Funds donated by South Africa to Zimbabwe since 2000 and the various provisions attached to each donation
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO: 1462 (NW1807E)
PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO: 20-2013 OF 7 JUNE 2013
Dr CP Mulder (FF Plus) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation:
(1) whether South Africa has donated any funds to Zimbabwe since 2000; if so, (a) how many donations to Zimbabwe were made, (b) what was the amount in each and (c) what were the provisions attached to each donation;
(2) whether the Government took any steps against Zimbabwe because of non-compliance of the provisions attached to the donations; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether this non-compliance with the provisions attached to the donations was taken into account when further donations to Zimbabwe were considered; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) (a) to how many countries has South Africa (i) donated and (ii) loaned funds since 2000, (b) what was the total amount in each case and (c) what were the provisions attached to each donation or loan in each case;
(5) whether all such loans were repaid to South Africa; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
REPLY:
(1) Yes. In 2009, for the first time since the advent of the African Renaissance Fund (ARF) in 2001, the Government of the Republic of South Africa provided financial support to assist the economic recovery of Zimbabwe through the African Renaissance Fund. The support included a contribution of R300 million to a SADC led Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework (ZHDAF). The ZHDAF was formed to manage SADC’s humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. In this regard, the SADC Troika decided, in accordance with Article 9(6)(a) of the SADC Treaty, to launch an urgent international campaign to mobilise financial and material resources for the people of Zimbabwe in order to help them overcome the challenges facing their country. This contribution was therefore utilised to purchase agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizer and diesel) from South African suppliers. The financial reports on the expenditure indicated that the funds were spent in accordance with the intended purposes.
A second amount of R300 million was provided to finance the Short Term Emergency Recovery Plan of Zimbabwe (STERP). The Extraordinary SADC Summit in Swaziland on 30 March 2009 urged Member States to support Zimbabwe to implement the STERP, in the form of budget support, lines of credit, joint ventures and toll manufacturing. The Summit also called on the international community to support Zimbabwe and provide it with the necessary financial support for its economic recovery.
The support from the South African Government took the form of a targeted contribution to the 2009 Budget of the Zimbabwean Government. This contribution was governed by a MoU signed by the respective Ministers of Finance. As per the MoU, the funds were transferred to the Zimbabwe Ministry of Finance in three equal tranches of R100 million in May, June and August 2009. The funds were sourced from the African Renaissance Fund and used for the purposes for which they were intended, as per the MoU.
(2) As indicated above, the financial reports on the expenditure indicated that the funds were spent in accordance with the intended purposes. Therefore, there was no need for the Government of the Republic of South Africa to take any steps against Zimbabwe because of the latter’s non-compliance to the provisions attached to the donations.
(3) No further donations have been provided to Zimbabwe.
(4) The African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund Act, 2000 (Act No.51 of 2000) was promulgated on 22 January 2001 and Section 9 (1) repealed the Economic Co-operation Promotion Loan Fund Act, 1968 (Act No.68 of 1968). Since the promulgation of the ARF Act in January 2001, a number of ARF projects have been recommended by the ARF Advisory Committee and approved by the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation in consultation with the Minister of Finance. Since then, as indicated in the Annual Reports of DIRCO and the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund, many countries, especially in Africa, have received financial assistance from the Fund for projects that were in line with the objectives of the Fund. Details of the projects can be found in said Reports, as tabled to Parliament on an annual basis.
Section 5 (4) of the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund Act, 2000 stipulates that “loans or other financial assistance must be granted or rendered in accordance with an agreement entered into between the relevant parties, excluding assistance for the promotion of democracy and good governance or the prevention or resolution of conflict”. Therefore, various provisions are attached to the various ARF projects using the abovementioned legal instruments.
(5) Almost all of the funds granted by the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund are in the form of grants. Loans that have been made have been repaid.
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