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SA CALLS FOR A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO THE SITUATION
IN UKRAINE |
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| The South African Government would like to express its deep concern about the unfolding political situation in Ukraine. |
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| Consistent with our foreign policy that favours and promotes peaceful resolution of conflicts, South Africa urges the protagonists in the stand-off to settle the crisis through dialogue. We will continue to monitor the situation and encourage international diplomatic efforts meant to produce a lasting peaceful solution. |
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| SA CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACK IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (PRC) |
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| The South Africa Government condemns all forms and manner of terrorism. We believe that terrorism in any form and from whichever quarter cannot be condoned. |
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The South African Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack which took place at the Kunming Railway Station in the PRC on 1 March 2014, which claimed the lives of 29 innocent people and left more than 130 people injured.
The South African Government sends it deepest condolences to the Government and the people of the PRC, and in particularly to the families of the deceased and wish the injured speedy recoveries. |
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| DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING THE STATUS OF LGBTI PERSONS WORLDWIDE |
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| South Africa believes that no persons should be subjected to discrimination or violence on any ground, including on the basis of sexual orientation. |
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South Africa takes note of the recent developments regarding the situation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transsexual and Intersex persons (LGBTI) worldwide.
The South African Government will, through existing diplomatic channels, be seeking clarification on these developments from many capitals around the world.
South Africa views the respect for the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms as a critical pillar of our domestic and foreign policies; hence they are enshrined in our Constitution.
On the domestic front, we also have challenges of our own in this regard.
The Government has decided to adopt measures aimed at significantly enhancing our protection mechanisms aimed at curbing violence against the LGBTI community. To this end, our focus will also be on ensuring that acts of violence do not go unpunished and that perpetrators are apprehended, prosecuted, convicted and appropriately sentenced.
Our Constitution makes it impermissible to discriminate on the ground of sexual orientation, therefore eradicating hate crimes and intolerance in regard to this matter remains a key preoccupation of the Government, working collectively and with the relevant civil-society organisations. |
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| DEPUTY PRESIDENT MOTLANTHE UNDERTAKES WORKING VISIT TO THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK) |
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| The Service at Westminster Abbey bears testimony to the special relationship between South Africa and the UK and to the ties that Nelson Mandela had with the Royal Family and the people of the UK. |
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Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe undertook a Working Visit to London, UK, from 2 to 3 March 2014. The Deputy President’s visit to the UK was in honour of an invitation extended by the British Government to the South African Government to attend “A Service of Thanksgiving to Celebrate the Life and Work of Nelson Mandela”. The service was held at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday, 3 March 2014.
"This service demonstrates how this global icon that is Madiba touched many lives and hearts and was able to transcend geographical boundaries in spreading messages of peace, unity and the need for a better world,'' said President Jacob Zuma in a statement.
South Africa and the UK’s deep historic relations have positively impacted on cooperation in a broad spectrum of areas. These include trade, investment, tourism, culture, education and people-to-people contact.
The Deputy President was accompanied by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, and senior government officials.
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| WORLD LEADERS ATTEND NIGERIA CENTENARY CELEBRATION |
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| South Africa’s Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and French President Francois Hollande were among those who attended the celebrations. |
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World leaders paid tribute to Nigeria recently as the West African country kicked off a centenary celebration of the 1914 amalgamation of its southern and northern protectorates into a full-blown colony of former British administrators.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared the four-day event open with an international conference on security.
Hollande, who was a guest speaker, spoke extensively on the theme "Human Security, Peace and Development: Agenda for the 21st Century".
More than 28 world leaders who attended the event or sent delegations were given the opportunity to deliver goodwill messages to Nigeria.
Apart from congratulating Africa's most populous country on its journey so far as a nation with unity in diversity, all the speakers commiserated with Nigeria on the recent attack by suspected terrorists who struck a local government college in the north-east Yobe State and killed scores of innocent students.
They condemned the killing in strong terms and called for a more concerted effort in combating activities of extremists in Nigeria, Africa and the world in general. – Source: www.SAnews.gov.za |
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| MINISTER NKOANA-MASHABANE CO-CHAIRS THE NEW ASIAN AFRICAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP (NAASP) SECOND CONFERENCE ON COOPERATION AMONG EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES FOR
PALESTINIAN DEVELOPMENT (CEAPAD II) |
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CEAPAD is a platform for East Asian countries to make an active contribution to the Middle East peace process, strengthen cooperation with Palestine and support its nation-building efforts. |
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Since its inception in 2005, South Africa and Indonesia have taken the lead as the respective continental co-chairs of the NAASP process, including the holding of the Conference on Capacity-Building for Palestine in Jakarta on 14 July 2008. Almost 220 participants from 56 countries took part in the conference. The time frame for the initiative was from 2008 to 2013.
In this regard, Indonesian Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, invited Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, as well as Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riad Maliki, to undertake official visits to Indonesia, coinciding with this NAASP initiative. Minister Natalegawa expressed the view that the presence of all three ministers would add political momentum to “the building of partnerships in support of Palestine’s nation-building efforts”.
Speaking at the conference, Minister Nkoana-Mahabane said that South Africa supported international efforts aimed at the establishment of a viable Palestinian state, existing side by side in peace with Israel within internationally recognised borders, based on those existing on 4 June 1967, prior to the outbreak of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing Israeli settlement expansion, including in East Jerusalem. We have repeatedly called on Israel to abandon all settlement expansion. A two-state solution to the conflict is under increasing threat as Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank continues to make the separation of both peoples into two states increasingly difficult. The continuation of settlement construction is seen by the South African Government not only as a violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. It is also in violation of a commitment already agreed to by Israel during preceding peace negotiations, including at the 2007 Annapolis International Middle East Peace Conference in which South Africa participated.
“South Africa stands firmly opposed to the blockade of Gaza. The blockade impedes vital humanitarian aid and worsens the already inhuman living conditions.
“We encourage a just solution to the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.”
Minister Nkoana-Mashabane held bilateral talks with her Indonesian and Palestinian counterparts on the sidelines of the conference to discuss bilateral issues and current developments in the Middle East. |
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| RENEWED EFFORTS TO BE PLACED ON SA-INDONESIA TRADE |
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| With the two sides being the largest economies in their respective regions, and endowed with rich natural resources, the two ministers emphasised that Indonesia and South Africa had the capacity and potential to expand economic cooperation, especially investment cooperation. |
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South Africa and Indonesia have agreed to put in renewed efforts to increase bilateral trade as well as to work together to promote technical cooperation.
In a joint statement on Saturday, 1 March, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and her Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa, noted that bilateral trade between the two nations had consistently grown over the past five years.
“It was agreed that renewed efforts were needed to increase the volume of bilateral trade,” said the two ministers.
They also emphasised the need to step up joint efforts to identify and eliminate trade barriers as well as to promote direct trade – through optimising the existing bilateral mechanism, the Joint Trade Committee.
The two sides expressed their readiness to promote technical cooperation in areas of their respective expertise and experience, including on education and human resources development, agriculture and animal farming, industry as well as small and medium enterprises.
– Source: www.SAnews.gov.za |
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| BRICS COUNTRIES URGED TO FOCUS ON ISSUES OF GENDER EQUALITY |
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| “South Africa has made many advances in promoting gender and reproductive health rights in the past 20 years, but more still needs to be done.” |
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The Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, has urged officials and experts from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), attending the Inaugural BRICS Seminar on Population Matters, to give special attention to exchanging ideas on advancing both gender and reproductive health rights.
“As experts on population matters, I urge you to engage on this matter, drawing lessons from all our different experiences, in order to further promote gender and reproductive health rights in our countries and the world,” Minister Dlamini said.
A presentation by the South African delegation showed that in South Africa, women are still vulnerable due to exposure to gender-based violence, and the reproductive health rights for black women remain limited.
In order to contribute towards addressing these problems, the Department of Social Development is currently piloting a 24-hour helpline which victims of gender-based violence can call for support and guidance by trained social workers.
The seminar was called to exchange knowledge and experiences on each country’s population trends, dynamics and policy responses thereto, and on the basis of this exchange to identify areas of cooperation on population-related issues.
It was expected that the outcome of the seminar would be a broad framework document for BRICS cooperation on population-related issues. The framework would in turn be presented to a meeting of BRICS ministers responsible for population matters at a later stage.
Minister Dlamini said the seminar was another step towards strengthening cooperation among the major emerging economies of the South.
– Source: www.SAnews.gov.za |
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| EDUCATION AGREEMENT WITH CHINA TO BE IMPLEMENTED |
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| This follows the signing of a collaboration agreement between the two countries' presidents in March last year, when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited South Africa. |
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The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, recently oversaw the signing of an implementation plan between the Ministry of Education in China and the Department of Basic Education in South Africa in Beijing.
2014 has also been declared the Year of South Africa in China with the understanding that the two countries share excellent international relations and wish to extend their relationship beyond trade into areas of mutual development. Education is a priority imperative for both countries and this implementation plan is centred around strengthening education ties at an institutional and policy level.
This collaboration allows South Africa to benchmark itself with the best in the world with a view of making sure that it is on par. |
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SA BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITS INDIA |
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The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) said in a statement that its fifth annual Investment and Trade Initiative in India would target the promotion of South Africa's agroprocessing, beneficiated metals and mining technology, automotive components and electro-technical sectors. |
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A delegation of 40 businesspeople, headed by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe, visited India recently on a five-day mission to promote South Africa as a trade and investment destination.
The mission included trade and investment seminars, mini-exhibitions and business-to-business meetings in Chennai and Mumbai.
According to Thabethe, India's fast-growing economy is expected to play an important and growing role in the global economy in coming years.
South Africa's trade with India has doubled over the last five years, with minerals such as gold, diamonds and platinum, base metals, chemical products and machinery making up the bulk of exports.
"India has been one of our top 10 trading partners for the past few years and is now our fifth-largest export destination and sixth-largest source of imports," Deputy Minister Thabethe said. – Source: www.southafrica.info |
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“ANTHEMS” CONCERTS TO CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF FREEDOM |
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"At such an emotionally important time as the 20th anniversary of democracy, Joburg Theatre honours these artists and pays tribute to them and all the other artists who fought for democracy in their country." |
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“Anthems of Democracy”, a series of concerts featuring world-famous singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading and a powerful line-up of local musicians, will take place at the Joburg Theatre in April as part of South Africa's 20 years of freedom celebrations.
South African artists Bright Blue, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Jennifer Ferguson, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, Victor Masondo, Mzwakhe Mbuli, Themba Mkhize, Vicky Sampson and the Soweto Gospel Choir will join Armatrading on stage in Johannesburg on 24, 25 and 26 April, with details of a special Freedom Day performance on 27 April still to be announced.
"During the period of 1980 to 1990, a group of South African musicians was very active in protesting against the then government of South Africa," Joburg Theatre executive producer Bernard Jay said in a statement.
"Anthems of Democracy features many of these artists whose songs became songs of hope and encouragement through troubled times."
The accompanying story of the times will be narrated on stage by South African storyteller and author Gcina Mhlope.
The concerts are being produced by Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse and Roddy Quin, who produced the internationally acclaimed Nelson Mandela 46664 music events and has been the manager of South African icon Johnny Clegg for 23 years. – Source: www.southafrica.info |
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SOUTH AFRICA LIFTS ICC UNDER-19 WORLD CUP |
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Well led by captain Aiden Markram, who was named Player of the Tournament, the Baby Proteas' bowlers dominated the final, but
their batsmen were made to work hard for victory by Pakistan. |
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South Africa captured the ICC Junior World Cup for the first time on 1 March after defeating Pakistan by six wickets with 47 balls remaining in the final in Dubai. Previously, South Africa's best results were runners-up finishes in 2002 and 2008.
"It feels amazing," the South African captain said afterwards. "This is the first win for South Africa at a global ICC event, so I can't even describe how I feel right now. The boys are over the moon.
"The team has performed really well in the tournament, and it has been a great experience for all of us. We've learned so many things from this tournament, and there is so much that we can take from here to help us further our careers."
"Winning the U-19 World Cup for the first time is a wonderful day for South African cricket to celebrate," Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. "Without exception, we are all very impressed by the manner in which our under-19 team won this World Cup.
"The way they dominated today's final from the very first ball, and being the only team unbeaten throughout the tournament, showed all the hallmarks of a championship team.”
"To have the best team in the world at test and under-19 level is worth celebrating. As South Africans we can all be justifiably proud."
– Source: www.southafrica.info |
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