ATC220526: Report of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation on the 1st and 2nd quarters 2021/22 expenditure performance of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the ARF, dated 9 March 2022

International Relations

Report of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation on the 1st and 2nd quarters 2021/22 expenditure performance of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund, dated 9 March 2022

The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation (the Committee), having received and considered the 1st and 2nd quarters 2021/22 performance and submission to National Treasury, of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (the Department), and the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF) on 2 February 2022, reports as follows:

1. Introduction

1.1 Mandate of the Committee

The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation is a committee of Parliament mandated by the sections 55 and 92 of the Constitution of South Africa,[1] to oversee and ensure accountability in the formulation and conduct of South African foreign policy. Consequently, the Committee conducts oversight on activities of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, and South Africa’s Missions abroad, its entity, the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF), on policies, financial spending patterns, administrative issues, and it holds the Department and entity accountable for their operations and functions. The Committee is an important mechanism for ensuring oversight over the conduct of South Africa’s international relations and cooperation policy.

1.2 Purpose of the quarterly performance reports

The quarterly performance reports are a building bloc towards the Committee’s annual Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR). In accordance with section 5 of the Money Bills Procedures and Related Matters Amendment Act 2009 (Act No.9 of 2009), the National Assembly, through its committees, must assess service delivery performance of each national department and submit the BRR Report for each department, for tabling in the National Assembly. The process allows the National Assembly to evaluate the effective and efficient use and forward allocation of resources; and may make recommendations on forward use of resources. These reports will be considered by the Standing/Select Committees on Appropriations and Finance respectively when they make recommendations to the Houses of Parliament on the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

In compiling this report, the Committee based its assessment of the Department and its entity, on tabled service delivery plans as outlined in the Annual Performance Plans 2021/22 of both; and the 2021 State of the Nation Address. The Committee linked domestic priorities to the Department’s Strategic Plan 2020 – 2025 and aligned the information to priorities and measurable objectives as set out in the National Development Plan (NDP).

The Committee also examined the expenditure report as published by the National Treasury. These reports are commonly known as section 32 Reports[2].

The report further gives an overview of the presentations made by the Department and its entity, focusing mainly on its achievements, output in respect of the performance indicators and targets set for 2021/22 and the financial performance. The report also provides the Committee’s key deliberations and recommendations relating to the performance of the Department and its entity.

1.3 Mandate of the Department

The overall mandate of the Department is to work for the realization of South Africa’s international relations policy objectives. In terms of the provisions of the Constitution, the President of the Republic of South Africa bears the overall responsibility for the country’s foreign policy and international relations[3]. However, the Department is entrusted with the formulation, application and implementation of South Africa’s foreign policy which is derived from South Africa’s domestic priorities[4]. The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (the Minister) assumes overall responsibility for all aspects of South Africa’s international relations, albeit in consultation with the President. The Minister also liaises and consults with members of the Cabinet on overlapping issues and on the priorities and programmes of other departments that bear an international relations element. In the same breath, other Cabinet ministers are required to consult the Minister on their international role.

1.4 Measurable objectives of the Department

The Department had identified the following strategic objectives for implementation during the reporting quarter, aimed at responding to the domestic priorities as announced by government for the reporting year as follows:

Provide strategic leadership, management and support services to the Department,
promote relations with foreign countries,
participate in international organisations and institutions in line with South Africa’s national values and foreign policy objectives, and
communicate South Africa’s role and position in international relations in the domestic and international arenas as well as to provide Protocol Services.

The quarterly reports reflect the high level highlights of a number of diplomatic activities carried out by the Department including its Missions abroad. At the time of reporting, South Africa’s representative footprint had grown from 34 in 1994 to 125 diplomatic missions in 2021, situated in 109 countries throughout the world.

2. Opening remarks by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Mr SOR Mahumapelo MP

In his opening remarks, the Chairperson noted an emergence of concerning tensions, including coup d'état, that were particularly in the African continent. He further pointed out that despite these challenges that faced the continent and the world, there was a need for hope, hope that is driven by a solid basis and a foundation for future generations, through contributing to a creation of a peaceful world order. A world order in which the majority of people in South Africa would be blessed in, and Africans in general.

The Chairperson further noted that the 35th African Union Summit would sit from 5-6 February 2022, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme for 2022 is ‘Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development’. The Chairperson called upon the summit to practically and concretely focus on necessary quantification of the achievements made as a continent, in responding to challenges facing the continent. Importantly, he emphasized, the need for repelling tendencies of Afro pessimism.

Mr Mahumapelo advocated for a common African position on the climate debate. He called upon the AU to change the perception of Africa as a climate change victim. Instead, the focus should be on the continent’s contribution to cleaner energy by, for example, producing key minerals to spearhead new technology.

The Chairperson expressed concern on security developments in conflict hot spots in the continent. He hoped the AU would also look at how it could practically and permanently bring to an end a tendency embedded in the African continent, seemingly engineered outside the continent, of coup d'états that take place in some of the countries. Africa should accept that the only way out of the challenges, cannot be coup d'états, but rather, be acceptable methods through democratic processes.

The Chairperson commended the South African government, through the Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, for issuing a statement where, unambiguously, South Africa demonstrated its attitude towards not accepting the proposal which resulted in Israeli being granted an observer status at the AU. He hoped that the AU would discuss this matter and take a position that is acceptable to the majority in the African Continent. He was optimistic that somewhere in the future, there would be an acceptable outcome on the Israeli-Palestine conflict, where the two states would exist side by side in peace.

With regard to Africa’s continued fight against COVID-19, he noted that apart from a select few countries, far too few vaccines were available for Africa. He expressed hope that the campaign by South Africa and India in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would get overwhelming support, and that it would be discussed in the AU Summit.

In order to build resilience in nutrition, Mr Mahumapelo emphasized the importance of a developed agricultural sector. It would be expected that the AU identify capacities within the continent, to accelerate this sector, in order to make impact on its 2022 AU Theme. Africa should be able to feed itself through the agricultural sector.

The Chairperson also noted the incident that happened in Cameroon, where lives were lost in the stadium, as a result of a stampede. He expressed hope that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) would ensure that such an unfortunate incident would not happen again.

He concluded by expressing a wish to see the leaders of CAF making use of African football to contribute to the economic development of the continent. The Chairperson would also like to experience a rebranding of the African football, so that the excitement, focus and the passion could be similar to those displayed for the teams that are playing in the European league. The rebranding should be extended to all sporting codes in the African Continent.

Presentation on the 1st & 2nd quarters performance and service delivery for 2021/22 financial year

The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Alvin Botes, gave an overview, in the form of introductory remarks, on the overall performance as guided by the delivery programmes of the Department and the ARF for 2021/22. Ms Charlotte Lobe added details of the annual performance of the Department.

Deputy Minister Botes emphasised that the Department pursued multilateralism for maximum utilisation of the global governance institution, within the United Nations and also engaging an array of other multilateral organisations. During the reporting period, South Africa had maintained its representation through 65 positions across the multilateral system. South Africa also played a pivotal role in geopolitical groupings under South-South cooperation. This was achieved through participation in the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), the India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA), and in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Participation in these forums was a way to deepen both South-South cooperation and to underpin and cement, Pan African outlook, which is the paramount pillar, and South Africa’s foreign policy priority.

The Deputy Minister appreciated the Chairperson’s reference to the on-going campaign led by South Africa and India, for the temporary waiver of the TRIPS Intellectual Property, at the WTO. This would allow African and the underdeveloped world largely, to be able to have the interim privilege to produce local vaccines.

In pursuit of the diplomacy of UBUNTU, South Africa has committed to fund the procurement of over 2 million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines for 26 other African countries. These would in particular, be those that are characterised as part of the less developed countries. The fact that most of these supplies would be produced at a South African pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, would go a long way to solidify Pan African orientation.

It was also noted that South Africa committed to allocate an amount of 50 million rand for special intervention purposes, for the Cuban people who have experienced real food security challenges. This is due to the extraterritorial and unilateral sanctions leveled against the people of Cuba by the United States of America.

True to the fact that the Department operates in an ever changing international landscape, its work during the 1st and 2nd quarters was influenced by these events and the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has affected diplomatic operations across the world. Most countries introduced travel restrictions and resorted to digital means to conduct their business.

The activities of the Department remained structured into the five programmes as elaborated in its Annual Performance Plan 2021/22. These are as follows:

Programme 1: Administration
Programme 2: International Relations
Programme 3: International Cooperation
Programme 4: Public Diplomacy and Protocol Services and
Programme 5: International Transfers

2.1 Non-financial performance of the Department per programme: Achievements

2.1.1 Programme 1: Administration: It is aimed to provide strategic leadership, management and support services to the Department.

Within this programme in the 1st & 2nd quarters, three outreach initiatives to support gender mainstreaming were held through facilitating the Pan-African Women’s Day Commemoration Webinar. Furthermore, the Department participated in the launch of the Charlotte Maxeke African Women’s Economic Justice and Rights Initiative; and the inaugural Charlotte Maxeke Minister’s Breakfast with Women Ambassadors accredited to South Africa.

Although no mentoring and job shadowing target for the quarter, a youth outreach initiative, in collaboration with the Office of Deputy Minister Botes and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, was held.

In pursuit of its quarterly target on the implementation of the White Paper on the Rights of people with disabilities, two strategic interventions were held. These were namely the stakeholder consultation on the provision of reasonable accommodation for Employees with Disabilities; and the internal stakeholders’ consultation to fast-track the provision of assistive devices and universal accessible design for employees with disabilities.

The Department reported having produced a progress report on the implementation of the Digital Strategy reflecting achievements against two strategic objectives. These were objectives regarding the modernising of data, storage, applications, network and telephony and cybersecurity infrastructure. The Department also reported having automated digital business processes and integrated business information systems.

Progress report was also produced, on the Audit Action Plan reflecting the development of the new Audit Action Plan as well as progress on the implementation thereof.

2.1.2 Programme 2: International Relations

The programme is aimed to promote relations with foreign countries to strengthen South Africa’s political, economic and social relations with targeted countries. This is achieved through the outcomes of structured bilateral mechanisms and high-level visits reflecting national priorities, the African Agenda and the Agenda of the South. These remain important vehicles for cooperation and promoting South Africa’s national priorities. The national priorities of government as well as the needs of Africa (such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as espoused in the National Development Plan (NDP), are also pursued in bilateral relations. Focus is also placed on the strengthening of economic diplomacy initiatives undertaken by Missions for the promotion of South Africa’s trade, investment and tourism potential and opportunities.

2.1.2.1 Structured Bilateral Mechanisms

National interests are pursued through bilateral engagements such as the structured bilateral mechanisms, the high-level visits and the various economic diplomacy initiatives undertaken at the Missions. The engagements undertaken during the reporting period centred on the promotion of South Africa’s national interests and areas of mutual interest, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the exchange of views on a wide spectrum of bilateral and global issues of concern.

The impact of COVID-19-related travel restrictions, lockdown measures and the severe socio-economic impact of the pandemic required a shift in focus of South Africa’s structured engagements. However, South Africa reached out to the international community to garner support for its fight against the pandemic and help stem the devastating economic fall-out.

South Africa continued to accelerate its economic diplomacy through diligent work. However, initiatives were negatively impacted by the pandemic restricting physical interaction. Work continued on virtual platforms with the aim of growing regional, continental and global trade and investment.

The economic diplomacy and image building activities undertaken by South African missions abroad were aimed at promoting, amongst others, the country’s economic interests, exploring investment opportunities, tourism promotion, skills development and cultural exchanges. However, tourism has suffered the most as a result of the pandemic and closure of international borders.

2.1.2.2 Regional Integration

South Africa assumed the Chairship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation at the 41st Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government (HoSG). The SADC Summit, amongst other matters, approved the transformation of the SADC Parliamentary Forum into a SADC Regional Parliament and its roadmap as a consultative and a deliberative body with no law-making or other binding authority. The summit also approved the appointment of Mr Elias Mpedi Magosi as the new Executive Secretary of SADC. Mr Magosi is a Botswana citizen. Furthermore, the Summit urged Member States that have not yet signed or ratified the Protocol on Industry, the Agreement on the Operationalisation of the SADC Regional Development Fund and the Protocol on Trade in Services to do so.

It was also recommended that the mandate of the National Reform Authority be extended for a period of six months with regard to the situation in Lesotho; and the summit further approved the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030.

2.1.3 Programme 3: International Cooperation

The Department aimed to develop a long term strategy for South Africa’s membership /candidatures and identify which memberships to pursue, however, it was not achieved. During quarter 4 reporting in the 2020/21 financial year, it was reported that due to a combination of factors, including concurrent UNSC membership and Chairship of the African Union (AU), coupled with the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns, the process could not be completed.

However, in 2nd quarter reporting in 2021/22, the Department explained that it did not achieve the target. The reasons advanced are that the target and the project has been abandoned. The Department has since decided that South Africa would maintain its current level of international memberships and entertain no new memberships. As such, there was no need to draft a strategy in this regard.

South Africa participated in discussions resulting in reports reflecting that the development gains of developing countries have been set back twenty years by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also became clear that internationally, a global re-balancing is taking place, as the world is becoming increasingly multipolar. It was further concluded that multilateral collaboration that was evident at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has slowly been replaced by narrow national self-interest and protectionism of vaccine availability in the midst of a global pandemic. Furthermore, the coordination amongst developing countries spanning the world´s time zones and the digital divide has proven to be especially challenging. Among other matters, South Africa, reiterated its call on G20 members to support negotiation aimed at securing a temporary waiver on the intellectual property right on the COVID-19 vaccines.

2.1.3.1 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) mid-term Ministerial Conference

Deliberations on various global challenges included, amongst other:

Reform of multilateral institutions;
COVID-19 pandemic; and
Israeli-Palestine conflict where South Africa reaffirmed its long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The key multilateral and plurilateral fora were utilised to advance the President´s messages and initiatives, in his capacity as the African Union COVID-19 champion and co-chair of the ACT-A Facilitation Council.

2.1.4 Programme 4: Public Diplomacy and Protocol Services

The programme is meant to communicate South Africa’s role and position in international relations in the domestic and international arenas. It is also aimed to provide protocol services. The Department distributed messages to missions on domestic and global developments; Public Participation Programmes were held; media statements were issued in response to both national and international developments, and opinion pieces were published. Protocol services were rendered as requested, and targets on consular services including the legalisation of documents were achieved.

3. Financial performance of the Department

3.1 Quarter 1 expenditure

The actual total expenditure for the 1st quarter of 2021/22 financial year amounted to R1.682 billion compared to the cash drawings of R1.991 billion representing a variance of 16% lower than what had been projected. The variances are explained as follows:

Programme 1 spent R268.3 million of the projected expenditure of R407.7 million. The low spending was mainly attributable to the delay in the implementation of property management strategy due to delays experienced with the bid evaluation committee. The other reason was the delay in the delivery of ICT equipment; as well as delay in the processing of ICT services (bandwidth) invoices in the 1st quarter that could not be processed. The non-processing of ICT services (bandwidth) invoices was due to challenges with the creation of order number on Central Supplier Database, due to expired tax certificate of the company.

Programme 2 spent R806.5 million of the projected expenditure of R887.1 million. The low spending was mainly attributable to expenditure for 17 missions accounts which did not close the accounts on time. As a result, the expenditure has not been recorded on Basic Accounting System for reporting as at 30 June 2021. The other reasons were the lower exchange rate experienced in the first quarter, as well as less travel due to the lockdown restrictions.
Programme 3 spent R108.9 million of to the projected expenditure of R135.6 million. The low spending was mainly attributable to expenditure for two missions accounts which did not close the accounts on time, as a result the expenditure has not been recorded on Basic Accounting System for reporting as at 30 June 2021. The other reasons were the lower exchange rate experienced in the first quarter, as well as less travel due to the lockdown restrictions.

Programme 4 spent R54.1 million of the projected expenditure of R73.2 million. The low spending was mainly due to less travel due to the lockdown restrictions. The other advanced reason was on the partial payment of municipality taxes for foreign missions in South Africa due to outstanding invoices.

Programme 5 spent R444.2 million of the projected expenditure of R488.0 million. The low expenditure trend was attributable to favourable exchange rate experienced in the 1st quarter of the financial year. The other reason was due to the outstanding assessment letters for annual assessed contribution to the United Nations Development Programme and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Quarter 2 expenditure

The actual total expenditure for the 2nd quarter of 2021/22 financial year amounted to R1.233 billion as compared to the projected expenditure of R1.485 billion representing a variance of 17% lower than what had been projected. The variance analysis per programme is explained as follows:

Programme 1 spent R306.9 million of the projected expenditure of R389.0 million. The low spending was mainly attributable to the to the delay in the implementation of property management strategy due to delays experienced with the bid evaluation committee. The other reasons were on the delay in the delivery of ICT equipment; as well as invoices for Bandwidth services that were not paid due to the expired contract.

3.2.2 Programme 2 spent R740.6 million of the projected expenditure of R872.4 million. The low spending was mainly attributable to expenditure for 15 missions accounts which did not close the accounts on time as a result the expenditure has not been recorded on Basic Accounting System for reporting as at 30 September 2021, lower exchange rate experienced in the first quarter as well as less travel due to the lockdown restrictions.

3.2.3 Programme 3 spent R114.8 million of the projected expenditure of R126.5 million. The low spending was mainly attributable to expenditure for four missions accounts which did not close the accounts on time. As a result, the expenditure has not been recorded on Basic Accounting System for reporting as at 30 September 2021. The other reasons were the lower exchange rate experienced in the first quarter, as well as less travel due to the lockdown restrictions.

Programme 4 spent R67.7 million of the projected expenditure of R76.1 million. The low spending was due to less travel due to the lockdown restrictions.

3.2.5 Programme 5 spent R2.9 million of the projected expenditure of R20.9 million. The low spending was due to transfer payment for the Commonwealth that was not paid due to outstanding assessment letter.

4. The African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF)

During the 1st and 2nd quarter reporting, the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund continued to be an important instrument in pursuit of South Africa’s foreign policy, particularly the African Agenda.

It was observed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been global in both scale and reach, and this necessitated coordinated international action to capacitate all countries to respond effectively.

South Africa, through President Cyril Ramaphosa, pledged to support international efforts to combat covid-19 in Africa. This was through contribution towards the development of new vaccines to combat the COVID-19 virus, as well as the development of new tests to rapidly diagnose the disease through BIOVAC.

The target for the operationalisation of SADPA, through tabling of the Partnership for Development Bill, which would repeal the ARF Act, was not achieved. As a result, the operationalisation of the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA) continues to be delayed. The National Treasury has reported that it has submitted comments on the South African Development Partnership Fund Bill to the Department, and further engagements were going to take place between the National Treasury and Department of International Relations and Cooperation. This would be especially on possible efficient and effective institutional arrangements through which the mandate of SADPA could be actualised.

5. Findings by the Committee

After due deliberations on the contents of the 1st and 2nd quarter reports for 2021/22 of the Department and its entity, the Committee made the following findings:

5.1 A concern was raised that the combination of performance information, makes the reporting very bulky, and not specific. It was therefore resolved that in the future, quarterly performance reports should not be clubbed together. Furthermore, the entity, being the ARF, should also report in its own meeting separately from the Department. These changes would assist Members to monitor whether a target relating to a particular quarter has been achieved.

5.2 It was noted that there was a lot of progress on the political mandate of the Department. There were still challenges with operational issues, and it must be shown how the Audit Action Plan would address the audit findings.

5.3 It would be important for the Department to focus on the impact of South Africa’s participation on the outcomes rather than focusing on the litany of events that the Department undertakes quarterly. The Committee urged the Department to report against indicators and targets.

5.4 The Department was cautioned to revisit circumstances that led to lower than expected expenditure on all programmes. It was noted that, at times, it could border on poor planning and that would negatively impact on the execution of predetermined objectives.

5.5 The Finance branch of the Department reported on reasons for non-performance on some operational issues. It pointed to the Department’s inability to deliver laptops and tools of trade because of prior issues that are supposed to be settled; licenses of service providers have expired, and the Department has not renewed them and is unable to pay because the contracts were illegal in the first place; the bid adjudication committee was not available and property management related decision could not be taken. Clarity was sought on the impact of these challenges on deliverables in that period; and the specific actions to be taken to remedy this situation.

5.6 A concern was raised regarding the lapses on the interface between the Basic Accounting System (BAS) and the missions abroad, in particular with the 17 missions during the reporting period. It was cautioned that it should be addressed before becoming an area of concern for the Auditor General.

5.7 The Committee sought a progress report on the implementation of the digital strategy. The report should particularly be on the procurement of ICT equipment, and the resultant impact on service delivery.

5.8 A progress report was sought on the processes aimed at bringing into force, the Foreign Service Act 2019. The Department had planned to finalise processes in August 2021.

5.9 The Committee’s oversight interest would be on the analysis of risks facing South Africa in the light of the insurgency in Mozambique; efforts aimed at addressing the political crisis in Eswatini; and receiving progress reports on the SADC Facilitation process in Lesotho, as examples.

5.10 More information was sought on the benefits accrued to South Africa, in the form of addressing the triple challenges facing the country and redressing the injustices of the past, flowing from the structured bilateral mechanisms and high level visits during the reporting period.

5.11 An elaboration was sought on the tangible results from the regional investment strategies and how these contributed to the local and regional economic growth.

5.12 Details were sought on the non-achievement of the target of the review of South Africa’s membership to international organisations.

5.13 The Cuban government has also requested South Africa’s assistance to address the shortage of food and medical supplies in the country. The Committee supported the gesture, as this was exacerbated by the unilateral US economic sanctions on Cuba.

5.14 The Department was asked to substantiate on the allocated budget and plans to build new properties in Angola, India and Botswana. It was further asked to clarify whether, in the case where the Foreign Service Act 2019 is not ready for implementation, such properties would remain with the Department of Public Works or Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

5.15 Clarity was sought as to why the Department was not leading processes on BRICS, and instead National Treasury was taking the lead in that forum.

5.16 A concern was raised on the recent President’s acceptance of credentials of the Israeli Ambassador to South Africa.

5.17 A concern was raised on the inconsistencies that seem to be on the policy position on Palestine. This was precipitated by the President’s acceptance of a Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of Israel to South Africa. The issue should be discussed further in a physical meeting with Minister.

5.18 It was argued that amidst quarterly reporting, the Committee also expects the Department to highlight international developments and how they influence South Africa’s Foreign Policy. Currently, it would have been the Eswatini issue, postponement of elections in Libya and the escalation of tensions along the Ukraine-Russian border.

5.19 The Committee requested an update regarding the African Free Trade Agreement in another session, with the department of Trade and Industry.

5.20 There have always been challenges of synergy of collaboration among the departments. The Department, should indicate if there were any other critical departments that it should be working with. It is important to know if there is the necessary cooperation, example of such departments are Home Affairs, Police.

5.21 Quarterly reports should depict how far the Department is on course to a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa. The work of the Department should deal with the injustices of the past, and the performance reports should demonstrate how the execution of foreign policy add value to this objective. The future generations should inherit a fully non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.

5.22 More information was sought on the benefits accrued to South Africa, in the form of addressing the triple challenges facing the country and redressing the injustices of the past, flowing from the structured bilateral mechanisms and high level visits during the reporting period.

5.23 An elaboration was sought on the tangible results from the regional investment strategies and how these contributed to the local and regional economic growth.

5.24 A concern was raised on the slow pace with the implementation of the migration from the African Renaissance Fund (ARF) to the Partnership for Development Bill in support of the South African Development and Partnership Agency (SADPA).

5.25 The Committee noted that the African Renaissance Fund has continued to be an important instrument in pursuit of South Africa’s foreign policy, particularly the African Agenda. In this spirit, South Africa will fund the procurement of 2 030 400 doses of J&J for 26 African countries. This was applauded as a significant contribution by South Africa to the fight against covid19 in the continent.

6. Responses by the Department

6.1 The Department committed to provide more tangible information on developments in Lesotho, Mozambique, West Africa and Eswatini.

6.2 South Africa assumed the chairship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (the Organ) in August 2021, taking over from the Republic of Botswana. Its main focus would be on issues of peace and security. Even before chairing the Organ, South Africa was already responsible for the facilitation of the peace process in the Kingdom of Lesotho.

6.3 President Ramaphosa was assigned by SADC to be the Facilitator in the political crisis in Lesotho. He appointed former Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke to do the facilitation work on his behalf. South Africa has made a lot of progress in Lesotho. Lesotho would be holding parliamentary elections in 2022, which would be based on a reformed constitution, which is a product of South Africa’s facilitation.

6.4 Mozambique was a very complex issue, not only in the level of execution, but even at the level of conception. There were still differences of opinion whether the situation should be called terrorism, violence, extremism or insurgency. Even Mozambicans themselves, have no common understanding of the nature of the situation in Cabo Delgado, and this somehow puts SADC in a very difficult situation in terms of the necessary response. The role of the military is very important to reclaim the territories captured by the insurgents.

6.5 The issue of Eswatini is a historical and sensitive matter. There is a SADC roadmap that is currently being negotiated to mediate the situation. The terms of reference of mediation are currently being negotiated between the members of Troika. As soon as it is agreed, they will be taken back to Eswatini, and every stakeholder will be consulted to make sure that that mediation happens within agreed terms of reference.

6.6 It was noted that West Africa's issues of instability were a reality. President Ramaphosa embarked on a four-nation West Africa visit, comprising Nigeria, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal, last December. The objective was to reinforce South Africa’s bilateral relations with these countries and to strengthen partnerships directed at African development and cooperation in multilateral forums. South Africa was also interacting and enhancing relations with these countries as members of ECOWAS. Indeed, the challenges and the continued trend of security threats was worrying South Africa, however South Africa would continue to work with ECOWAS and the African Union in condemning the trends, and working on some of the mechanisms around these matters.

6.7 The Department find the same situation of coups in Mali still concerning. Burkina Faso followed the previous week, and also Guinea-Conakry and latest attempt has been in in Guinea-Bissau, and the Department had already drafted a statement in that regard. It was encouraging that South Africa’s course was very diligent in condemning these attempts and however as a continent, they still need to work hard on preventing these developments. It was also known that outside of the continent there were external forces to some extent influencing these illegal activities.

6.8 In response to tangible results as a result of the work of the Department, it was noted that in 2020, the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Executive Director of the World Food Program, wrote to President Ramaphosa asking that South Africa become one of three humanitarian assistance hubs on the continent, as part of the global response to address COVID-19. One humanitarian assistance hub is in Ghana, the other in Ethiopia. It was beneficial in a number of ways. First of all, it was able to give a lifeline to South African Airways, during the hard lockdown. South Africa was able to transport humanitarian cargo and humanitarian personnel throughout the African continent and these flights were carried by South African Airways. Even here in South Africa, there were many humanitarian workers and medical personnel who came in to build medical facilities in the townships, to provide training for health workers. The hub is situated in Johannesburg.

6.9 In terms of performance, the Department targets are time bound, because for every quarter, there are specific things that we are required to achieve as a department and at the end of the financial year, the Department is required to make an analysis that talks to the mandate of the Department, the impact of work, as well as how the Department has practically contributed to the triple challenges as the priority for the sixth administration. There are performance plans for government departments, which also demonstrates that the era of just ticking boxes in terms of numbers of events that are undertaken is no more.

6.10 On BRCIS, there are 10 projects and they are funded through the new BRICS Development Bank and they are worth 4.4 billion US dollars, which would be around R75 billion. These is inclusive of the R2 billion that was for the COVD-19 loans that took care of the emergency needs as a result of the COVID-19 situation. Other projects are those towards the infrastructure of the State Owned Entities, such as Transnet and ESKOM.

6.11 On ICT, most of the challenges, especially on BAS, were as a result of the Department not being able to repair infrastructure on time, because it could not commission tools or replacement spares as quick as it wanted to, because of international restrictions on travel and getting the diplomatic bag in time. The Department is hoping that now with level one restrictions, it will be able to improve on how it commissions its spare replacements to missions that are having ICT challenges. The Department has so far received about 1300 devices and received servers for head office as part of the data center modernization.

6.12 On SADPA, the Minister has written to the Minister of Finance with the concerns that were raised. It is projected to be finalised by Cabinet before the end of the financial year, so that the Department could also complete the draft Bill.

6.13 On Property Management and Development, responsibilities have moved from the Department of Public Works to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, which is also regulated in the Foreign Services Act. The Department has already approved the property management strategy as well as the disposal policy, and implementation is on-going.

6.14 On the low spending in programme 1, with respect to Bid and Evaluation Committee, the members of this committee are senior Members belonging to other branches and committees. If these members do not attend the bid and evaluation committee, it slows down progress on the Finance Branch. For the Branch Finance to deliver on the implementation of the property management strategy, it needs the bid evaluation committee to evaluate the conditional assessment reports that they receive. This impacts on procurement and the budget is not spent as per the Department’s plans.

6.15 On the issue on the interface between BAS and mission systems, the two systems are not integrated, which means one has to move information from the mission system to the basic accounting system. To rectify this, the Department has written to the National Treasury, requesting it to remove the moratorium that was placed, to enable departments to buy their own ICT systems.

6.16 The Department is requesting to procure a system that would be able to integrate information from the mission electronically. It is a system that is used by National Treasury, and that reports in real time.

6.17 As soon as the National Treasury gives a hint that they are removing the moratorium, then the Department would be able to then start the process of getting that system that would be able to assist it to report in real time.

7. Conclusions

The Committee is of the opinion that despite some challenges, overall the Department was able to perform its political work according to the goals it had set itself for the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2021/22 reporting period. The operational issues contributed a great deal to the low spending of the budget allocation. The implementation of the ICT and property management strategies were not optimal.

The unpredictable foreign exchange portfolios, the COVID-19 imposed restrictions and the ceiling on compensation of employees, have negatively affected the operations of the Department, especially in the Missions, where the bulk of its activities take place. The pandemic also impacted upon some of the activities of the Department and the ARF, resulting in some key targets not being achieved.

8. Recommendations

In order to further assist the Department to enhance its performance, the Committee recommends that the Minister ensures that the Department implements the following and report to the Committee within one month of the adoption of this report by the National Assembly:

8.1 Report against indicators and targets, focusing on the impact of South Africa’s participation on the outcomes rather than focusing on the litany of events that the Department undertakes quarterly.

8.2 Fast-track the modernisation project of the ICT infrastructure and related matters to minimise the risk to security of information, and to respond to the virtual demands of the ‘new normal’ necessitated by the advent of COVID-19.

8.3 Revisit circumstances that led to lower than expected expenditure on all programmes. It could border on poor planning and that would negatively impact on the execution of predetermined objectives.

8.4 Expedite the development of a property management strategy in line with the Foreign Service Act 2019.

8.5 Jointly with the department of Trade and Industry, develop a progress report on South African preparedness for the implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), with projections of possible trade with the rest of the continent.

8.6 Develop and present regional reports on how structural bilateral mechanisms and high level visits address the triple challenges facing the country and redress the injustices of the past.

8.7 Expedite the implementation of the migration from the African Renaissance Fund (ARF) to the Partnership for Development Bill, in support of the South African Development and Partnership Agency (SADPA).

8.8 Provide more detailed information on political developments in Lesotho, Mozambique and Eswatini, during South Africa’s chairship of the SADC Organ Politics, Defence and Security.

8.9 Facilitate the government’s donation in response to Cuba’s request to address the shortage of food and medical supplies exacerbated by the unilateral US economic sanctions on Cuba.

8.10 Provide a report on South Africa’s membership to international organisations, showing how much it contributes annually as membership fees, and a synopsis of the value-add from being a state-party.

8.11 The Committee recommends that the 1st and 2nd quarters performance report be passed.

Report to be considered.

Sources

Department of International Relations and Cooperation-Annual Performance Plan 2021/2022
Department of International Relations and Cooperation- Strategic Plan 2020-2025
African Renaissance Fund- Annual Performance Plan 2021/22
African Renaissance Fund- Strategic Plan 2020-2025
National Treasury, Vote 6: International Relations and Cooperation, 1st and 2nd quarter expenditure reports 2021/2022
Presentation by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation on 1st and 2nd quarters expenditure performance 2021/2022.
Presentation by the African Renaissance Fund on its 1st and 2nd quarters expenditure performance 2021/2022

[1] Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996

[2] Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) 1999 (Act 1 of 1999).

[3] Department of International Relations and Cooperation Annual Performance Plan 2021/22

[4] Department of International Relations and Cooperation Strategic Plan 2020-2025

Documents