South African Government commitment to Human Rights and Democracy with the disrespect to the Election Results in the Ivory Coast

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NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES

FOR ORAL REPLY

QUESTION NO: CO110E

Mr H B Groenewald (DA-NW) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation:

1. Why the election results in Ivory Coast are deemed to be inconclusive as stated at a press conference on 17 February 2011;
   
   
2. whether the SA Government will recognise a certain person (Mr. Ouattara) as the winner of the election; if not, why not; if so, when;
   
   
3. whether the SA Government has met with a certain person (Mr. Gbagbo) following the declaration of the election results; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) where, (b) when and (c) what were the outcome of the meeting;
   
   
4. whether she will reconcile the Government’s commitment to human rights and democracy in Africa with the decision of the said person to not respect the election results; if not, what steps is the Government taking to ensure that the results are respected; if so, what are the relevant details?          

REPLY:

1. The election results are deemed inconclusive since both Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Ouattara claimed to have won the presidential election of 28 November 2010. This indicates that, de facto, the outcome of the election is still inconclusive.
   
   
2. Given the fact that the outcome of the election has lead to an impasse, South Africa made a proposal to the African Union Summit, held from 28 to 31 January 2011 in Addis Ababa that may lead to a political solution to the impasse. Thus, until the AU has finally resolved the impasse, South Africa will not take sides on the matter.
   
   
3. President Zuma met with both Mr Gbagbo and Mr. Ouattara (a) in Abidjan on (b) 20 February 2011 as part of High-Level Panel established by the AU on 28 January 2011. (c). While the High Level Panel has made progress it has not concluded its work (c) and consequently it met on 04 March 2011, to conclude its report on work to date.
   
   
4. South Africa’s contribution to the promotion of democracy and Human rights in Africa and its principled stance in this regards is well recognised. President Zuma’s involvement in the AU High Level Panel established by AU attests to this. The panel’s ultimate responsibility is to ensure a durable solution that will sustain a framework for the entrenchment of peace and respect for human rights. 

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