates.

SADC will have to take responsibility for its own maritime security in cooperation with other regions, task forces, navies and role-players. Collective security for SADC remains a necessary pre-condition for the region.

Piracy on the eastern Coast of Africa will not be stopped unless the root-causes of insecurity in Somalia are addressed SADC should engage the African Union to consider decentralised initiatives for promoting, peace, security and development in Puntland and Somaliland, especially since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia is struggling to make headway to exert its national authority in creating stability, as well as enforcing law and order on land and sea.

SADC should support the AU’s initiatives and mechanisms to address insecurity in Somalia over the long-term. At the same time it should support inter-regional efforts towards transforming Somalia and combating piracy. The Troika Assessment Team and its Draft Action Plan can form the basis in formulating a Regional Anti-piracy Strategy for SADC. The following statement in fact encapsulates the intent of the SADC as agreed at all levels.

 

Continental peace keeping missions

South Africa is conscious of its responsibility as a member state of the Southern African Development Community, African Union and the United Nations and has over the past ten years South Africa has participated in peacekeeping missions in the following countries; Lesotho, Ivory Coast, Union of Comoros Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau and Sudan. 

South Africa is acknowledged as a leader in the achievement of peace within the region and the continent. Looking back on a decade of participation in International Peace Missions, it is clear that we have come a long way from our humble beginnings in 1999 with the deployment the first members of the South African Defence Force (SANDF) to Burundi.

South Africa is currently involved in various external operations and a total of two thousand three hundred and four (2304) SANDF members are at present deployed externally.

 

Operation Mistral - Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

There are currently one thousand two hundred and thirty six (1236) SANDF members deployed in this operation. The SANDF contingent is in support of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission (MONUSCO). 

The Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) until 30 June 2011 and therefore the mission changed its title to UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO).

 

Operation Cordite – Sudan

(DARFUR) The SANDF force currently consists of eight hundred and nine (809) SANDF.  This operation was launched on 15 July 2004 in support of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).  AMIS was terminated on 31 December 2007 and became the first African Union – United Nations hybrid mission when it was replaced by the United Nations African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on 1 January 2008.

 

Operation Vimbezela - Central African Republic (CAR)

The South African contingent consists of seventy two (72) primary training and engineer personnel who are building capacity in the Central African Republic (CAR) by “training the trainers”. The security situation remains stable.

United Nations Peace and Security Council

South Africa continues to actively participate in all the activities of the UNSC in line with our national priorities, making inputs to its various discussions, including debates and consultations on draft resolutions, reports, presidential and press statements. South Africa supported UNSC resolution extending the mandates of the UN peacekeeping missions in the Sudan (UNAMID), Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI), the DRC (MUNUSCO) and the admission of the new state of South Sudan among others.

Furthermore, it should be noted that there are no contradictions between South Africa’s UNSC membership (vote on Libya) and our country’s role and efforts on conflict resolution on the African continent. It is for this reason that South Africa continues to advocate for alignment of the work of the AUPSC and that of the UNSC, pursuant to Chapter VIII (8) of the UN Charter on regional arrangements.

South Africa will continue to contribute towards peace and development on the Continent, including inculcating a culture of respect for human rights and sustainable development. These principles are fundamental to our foreign policy and every effort will be made to export them to our region, the Continent of Africa and the rest of the global village.

 

Reformed global governance institutions

South Africa actively engages various multilateral organisations and treaty bodies according to our national interest. These may be in the realm of international peace and security, humanitarian, environment, political or financial institutions.

South Africa has consistently advocated for fundamental reform of historically important global governance institutions relating to aspects such as their mandate, representation, scope, governance, responsibility, responsiveness and development orientation, in order to ensure that they are democratic and accountable, reflecting the realities of the 21st  century. 

After seven rounds of talks, the United Nations General Assembly inter-governmental negotiations on Security Council reform are at a stage where they are based on a negotiating text that the Facilitator of the negotiations, Ambassador Tanin produced. The text is a consolidation of all group and country positions on Security Council reform. Owing to the fact that the current text is a reflection of all group/country positions, it is long and repetitive.

South Africa’s engagements in the negotiation process remains informed by the African Common Position “Ezulwini Consensus.” This position does not provide parameters for negotiation as it was adopted in 2005 before the process moved to intergovernmental negotiations, which makes it important for Africa to reflect on the process thus far and to adopt negotiating parameters.

South Africa is intensifying its active role in processes that addresses issues of reform, restructuring, revitalisation, representivity, democratisation and strengthening of global governance institutions, as well as the consolidation of solidarity in the context of South-South cooperation and North-South partnerships. 

 

Somalia

The UN officially declared famine in Somalia following an extended period of over six months of drought in the region. Half of the Somali population, 3.7 million people, is in a state of severe crisis, particularly in South-Central Somalia with an estimated 310 000 acutely malnourished children. I’m sure the pictures of these children touch the heart of each and every South African.

The famine in Southern Somalia is confounded by high food prices and the volatile political situation of the country which, in addition to the drought, has resulted in food shortages.

Heeding to a clarion call made in February 2011 by President Zuma when he endorsed a Comprehensive Strategy for Somalia through which South Africa will assist the country in bringing about socio-political stability through developmental programmes, including capacity and institution building, as well as through shared experiences of peace-building, South Africa has responded to a humanitarian crisis confronting that country by raising R8 million towards the famine relief programme.

 

We want to extend a vote of thanks to all individuals, civil society organisations and businesses that have contributed towards the relief efforts for Somalia. South Africa has called on all developed countries to visibly illustrate their commitments to development of this region by not only providing the necessary funds but also to keep their promises to invest in crisis prevention.

The partnership between government, civil society, private sector and ordinary citizenry formed in terms of the disaster relief in Somalia will also have a long-term impact in support of President Zuma’s Comprehensive Strategy for Somalia, particularly in the social development, education and health sectors.

 

Tourism impact

The theme for today’s briefing is ‘Play Your Part to Create a better South Africa and contribute to a better and safer Africa in a better World.’ The Play Your Part campaign was launched by the International Marketing Council (IMC) on 17 August 2011.

 

It is an active citizen campaign which emphasizes patriotism and the role that each and every South African can play to build Brand South Africa. As a cluster and as South Africans we want to emphasize that we are indeed playing our patriotic part in building Brand South Africa domestically and internationally and call on every South African to do the same.

 

South Africa's status as a premier global leisure tourism destination is now firmly entrenched in the wake of the 2010 FIFA World Cup when our global visibility reached unprecedented levels.  As a country we have already secured more than 200 events for the next five years. These events will attract some 300 000 delegates to our major business tourism cities and will contribute significantly to foreign direct spend into our economy.

 

In the aftermath of the economic recession, global buyers have become increasingly adept at driving down costs. Our task is to carefully nurture our value-for-money reputation and present diversified offerings to the business traveler.

 

The National Department of Tourism is absolutely committed to working with the tourism industry in developing the potential of business tourism.  This sub-sector is ideally placed to address some of the seasonality challenges that are difficult to meet through leisure tourism alone. One of the most important building blocks we have put in place as part of our new growth plans has been the first ever National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS), which was approved by Cabinet on 2 March.

This ambitious strategy represents our commitment to intelligent planning and policy formulation. It was developed over a two year period in close collaboration with local and provincial government, an advisory panel of top industry minds, representatives of a variety of professional bodies, academia, tourism marketing agencies, civil society and the broader public. The NTSS also consolidates our strategic outlook for the business tourism sub-sector and outlines some of our plans to bring more business meetings, events and conferences to South Africa

We aim to increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa from 7 million in 2009 to 15 million by 2020, tourism's total contribution to the economy from R189 billion in 2009 to R499 billion by 2020, the number of domestic tourists from 14.6 million in 2009 to 18 million by 2020 and to create 225 000 new jobs by 2020.
COP17/CMP7

The 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP17/CMP7), will take place in Durban from 28 November - 9 December 2011. COP17/CMP7 comes at a critical juncture in the negotiations given that the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, which commits developed countries to cut their emissions, is set to expire at the end of 2012.

South Africa is ready to welcome the UN and 194 world nations to Durban. Government is working closely with the UN to ensure that South Africa hosts an international event which meets UN requirements. The UNFCCC visited South Africa from 1–6 August and confirmed our country’s state of readiness. An Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to oversee government’s preparations for the conference was set up earlier this year.

In order to achieve a balanced outcome, South Africa will inter alia require the operationalisation of the Cancun Agreements as well as commitment to deal with unfinished business from the Bali Roadmap and Action Plan.

As seen by the current tragic situation in Somalia, climate change is one of the greatest threats to sustainable development and demands that Durban at least puts in place necessary building blocks to deliver a balanced agreement that takes historical responsibilities into account. The citing by the International Energy Agency (IEA) of 2010 being the year with the highest recorded emissions demonstrates the urgency with which the world has to deal with climate change.

If climate change is not addressed, its impact will undermine the developmental gains that have been made since 1994 by South Africa, the SADC and the African continent to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

South Africa, through the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) leads the South African national delegation in pursuing the country’s interest at the COP17/CMP7 negotiations, is committed to developing unity of the African Group and a Common African Position in the negotiations.

Africa is the continent most affected by Climate Change and it is important that Africa continues to speak with one voice. A series of preparatory meetings by the African Group Negotiators have been held, with the last meeting held in Durban from the 8–10 August.

 

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

We are just months away from the announcement of the final decision on Africa’s bid, led by South Africa, to host the world's most powerful radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Africa.

The bid has been fully endorsed by the General Assembly of the African Union. We are working with our eight African partner countries to prepare the final bid documents. From the core site the SKA layout will expand over eight other African countries which include Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia.

The SKA will collect in a week more information than there is in the entire internet and will require computers a thousand time faster than anything currently in use, so it presents huge technology challenges. We have already shown our world-class technology and science capability with the construction of South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope, which is a precursor for the SKA and is developing many of these cutting-edge technologies.

Africa has an outstanding site to host the SKA. The core of the SKA telescope will be constructed in South Africa, in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape, which is known for its topography, is sparsely populated and has a very dry climate. There is very little water vapour in the atmosphere over this area and little cloud cover, which are very good for the SKA’s operations.

 

Enhanced trade and investment

In order to grow economically,  South Africa must promote inbound and outbound trade and investment with targeted countries in support of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP-2), using amongst other means, expanding and strengthening bilateral cooperation with individual countries in Africa and rest of the world through high level engagements and strategic bilateral and multilateral economic and trade partnerships. 
South Africa will ensure the growth of its exports, in particular higher-value products and attract significant volumes of direct foreign investments into our country informed by a coordinated export, investment, communication and marketing strategy. From an export promotion perspective South Africa has put in place two strategies. The first is to keep the existing customers in traditional markets, using sustain and maintain strategies for well established markets. The second strategy is to focus on new high-growth markets from the continent and Asia. Both approaches are aligned to the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP-2).

I thank you