Question NW1731 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
17 May 2022 - NW1731
Hlengwa, Mr M to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
What are the full relevant details of the progress made to date on the non – residential accreditation process of her department (details furnished), including the embassies that have been identified for the specified process and breakdown of the savings achieved through the cost – containment measures?NW2058
Reply:
1. The ten Missions identified for closure, and subsequently closed in 2021 included the following:
- SA Representative Office in Minsk (Belarus)
- SA Embassy in the Holy See (The Vatican)
- SA Embassy in Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago)
- SA Embassy in Helsinki (Finland)
- SA Consulate-General in Milan (Italy)
- SA Embassy in Muscat (Oman)
- SA High Commission in Suva (Fiji)
- SA Embassy in Bucharest (Romania)
- SA Embassy in Lima (Peru)
- SA Consulate-General in Chicago (USA)
2. The process of closure of these diplomatic Missions included both political engagements with the host countries as well as official Diplomatic communication, and facilitation of the change of diplomatic and, civic, immigration and consular accreditation, to new non-resident countries.
3. Formal requests for non-residential accreditation and concurrence were submitted to 25 countries and organisations, which all have their own internal processes and procedures pertaining to accreditation. The finalisation of non-residential accreditation of seven countries is still in process.
4. The savings from the closure of these 10 Missions are reflected as follows:
(a) 2021/2022 Financial Year: Savings of ZAR 71 729 878 (following the deduction of costs related to the closure process).
(b) 2022/2023 Financial Year and beyond: anticiaped savings of ZAR 161 620 546 per annum.