Former President Kgalema Motlanthe recently travelled to Botswana as a Special Envoy to represent President Jacob Zuma at the funeral of the late Lieutenant General Mompati Sebogodi Merafhe, the former Vice-President of the Republic of Botswana.

Lieutenant General Merafhe passed away on 7 January 2015. He was the founding commander of the Botswana Defence Force. He served as the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration from 1989 to 1994, and then Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008 as the country's longest serving foreign minister.

He held the position of Vice-President from 2008 to 2012 before retiring from office due to ill health.

Former President Motlanthe was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Luwellyn Landers. – Source: SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua

On 9 January 2015 the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, welcomed delegates and observers at the launch of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) to the 2015 Presidential elections in the Republic of Zambia.

The SEOM was formally launched by International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, on behalf of the Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, President Jacob Zuma.

Addressing election observers and the media, Minister Nkoana-Mashabane said: "We note with great pride that election observation has become a norm in our region, and is very much in keeping with the democratic values which underpin and define SADC".

Minister Nkoana-Mashabane and Dr Tax wished the Government and people of the Republic of Zambia success as they turn a new leaf in the democratic life of their country.

Based on its observations, the SEOM concluded that the 2015 Presidential Election in Zambia on 20 January was peaceful, transparent, credible, free, and fair, thus reflecting the will of the people of Zambia in accordance with the national laws and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.

On 8 January 2015, at the UN Headquarters in New York, South Africa assumed the Chair of the Group of 77 (G77). The G77 is the largest coalition of developing countries in the UN, which provides the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic and development issues in the UN system, promote South-South cooperation and strengthen economic and technical cooperation among developing countries themselves.

Accepting the responsibility of chairing the G77, the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Luwellyn Landers, thanked the members of the G77 “most for placing its trust and confidence in South Africa”.

2015 is a critically important year for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as a new legal instrument that contains commitments for both developed and developing countries, is expected to be adopted under the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.

During its term, South Africa will be responsible for negotiating and speaking on behalf of two-thirds of the UN membership on key development issues.

Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations (UN) and Chairperson of the Group of 77 + China, recently met with Sam Kahamba Kutesa, President of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly.

They exchanged views on the priorities of the General Assembly during this session and South Africa’s chairship of the G77 + China, including the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its implementation, climate change and cooperation between the UN and regional organisations.

President Kutesa congratulated the South African delegation under the leadership of Ambassador Mamabolo on assuming the chairship of the G77 + China and expressed confidence that the group would achieve its objective during 2015. He committed to working closely with South Africa to promote the African Agenda through leadership roles in both strategic organisations.

The South African Government has joined the international community in condemning in the strongest possible terms the inhumane and barbaric attacks by Boko Haram against at least 16 towns and villages in the north and north-east of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, reportedly killing hundreds of people and thousands sent fleeing into neighbouring countries.

Deliberate attacks against innocent civilians are contraventions of well-established international human rights and humanitarian law and constitute a crime against humanity.

The South African Human Rights Commission has welcomed the decision by the South African Government to ratify the United Nations (UN) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

In the Statement of Declaration after the ratification, the UN expressed its hope that by ratifying the ICESCR, “the Government of the Republic of South Africa will give progressive effect to the right to education, as provided for in Article 13 (2) (a) and Article 14, within the framework of its National Education Policy and available resources”.

The South African Government and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) recently delivered to needy people in Lesotho the final consigment of maize meal purchased from emerging South African famers as part of hunger-relief efforts in the Mountain Kingdom.

This initiative was made possible by the South African Government’s contribution of R180 million to the WFP in response to a major food crisis declared in Lesotho in 2012. These funds have since enabled the WFP to provide critical food assistance to some 263 000 vulnerable women and children. These include pre-school and primary schoolchildren as well as pregnant and nursing women who have been receiving special nutritional products for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition.

As part of its commitment to support smallholder farmers, in agreement with the Government of South Africa, the WFP has sourced 40% of the cereals needed for Lesotho from smallholder farmers in South Africa. To date, the WFP has purchased from this sector more than 4 300 Mt of maize and sugar beans, worth R 21 million.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu has signed a cooperation arrangement with outgoing Governor of the State of Maryland in the United States, Martin O’Malley, to boost trade links between the two provinces.

As the agreement gets implemented, the two parties will develop joint practical programmes in tourism promotion, agriculture development and agribusiness, and education and training exchange. The focus will be on research and development, port collaboration and maritime exchange.