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Provision of Electoral Assistance by the South African Government to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 2011-2012 Financial Year
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 673 (CW887E)
PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 38-2012 OF 30 NOVEMBER 2012
MR K SINCLAIR (COPE-NC) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION:
(1) Whether the Government has provided any electoral assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 2011-2012 financial year; if not, what is the position in this regard, if so, what are the relevant details in respect of (a) the (i) framework and (ii) context of the assistance, (b) a breakdown of the budget application to the assistance and (c) other South African departments involved in the assistance and their specific contributions?
REPLY:
(a) Yes, the South African Government did provide electoral assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in November 2011. South Africa was at the time, the Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Acting on behalf of SADC and in our capacity as Chair of the Organ, we constituted and lead a SADC Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM). An SEOM is tasked with ensuring that elections are conducted in accordance with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
South Africa has been assisting the Government and the people of the DRC to achieve peace and stability. In this regard, South Africa’s involvement in the DRC is within the framework of the General Cooperation Agreement which seeks to promote political, economic and social cooperation between the two countries. South Africa’s assistance over the years has focused on assisting the DRC on its Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) programme. It was within this framework that the Government assisted the DRC on these elections.
(b) Funding for South Africa’s electoral support came from the African Renaissance Fund (ARF)
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R1, 2 million to the Independent Electoral Commission for capacity development.
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R100 million to the South African National Defence Force for the transportation of ballot papers.
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R24 million to the South African Police Services to purchase radio telecommunication, riot equipment for the DRC National Police and training.
(c) The following Departments were involved:
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South African National Defence Force
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South African Police Services
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Independent Electoral Commission
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