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PRESIDENT ZUMA HOSTS GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA |
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President Jacob Zuma received the Governor-General of Canada, David Johnston, for a State Visit to South Africa on 21 May 2013. This was Governor-General Johnston’s first visit to South Africa. |
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The purpose of the State Visit was to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
South Africa offers good investment prospects for countries like Canada, President Jacob Zuma said in Cape Town during the State Visit of Canadian Governor-General Johnston.
President Zuma said he hoped that Canada would take advantage of infrastructure projects on the continent, as well as get more involved in Africa’s mining sector.
And as South Africa prepares to launch the South African Development Agency, President Zuma said the agency could
benefit from support of the Canadian International Development Agency, adding that countries from the North and the South had the unique opportunity to work together to change the lives of millions of Africans.
President Zuma said relations between South Africa and Canada were friendly and cooperative, rooted as they were in the anti-apartheid struggle, when Canada had argued strongly for a non-sexist, non-racist society.
The two countries had also worked closely in multilateral associations, including the World Trade Organisation and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which investigates serious transgressions of human rights. |
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ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU) TO CELEBRATE ITS 50th ANNIVERSARY |
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The 50th anniversary of the OAU will be celebrated on Africa Day, 25 May 2013. |
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During its meeting on 15 May 2013, Cabinet highlighted that the solidarity of the OAU in excluding the apartheid government from its organs uplifted South Africa’s struggle for freedom and attainment of democracy.
South Africa will join the continent in commemorating the 50th anniversary of the African Union. The activities include a month-long exhibition of contemporary visual arts in the Southern African Development Community region from 24 May to 28 June 2013 in the City of Tshwane. The Africa Institute of South Africa will also convene the academic community and diaspora as part of the commemorations from 19 to 21 May 2013.
Cabinet also welcomed the inauguration of Advocate Lawrence Mushwana as the new Chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. This is the first time that Africa heads the office of the Chairperson of the ICC. The position of ICC Chairperson secures increased focus on the country's human-rights track record and its compliance with international human-rights obligations. |
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| DEPUTY MINISTER FRANSMAN RETURNS FROM SUCCESSFUL TOUR OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE |
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The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Marius Fransman, returned to South Africa on 17 May 2013 from a successful tour of Central and Eastern Europe where he visited Azerbajain, Belarus, the Czech Republic and Romania.
The objectives of the Deputy Minister's visit to the region were to strengthen political, economic and commercial relations; to explore cooperation in, among other things, education, skills development, science and technology, energy and mineral beneficiation; and to exchange views in global governance issues of common interest. |
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Titus Corlăţean, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, receives the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Marius Fransman |
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Tomáš Dub, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, recieves Deputy Minister Marius Fransman |
Elena Kupchina, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, recieves Deputy Minister Fransman |
Khalaf Khalafov Aly Oglu, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, recieves Deputy Minister Fransman |
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| TICAD V SET FOR JUNE |
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| Japan has been a long-standing investor in South Africa and a major investor in the African continent. There are currently over 110 Japanese firms operating in South Africa. |
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| The Fifth Tokyo International |
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| Conference on African Development |
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| (TICAD V) in Yokohama |
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| 1-3 June 2013 |
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South Africa is looking to build on the recent levels of interest and investment from Japanese companies as part of the country's involvement in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), taking place in Japan from 1 to 3 June. In 2013, TICAD celebrates its 20th anniversary.
South Africa has seen increased interest from Japanese companies and banks looking to use the country as a springboard into the rest of Africa, Department of Trade and Industry Director-General, Lionel October, said at a pre-TICAD seminar in Johannesburg on 14 May 2013.
"Our collaboration with the international community, especially Japan, is designed to help us achieve inclusive growth, sustainable development and a prosperous South Africa," he said.
TICAD was established in 1993 to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners. It is hosted in Tokyo every five years, co-sponsored by the Japanese Government, the World Bank, United Nations (UN) Development Programme, the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa and the Global Coalition for Africa. |
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CELEBRATION OF 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE TO COMMENCE |
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A year-long campaign to celebrate 20 years of democratic governance in South Africa will start soon, culminating on 27 April 2014, the day on which all South Africans voted together in one election for the
first time. |
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"Our build-up programme will allow us to highlight and celebrate our achievements; to make the point, once more, that South Africa is a better country than it was before our liberation,” said the Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile.
The festivities will also promote the National Development Plan, Vision 2030, as drawn up by the National Planning Commission, which defines South Africa's long-term vision of eliminating poverty and reducing inequality by the year 2030. |
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NEW MANDELA STATUE FOR PARLIAMENT |
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Talks about building a monument at the place where Nelson Mandela received military training in 1962 have been held with the Government of Ethiopia. |
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| A new statue of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president, will be mounted at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and Parliament in Cape Town. The decision to erect the statue, which had already been commissioned, follows calls from Members of Parliament. |
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STRONG SA FILM PRESENCE IN CANNES |
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The South African film industry contributes R3,5 billion annually to the country's gross domestic product, while providing employment for more than 25 000 people, according to a new impact study on the industry. |
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A record 150 South African film-makers attended the 66th Cannes International Film Festival, which opened on 15 May 2013. Twelve of the film-makers were sponsored by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), which is also hosting the market screening of three South African films at the prestigious event.
The NFVF is running a South Africa pavilion as well as an array of networking and presentation events over the 11 days of the festival as it pushes to open up new markets for local film-makers and attract new investments in South Africa's film industry.
"Cannes is without a doubt one of the most strategic international film platforms," NFVF CEO Zama Mkosi said.
"Another area we will be focussing on is that of marketing our locations as suitable shooting destinations to the international film-makers. I'm happy that provincial bodies like the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, Durban Film Office and Johannesburg Tourism are part of our delegation, and they will be able to sell their regions to potential investors."
The NFVF also announced that South Africa would sign a memorandum of understanding with Kenya during the festival, aimed at opening opportunities for local film-makers to explore working partnerships with their counterparts in Kenya.
Government is in the process of converting the NFVF into a fully fledged National Film Commission and establishing a National Film Fund. |
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SA TELESCOPE CAPTURES GIANT STAR FLARES |
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South Africa plans to continue using KAT-7 to do science until at least 2015, when part of the MeerKAT telescope will become available to researchers. |
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In a significant milestone for South Africa's Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, the first scientific paper based on observations using the KAT-7 demonstrator radio telescope has been accepted for publication by the prestigious journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomy Society.
The seven-dish KAT-7 is paving the way for the 64-dish MeerKAT telescope, due to be commissioned in 2014/15 both as a precursor to the SKA and as one of the most powerful telescopes in the world in its own right.
"This is a significant milestone for South Africa's SKA project, proving that our engineers are able to deliver a cutting-edge scientific instrument, and that our scientists are able to use it for frontier science," the Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom, said. |
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