Department & African Renaissance Fund Quarter 4 performances; Namibia oversight report

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed the Acting Director-General (DG), Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi, and his delegation from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). He welcomed back Members of the Committee following the recess of Parliament.

Apologies were received from the Minster and Deputy Minister who were attending the 38th SADC summit in Namibia.

Ambassador Nkosi apologised on behalf of the Director-General of DIRCO who was out of office at the time convalescing at home after a minor procedure.

The Chairperson accepted the apologies and asked Members to comment on the two points on the agenda namely the oral submission on the joint oversight visit to Namibia and the presentation by the Department.

Ms S Kalyan (DA) requested that the 10th BRICS summit be added as a point to the agenda.

Ms D Raphuti (ANC) moved for the adoption of the agenda.

Ms R Lesoma (ANC) seconded the motion to adopt the agenda, but asked how agenda items were processed because it was not possible to present an agenda on the day and expect the Department to respond without preparation.

The Chairperson said it was normal for agenda items to be presented on the day and the Committee would then decide whether the Department was expected to respond at that time, because some items could not be factored in through writing. The leadership could flag certain issues as urgent. The agenda was adopted.

Oral submission by the Chairperson

The Chairperson reminded Members that in the last discussion on the Foreign Service Bill the Committee made a preliminary recommendation regarding clause eight of the Bill that stated property abroad be placed under the authority of DIRCO. The mandate currently falls under the Department of Public Works (DPW). This recommendation was made pending a visit to one of the countries where South Africa owned property. Namibia was chosen because due to history and colonialism there are more South African property there than anywhere else in the world. An appeal was made to allow the Committee to visit the country to assist them in making recommendations to government regarding clause eight. The Public Works Committee was then also added to the visit, which resulted in a joint oversight report. He said that the report would be oral to inform Members of the trip, and this would culminate in a joint committee sitting where a written report would need to be adopted and sent to the Minister and Speaker. More information has been requested from municipalities in Namibia and once this had been brought back to South Africa it would be compiled into a report to be referred to the chairperson of the other committee. Once there had been a joint meeting, the Committee would meet on its own to adopt the report as well. He added that the reason the Public Works Committee was also requested to join the visit was because though this Committee’s mandate was limited in relation to clause eight, the Portfolio Committee on Public Works needed to advise the government on what had to happen to all properties outside the country.

The Chairperson proceeded to present the findings of the oversight visit. He pointed out that DIRCO had previously reported there were nine South African properties in Namibia, however according to the High Commissioner in Namibia there were 20 properties; 11 properties in Windhoek and nine in Walrus Bay. This should have included land, offices, houses and the chancellery. But no land was found belonging to South Africa. Most of the buildings were in a state of dilapidation, with some entirely uninhabitable. He said that these needed to be destroyed and rebuilt. One such property was burnt with cracks in the walls. Most of the houses were very old and were built between 1919 and 1990. The houses were in prime areas and hence it had been a good investment for the country. The Namibian President had expressed concern to the Minister of DIRCO that South African properties were devaluing. The High Commissioner also indicated that the mayors of Namibia had expressed disapproval of the state of the structures on South African properties and made recommendations. This had been one of the reasons for the visit. He said that some of the houses could be refurbished and leased. He highlighted two additional issues. Firstly, there were complaints that some of the houses had become havens of crime and one was burnt down as a result, though no case was opened with the police. It was uncertain who burnt the house, and the joint team inquired how the incident would be investigated but with little information provided. Another house was borrowing electricity from neighbors and several unemployed non-Namibian nationals were living there. The house had up to eight rooms partitioned with blankets. Who were they paying rent to? In some cases, furniture had been removed from houses. He said that in the transit furniture could have been stolen because it was unrecorded. He pointed out that qualified reports given to the Department by the Auditor-General was usually due to the issue of unaccounted for movable assets. 

Between 1993 and 1994, a lot of property had been stolen by public works officials particularly from former home lands. He was suspicious of what might have happened to property outside the country during this time as well. He expressed concern that no land had been found in Namibia such as for example farms. A local who had moved to Namibia from South Africa when he was younger said that there were probably 100 South African houses for white employees of the public works department under the old regime in Walrus Bay and yet now it was said there were only four houses. He further mentioned that areas such as Walrus Bay were only given back to Namibia as late as 1994, which could have left the properties vulnerable to plunder in the interval. These issues however needed to be laid to rest given the sensitivities between Namibia and South Africa. He concluded that next week a joint committee must receive and adopt the report following relevant amendments. This report would then assist Parliament to adjudicate the tension between the DPW and DIRCO surrounding State property abroad. If the property was given to DIRCO then all maintenance would also be transferred, and the relevant capacity needed to be transferred as well. On the other hand, however, DPW has insisted on maintaining its mandate to acquire and sell property inside and outside the country. He emphasised that the issue should not be reduced to personal feelings but had to be based on what South Africa needed. The value of properties had been a point of contention, with property being heavily undervalued. 

The Chairperson commended DIRCO for also sending a delegation to join the oversight team and DPW for also sending officials. He concluded that the image of the country was suffering due to the dilapidated state of South African properties. He suggested that the Public Works Committee visited other properties around the world and then decide whether to give the mandate for maintaining these properties to DIRCO. He invited Ms Lesoma to add to the oral submission.

Ms Lesoma said that there were inconsistencies in the application of policies when houses were dilapidated and being rented out to squatters without being reported to police. She reemphasised that the worst houses were those that belonged to South Africa. The High Commissioner had also raised HR related issues which would be added to the report.

The Committee Content Advisor added that the issue of movable assets needed to be dealt with in conjunction with Treasury. These were being stored in both official and unofficial locations.

Discussion

The Chairperson said that he had hoped to speak to the Minister at a political level about the joint report, so that Namibia could recognize the joint team sent and that action will be taken; and that mayors would also recognise when refurbishment was done. He highlighted that oversight was also conducted on the chancellery, which was an old building. In the house of the commissioner there was a sitting room with broken sofas which could no longer be used. He said that it would only take a small amount to fix the issues in the house, yet this was not being done. The Chairperson opened up the floor for comments from the members.

Ms Raphuti welcomed the oral submission and said that properties which were unaccounted for and belonged to South Africa elsewhere needed to be obtained at all cost. The Committee would wait for the written report. There were people assigned to leadership but who were not taking their work seriously. The Ambassador represented South Africa and if the house was in such a horrible state, it reflected badly on the country. She thanked the Chairperson for going to Namibia to conduct oversight. She emphasised that this mismanagement of property was a form of corruption similar to what was happening domestically, where properties belonging to government were utilised improperly.

Mr M Maila (ANC) said that he understood the oral report was meant to be noted by the Committee but that the visit was to guide government on how to engage with section eight of the Foreign Service Bill and recommended further engagement once the report had been submitted in writing.

The Chairperson commended the work of the two committees and their outstanding behaviour as representatives of South Africa.

Ambassador Nkosi responded by saying that the Department appreciated that they had been taken into confidence on the mission by the Committee and notified of potential recommendations. DIRCO looked forward to responding to the recommendations made. He emphasized that DIRCO continued to take its directive from the elected officials of the people. On the issue of property abroad he said that DIRCO did not have the capacity to perform the function of maintenance and management of these properties. If the mandate was given to DIRCO, this capacity would need to be developed. If the status quo remained the same then the Department would cooperate with DPW as the legal landlord of these properties.

The Chairperson said that the report would be adopted by a joint committee and then both committees would consider the report respectively. He requested support staff to assist with logistics. It would then be presented to the Speaker and the Minister. Following that the report would be added to the program to be debated in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. He stressed that this needed to be done before the 2019 elections. If the President could assent to the Bill before 2019, that would be to the benefit of South Africa as the first legislation of Foreign Service.

Briefing on performance and financial report of 2017/18 by DIRCO

Ambassador Nkosi introduced the delegation from the Department. He noted that the Chief Financial Officer was facing disciplinary processes at the time of the meeting and hence the acting CFO was present in his stead. He responded to earlier remarks and said that the Department appreciated the support received from the Committee under the leadership of the Chairperson. The Department was operating under a fiscally constrained environment due to the economic climate and pressures on the fiscus resulting from reduced revenue collection and increased expenditure in public services. Several measures were instituted to cut costs and remain within the budget allocated by Treasury. Overall expenditure over the period was 3% lower than expected due to the review of the New York project following irregularities and the halting of some of the ICTS projects. However, the compensation of employees over that period went far beyond what was intended due to on the salary bill.

The period saw intensification of projects on bilateral relations with other countries. There was also an expansion of trade, FDI and tourism. This was a clear demonstration of the Department’s effective efforts in promoting South Africa. During this period the Department also undertook several efforts to pursue the implementation of the SADC industrialisation plan. The Department hosted Ministers from the region to help drive this plan as part of agenda 2063 to promote intra African trade and develop productive economies. This was key to improving supply side capacity for the region to engage in the global trading system. He said that the Department also secured the endorsement of South Africa’s candidature by the African Union to the UN Security Council for a non-permanent seat in 2019/20. He thanked the committee for its efforts in achieving this and carrying this mandate. South Africa also signed the Kigali Declaration to be part of the common market of Africa and eventual membership to the Continental Free Trade Agreement which was signed in the first quarter of 2018. Once all 55 member states had ratified the CFTA it would consist of a market of R1,2 billion people with R3.4 trillion in joint GDP. This would be the world’s largest free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

He emphasized that this agreement promised to boost intra African trade by 52.3% by reducing non-tariff barriers and import duties. The Department remained committed that the Lagos Plan of Action and the Abuja treaty which would ensure that Africa becomes a dynamic trading zone. Africa would no longer be just a source of raw materials but a manufacturing base. A Sherpa meeting was held leading up to 10th BRICS summit hosted in Johannesburg and the Department would report on the outcomes of the summit once instructed to do so by committee. During this period the African Renaissance Fund was used as a key instrument of South African soft power and foreign policy, to promote democracy and good governance, provide humanitarian assistance and build capacity, which continues to build the image and status of the country and affirming its commitment to Pan-Africanism, peace, development and prosperity.

Ms Deloris Kotze, Chief Director: Strategic Planning, DIRCO, said that in program 1 on administration several targets were not achieved. These included 100% compliance on 30-day payment period, and the Department could only achieve 99.3%, due to a delay in verification of invoices. The Department also could not integrate its ICTS systems due to National Treasury insisting that it was already working to integrate the system nationally. In program 2 on strengthening political and economic relations, tourism was strengthened by the Department’s assistance to missions when they had tourist events. The Department also engaged with the Chamber of Commerce for restrictions on products and potential partnerships which have led to greater cooperation, knowledge and skills exchange. The result had been R5.1 billion of export sales of value added manufactured products and 2.7 million tourist arrivals as well as a R20.7 billion resulting tourist spend. There was no target set for regional integration in the fourth quarter. However, she added that as the chair of SADC, the Department hosted a ministerial dialogue to prepare for the handing over of the SADC chair to Namibia. The SADC Double Troika – EU dialogue was carried over from quarter three and then achieved in quarter four. For program 3 on Global Governance South Africa needed to be at specific meetings to advance its national interests.  At the 37th Human Rights Council South Africa advanced good governance, democracy and human rights. The country also supported draft resolutions at UN on strategies to eradicate poverty and ensure sustainable development for all. In the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations South Africa advocated on behalf of NAM for the provision of adequate resources for the peacekeeping mandate. She mentioned that South Africa was also elected onto the Commission for the Status of Women and the ITU. South Africa signed the Kigali declaration, but due to domestic issues, the agreement was only signed later. The target for program 4 on public diplomacy had been achieved which included activities, media briefings, op-eds and the Ubuntu magazine that ensured domestic and international audiences remained informed. On protocol, according to the Vienna convention, the country was obliged to deliver certain services such as issuing diplomatic documents when diplomats enter the country. The last item in program 4 was the consular services rendered to South African citizens abroad to issue documents, assist citizens in distress, and those in prison. She said that DIRCO also authenticated documents - up to 15 000 documents had been legalised in that period.

Ms H Bhengu, Chief Financial Manager, DIRCO, said that the Department underspent its budget by 3.3%, however the compensation of employees was at a 3.1% overspend, due to the new salary ceiling which was introduced by National Treasury. Some measures to mitigate the effects of this shortfall was to release up to 472 locally recruited personnel during the 2017/18 period. As well as freezing 55 South African posts abroad. On goods and services 1.6% of the budget was underspent. This was due to the non-implementation of the ICTS projects. Payment of capital assets was 71.2% underspent due to the halting of the acquisition of land in New York because the Auditor-General found that the Department had not complied with certain supply chain processes. Program 1 on administration saw 11.6% of its budget underspent, with foreign fixed assets including the funds allocated to the acquisition of land in New York. The cost drivers in this program included the finance lease payments for the Head Office building, computer services as well as State Protocol Lounges, the Pan African Parliament and UN offices. The main cost drivers in program 2 on international relations and bilateral relations are the compensation of employees. The Department was staff driven and funds are allocated to allowances for officials and locally recruited staff. Offices and residential units for personnel aboard make up a large portion of the program. She said that acquiring land in New York would further assist in reducing the cost of operating leases. Educational allowances and foreign municipality maintenance costs also formed part of this program’s expenditure. Program 3 on global governance was able to spend its entire budget however employee compensation was overspent. She highlighted that underspending on goods and services of 45.1% was because several ministerial and departmental meetings did not take place. The cost drivers of the global governance programs are personnel, transfers, cost of living, salaries of local and foreign allowance. She said that spending on program 4 on state protocol and public diplomacy was in accordance with the projections. Cost drivers in this program included, traveling and subsistence for official missions abroad as well as municipal service allowances for embassies. International transfer for membership to AU, UN, SADC, NEPAD, Commonwealth etc. also saw a slight underspending due to favorable foreign exchange.

Mr S Mokgalapa (DA) requested that the list of contributions be sent to the committee.

African Renaissance Fund Quarter 4 performance

Ms T Fadane, Acting CFO, said that the Fund had spent only 93.6% of its budget, mostly due to the issues around the halting of the ICTS and New York projects. She said that the Department had received a qualified audit report. The main issue was asset management and expenditure management. A general strategy had been developed to address issues of asset management and the Department has attempted to identify its own weaknesses beyond the content of the audit report. Measures are being put in place, short, medium and long-term processes, which include an asset management unit. The Department would provide the committee with an update on the progress that has been achieved. She assured the Committee that the action plan would be under the watch of highest levels with weekly meetings and monitored at these meetings to ensure the Department can reach a clean audit.

Ms Dineo Mathlako, Head of Operations: African Renaissance Fund (ARF), presented the report on the African Renaissance Fund. She presented the strategic objectives of the ARF. These are:

• To promote democracy and good governance
• To contribute to human resource development
• To support socio-economic development and integration
• To provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
• To support cooperation between South Africa and other countries
• To contribute to Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development

Out of the five requests received by the ARF, four are still under consideration with the training of a VIP presidential Protection Unit of the Central African Republic having been approved by the Minister of DIRCO and the Minister of Finance. One advisory committee meeting was held. The ARF continued to support the promotion of democracy and good governance on the continent by participating in AU observer missions and in particularly more recently the elections in Liberia. Humanitarian assistance to Namibia for drought relief had continued and nearly 40 boreholes had been dug. The ARF also contributed R11.2 million towards assisting Palestinian Refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East for the women and children in Gaza. Emergency food assistance had been provided to the Kingdom of Swaziland. Burundian diplomats had also been provided with training and capacity building in South Africa. She added that the Cuba Economic package continued with a total payment of just over R2.77 million being processed. On monitoring for compliance, she pointed out that the visit to the Palestinian territories was postponed due to conflict in Gaza at the time. As of March 2017 ARF had a surplus of R653 million, with projects of R42 million being approved for the 2017/18 financial year. At the end of March 2018 the ARF had a surplus of R623 million.

Discussion

The Chairperson opened the floor for comments and questions from Members of the Committee.

Mr Maila commended DIRCO on the work being done to get South Africa elected onto the UN Security Council. He asked how many African Union member states had signed the Kigali Declaration to date and when the CFTA would be signed and become operational. On underspending due to the land acquisition and ICT issues, he asked if there was land available in New York. He also wanted to know what the Department meant when they said that the headcount for employees was less than expected which resulted in compensation being overspent in the budget? He expressed concern that the Director-General of DIRCO was not present to account for the outcome of the qualified audit. He said the DG should inform the Committee about the action plan that had been drafted. This was not the first time that issues around assets had produced a negative audit. Why could assets not be physically verified, why was that the case, was it by omission or intent? He asked how far the disciplinary process of the CFO had progressed. He asked why asset management registers were incomplete, but the department provided no explanation. He commended the ARF on its humanitarian efforts in Palestine.

Ms Raphuti asked why there were no protocols for the payment of invoices. Verifying invoices should not be a challenge for the work of the Department. She reiterated Mr Maila’s point on asset management; the issues in Windhoek further showed that something was not right. What were ambassadors doing? She said last year the Department sourced an expert for asset management but asked how this had helped DIRCO? She said the cutting of staff abroad was premature given that the department was not able to even deal with the assets at it disposal.  She was concerned that the most recent qualified audit had been the 3rd one received by the Department. She said that South Africa was the hope of Africa and the RFA was a good use of soft power and diplomacy to empower others.

Mr Mokgalapa said that the post of COO had been clearly defined to address the issues faced by the Department. The post was created to deal with administrative matter and 4 years down the line the problems persisted. He asked Ambassador Saley as COO what he had done to mitigate some of these issues. He commended the Department for its disciplinary case against the CFO however he said the matter needed to be brought to an end. He asked what the status of the process was. He said that many of the procurement issues were related to the work of the CFO. What type of irregularities was found in the process of acquisition in New York? ICT had been a problem for many years and could not be the primary reason for underspending. He requested a list of international transfers that South Africa made to international organisations. He asked where the Department was in the process of considering the new AU funding model report and what was South Africa paying at the moment. He called for the rationalization of spending on international relations missions. He asked what the outcomes were of the high-level engagements in Morroco, because the South African embassy was underutilised. He commended the Department for attempting to yield the most from state visits abroad to boost economic activity and tourism. The number of meetings needed to corelate to increases in economic activity and trade. What value for money did these meetings bring to the country? He asked whether the Burundi diplomatic training should not rather be done through DIRCO’s diplomacy training branch and why was an economic package for Cuba still included in the ARF after Cuba had already paid back the money they owed to South Africa. This meant the country was able to sustain itself. What assistance was being given to the Western Sahara? He asked if observation missions were applied as a blanket to all elections taking place and what support would be provided to elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Lastly, he asked whether the training of VIP Presidential Protection Unit was part of the mandate of diplomacy, because it appeared frivolous to protect only one person.

Ms Kalyan expressed concern over the state of the asset management unit and asked who oversaw that structure, how many people were in the unit and what had been the reason for non-performance. Were there vacancies in the oversight structure? She asked at whose request the VIP presidential unit training had been done and why it was coming from DIRCO’s budget? How many people were trained, how long did training last, how much did it cost and what was included in that cost? She asked if there was a precedent being established to assist other countries with that type of training, should it be considered skill sharing? She asked why the Pan African parliament building had not been constructed. Gallagher Estate was always understood to be a temporary venue. Was the President, who has partnerships with the estate, still, being enriched by the event being hosted there? Why does the Department continue to pay the rent rather than constructing the building? How many cars are sponsored for the sitting of the Pan African Parliament and why were they so expensive? She asked that if the Pan African Parliament were hosted in Kigali in October, what would DIRCO’s responsibility be and who would pay. Is there a saving if another country hosted the sitting?

Ms Lesoma said the Department needed to work to return to a positive audit. She pointed out that the Department was unable to take care of already existent missions and how it justified paying for services to properties that are unoccupied or do not exist. How would the Department deal with the issues of dilapidated infrastructure and assets aboard? How much money was the Department spending on suspension processes and how much money could good governance save the Department? She suggested that the Department impress the severity of the issue of ICT upon National Treasury, which impacted the whole public service. She said that the Department needed to make Treasury appreciate the currency play of different countries which affect the compensation budget. Many of the issues raised had gone unaddressed for years despite the Department’s instance on having turn around plans.

The Chairperson said that the ICT matter needed to be a priority for the Department. He asked what the Department suggested in dealing with this issue and asked if the Minister should be requested to lead a discussion on necessary ICT upgrades which could be quantified and sent to the Minister of Finance for approval. He asked what had happened to the old mission in New York which warranted acquiring a new one. The ARF was an important soft power intervention to win friends or neutralize enemies but faced various governance issues. This was the reason why SATPA needed to be implemented and he asked why that had not been done yet. The USA had organisations such as USAID which has a set governance structure. He said that South Africa held great respect in SADC and the ARF could be used as leverage. The Committee should visit branches of missions in other parts of the world to improve oversight. He asked whether the VIP Presidential Protection unit training, was a state to state initiative and requested by government. In South Africa the protection unit protects government officials, but the presidential guard was only for the President. He asked whether the unit was called the presidential protection unit, because it was meant to protect only the president or was it because the president had requested it. Why was DIRCO paying for that training through the ARF. He concluded that the political projection of the Department in promoting the image of the country was good, but that internal administration was not up to standard. He emphasised that this was the reason the COO position was created.

Ambassador Nkosi responded by saying as of March 43 AU member countries had signed the Kigali declaration which was a political statement committing signatories to signing the CTFA. To date 49 member countries had signed the CFTA and it required 22 ratifications to come into effect. The Department will present the CTFA to Parliament for ratification and hoped that South Africa would become one of the first 10 countries to ratify the treaty in coming months. By the time the Assembly rises in January the Department would like to see the CFTA ratified. He emphasized the positive effect on the expansion of South African trade as 85-90% of tariffs would be docked. Dropping tariffs opens up new markets for trade and investment. He ensured members that there was a vast unoccupied landscape in New York to be acquired. Some of the land had become vacant because old buildings were demolished. Treasury picked up irregularities in the procurement process which breached the PMFA. He assured the Committee that the Department would be briefed as soon as the process of investigation had been concluded. On employee compensation, he said the money allocated for 2017/18 was far less than what was needed to pay people in office. Measures had been taken through staff reduction to mitigate the effects overspending. The Department had made a request to Treasury to allocate additional funds. He said that the disciplinary action against the CFO was an ongoing process and needed to be concluded within 90 days according to the Labour Act. However, he was not at liberty to go into details as the process was still underway. Once it had been concluded the department would inform the committee. He reassured the Committee that a detailed turnaround plan was in process to train and reinforce the capacity of the Department in dealing with asset management. The Department had not defined the COO position in a clear enough manner. Functions of the COO were spread across other units within the system and needed to be streamlined and made resident to the office of the COO. An expert had been appointed to lead the organisational renewal and realignment of the Department.

The Kagame report was being discussed by the SADC Ministers in Windhoek resulting in a special summit in November to make a final decision on the report. The 0.2% levy on imports was still on the table and several countries had implemented it, though South Africa has expressed its concerns and challenges vis a vis the implementation despite agreeing with the spirit of the proposal to make the African Union self-sufficient. He said that the levy would violate the most favored nation’s principle of the WTO. There was a domestic challenge that levies needed to be deposited into the National Revenue Fund and then disbursed by Parliament through the budget and cannot be sent directly to Addis Abba. However, South Africa continued to maintain its status as a top contributor to the AU budget. He said that Ambassador Saley would deal with Morocco question. VIP protection unit was requested by former president Zuma during his term, after militia groups attempted to launch a coup. To prevent coups the President’s office must be protected. He said the countries in the region also requested that this step take place. Responding to Ms Kalyan he said this kind of protection had also been provided in Burundi and covered all officials who were involved in the process leading up to the Arusha agreement. He said the country hosting the PAP would be responsible for carrying logistical expenses.

The Chairperson said at a political level South Africa should enjoy what the US enjoyed by hosting UN by hosting the PAP including tourism and economic activity. He expressed concern that the PAP headquarters had not been built, which made South Arica’s position vulnerable to other contending groups who would be willing to host the PAP. He said many people employed at the PAP were not South African, which mitigated the benefit that such an institution could have for the country.  

Ms Kalyan said that she had asked specific questions for information around the expenditure on the VIP protection unit in the CAR. She said that the acting DG had not gone into detail about the asset management unit either and asked if this would be provided in writing?

The Chairperson said that the Department should ensure that South Africans are employed as translators, driversetc when meetings such as the PAP take place in the country. These are strategically advantageous steps for South Africa.

Ambassador Nkosi expressed gratitude for the Committee’s comments. He said there was an instrumental committee in place dealing with many of these matters. He added that it was not unusual for AU meetings to be held in capitals other than the city in which it was based. He said the Department would return to the Committee regarding asset management. The Department would await the report on Namibia from the joint visit. ICT remained a key priority for the department. The last time the ICT infrastructure was updated was nearly 10 years ago, but ideally this should happen every two years. He hoped that by that time the following year the department would be able to report on the progress made on the points raised by the committee.

Ms Kalyan asked why the Committee was not invited to the 10th BRICS Summit. She asked for a report on the resolutions and MOU’s that were signed.

The Chairperson said he had been asked to write to the Minister on the 10th BRICS summit. He asked for presentation on the summit as well as the elections in Zimbabwe, Mali and other elections that had taken place. He said that he thought the BRICS was beyond the Committee and fell more to a ministerial level and if the Committee was invited then all other relevant committees should have been invited as well. He asked the Department to clearly communicate on this matter in future.

Mr Maila aligned himself to Ms Kalyan on the need for the Committee to be invited to such a summit given its oversight mandate.

Ms Kaylan said it was important for the Committee to be aware of the resolutions signed to provide effective oversight and not just be a rubber stamp.

The Chairperson thanked the Committee Members and the Department.

The meeting was adjourned.