Question NW394 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

Reply:

1. South Africa has signed twelve (12) bilateral agreements with the United Arab Emirates and eight (8) with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The areas of cooperation include economic, justice, tourism, defence, agriculture and energy collaboration.

According to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s records, the already signed agreements with the two countries and the dates of signature, is herewith detailed below:

a) United Arab Emirates

Date signed/ adopted	Title of agreement	Entry into Force
17 May 1994	Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations	Entry into force: 19940517
18 November 1999	Defence Cooperation Agreement	Entry into force: Not in force
3 February 2001	Agreement for Air Services between and beyond the Respective Territories	Entry into force: 20010827
24 September 2005	Bilateral Agreement on Economic, Trade and Technical Co-operation	Entry into force: Not in force
25 April 2006	Memorandum of Understanding on Police Cooperation	Entry into force: 20060425
14 November 2011	Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates on the Establishment of a Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation	Entry into force: 20120529
14 November 2011	Defence Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates	Entry into force: 20121009
14 November 2011	Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates on Political Consultations	Entry into force: 20111114
23 November 2015	Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income. Plus Protocol	Entry into force: 20161123
25 September 2018	Extradition Treaty between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates	Entry into force: Ratification process underway.
25 September 2018	Treaty between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters	Entry into force: Ratification process underway.
25 September 2018	Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates on Cooperation in the Field of Social Development	Entry into force: Not in force

b) Saudi Arabia

29 October 1994	Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations	Entry into force: 19941029
20 May 1999	Agreement on Economic, Trade, Investment and Technical Cooperation. Plus Protocol	20020522 (r) Entry into force: 20020522
28 May 2000	Air Service Agreement	Entry into force: Not in force
3 December 2006	Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation in the Field of Higher Education	Entry into force: Not in force
13 March 2007	Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital	Entry into force: 20080501
25 February 2009	Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation	Entry into force: Not in force
16 February 2014	Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Co-operation in the Field of Tourism	Entry into force: 20150415
27 March 2016	Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on Bilateral Political Consultations	Entry into force: 20160327

2. The majority of the agreements are of a technical nature and as such, according to the Article 231 (3) of the Constitution, “binds the Republic without approval by the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), but must be tabled in the NA and NCOP within a reasonable time.” In this regard, agreements only enter into force following their tabling in the NA and NCOP.

The responsibility for ensuring the ratification (if required) and tabling of the agreement rests with the relevant line function department and its Minister. Therefore, it would be incumbent of the relevant Minister to answer the question as to the ratification or tabling of such agreement.

The third column of the table above shows when the agreements were ratified.