International Relations and Cooperation Portfolio Committee: Programme for visit to Ethiopia; Outstanding Minutes

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed Members and read the agenda.

Ms L Jacobus (ANC) disliked “other business” as it prolonged the meeting.

The Chairperson agreed to identify as a separate agenda item the correspondence from the House Chairperson.

Mr K Mubu (DA) proposed to add one item, namely, to thank the outgoing Chairperson for his services to the Committee.

Dr G Koorhof (ANC) added that the Committee should also thank the former Vice-Chairperson for his services.

Apologies were received from Member Ms T Sunduza (ANC) who was not feeling well, Member Ms C Dudley (ACDP) who was abroad, Member Mr S Mokgalapa (DA) who was busy with other Parliamentary business, and member Mr L Ngonyama (COPE) who had had to go home to attend to business before leaving for Ethiopia.

Consideration and adoption of the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2010
The Committee considered the minutes of meeting held on 15 September 2010 about the South African Human Rights Commission and the challenges and issues of submitting national human rights reports to International organisations

Mr T Magama (ANC) said that Members had had ample opportunity to study the minutes and moved for the adoption of the minutes.

Mr Mubu seconded the motion.

Dr Koornhof agreed with the adoption of the minutes, but mentioned that there should be follow up on the resolution taken in the meeting.

The Chairperson asked the Secretary to include it in next year's programme.

Ms Jacobus asked that the note should include all outstanding motions and planned follow-ups, so that they could be dealt with.

The Chairperson noted that the outstanding issues included xenophobia and how to deal with it, and instructed the Secretary to make a note to include this in next year's programme.

Consideration and adoption of the minutes of the meeting held on 03 November 2010
The Committee then considered the minutes of the meeting held on 03 November 2010  with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium.

Ms Jacobus commented that the names of the two new Members, Ms H Malgas (ANC) and Ms Jacobus herself, were omitted from the minutes.

The Chairperson agreed that the two Members were present and asked the Secretary to correct the minutes accordingly. The Chairperson noted that there were no other outstanding issues except the economic partnership agreement with the European Union.

The Chairperson thanked the Members for the informative session with the Belgium delegation. She applauded them for doing the Committee and the country proud.

Consideration of the minutes of the meeting held on 05 November 2010
Members considered the next set of minutes, those of the meeting held on 05 Nov 2010 with the North Sudanese Delegation.
 
The Chairperson informed Members that the meeting on 05 November was a misplaced meeting as the delegation from Sudan was a group of officials who were interested in South Africa's water management system and the legislative process thereof. International Relations attended the meeting only as a courtesy, as the delegation was hosted by the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Environmental Affairs. The meeting was not a fruitful one and only three Members of the Committee were present. The Chairperson also explained that the Members present did not handle apologies and apologised for the oversight.

Ms Jacobus commented that it was a common occurrence that delegations were invited by other committees but included in the programme of the Portfolio Committee International Affairs just because they were from foreign countries. She contended that this complicated Members' planning and was unfair to Members.

Dr Koornhof mentioned that he also had tendered an apology but it was not recorded in the minutes. He further asked that a paragraph containing the phrase “was robbed of” should be changed to “denied the opportunity to” as it had less negative connotations.

Mr Mubu agreed with Ms Jacobus about the embarrassment that could arise from unscheduled meetings.

Dr Koornhof restated his and Ms Jacobus' earlier points about resolutions and plans arising from the minutes to be flagged for follow-up, as there was a motion to visit Sudan within the current term of office.

The Chairperson assured him that the visit was on the committee’s plan for 2011.

Consideration and adoption of the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2010
The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2010 on the Accession to the African Charter on Democracy.

The Chairperson contended that the Members had had ample opportunity to read the minutes.

The Committee adopted the minutes.

South Africa’s representation in the Pan-African Parliament
The Chairperson reported that the Member representing South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament had made a declaration of the work that the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation had done on behalf of the South African public as represented by the National Assembly. The Member had urged the Parliament to make sure that issues raised in the Charter were adhered to by all signatories and countries which had ratified it, as good governance, free elections and respect for human rights were issues that had to be attended to daily.

Update on the trip to Ethiopia
The Chairperson gave an update on communications arrangements and programme for the forthcoming trip to Ethiopia by a delegation of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation. She reminded Members that the departure date had been changed. The reason for this was a telephonic deliberation with the Director-General, Department of International Relations who had advised the Committee that the request to meet wit the Heads of Missions in Ethiopia could not be facilitated as the Department of International Relations had met with them two months ago in Kenya and the duplication would place a financial burden on the Department. The two visits should have been streamlined to coincide with each other. The Committee decided not to postpone the trip but to rework the schedule within the available funds. The Chairperson had reported this to the Director-General and secured a meeting with at least 50 % of the heads of commissions (five out of nine commissioners), with the stipulation that the delegation could spend as much time as it wished with the hosting mission. The Chairperson reported that logistical arrangements were 99% complete; only the signature of the Secretary of Parliament was needed for completion. She also added that Members had been upgraded to business class as they would be expected to go straight into a meeting on arrival.

Ms Jacobus asked if the Secretary could prepare a briefing on Ethiopia before departure.

Mr Mubu asked if the revised programme could be supplied as soon as possible. He also indicated that he was unsure about the composition of the delegation and would like some information.

The Chairperson replied that the delegation was to be composed of seven Members from all parties.

Dr Koornhof asked how the programme was to be revised as the number of missions to be visited had become less but the number of days had stayed the same. In what manner were Members going to fill the days?

Mr M Manana (ANC) asked how many missions the delegation was to visit. 

The Chairperson advised Members that she was not joining the delegation to Ethiopia as she had another task for her Party - to join a delegation to China. The Chairperson also advised that the decision to appoint Ms Magama to lead the delegation had already been taken at a previous meeting. The Chairperson reported that the Director-General had suggested that the delegation meet the missions close to Ethiopia, and that confirmation on the programme was expected before departure.

Mr Manana proposed that the meeting not spend time on the programme as it was not yet finalised, but that Members be provided with it as soon as it was confirmed.

The Chairperson noted that arrangements had been made and the mission in Ethiopia contacted. She informed Members of the delegation that they were booked in at the Hilton Hotel.

Dr Koornhof urged the meeting to streamline the programme so that the Committee and Parliament got value for money on the trip.

Correspondence from the House Chairperson
The Chairperson moved discussion to correspondence from the House Chairperson who had referred to a letter to the Speaker received from the Minister of International Relations on the imprisonment in Israel of a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council following the capture of soldiers in 2006. The member was supposed to be released and deported in 2010. This issue was previously considered by the Committee when it visited Palestine in 2008. The Minister had requested the Committee to consider a follow up of this issue as it was affecting foreign policy formulation. The Committee was advised to include a visit to Palestine and Israel in its programme before the State of the Nation address in 2011.

Mrs Jacobus proposed that the Committee instruct the Secretary to make arrangements for this visit.

Dr Koornhof seconded.

The motion was adopted.

The meeting was adjourned.