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MINISTER NKOANA-MASHABANE UNDERTAKES WORKING VISIT TO SENEGAL |
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Negotiations are underway to further strengthen bilateral relations in other areas such as transport, economic and infrastructure development, fisheries and culture. |
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The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, met with her Senegalese counterpart, Mankeur Ndiaye, on 14 March 2014 during a working visit to that country.
The aim of the visit was to strengthen bilateral relations between South Africa and Senegal, which were institutionalised with the inauguration in Pretoria in 2008 of the Joint Commission of Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).
The JCBC meeting has translated into bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding in the following areas: the promotion of investments; and cooperation in the fields of civil aviation, health, technology and defence.
The ministers also discussed preparations for the upcoming Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Leaders-Africa Dialogue Forum, to be held after the BRICS Summit in Durban on 27 March. |
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PRESIDENT ZUMA UNDERTAKES WORKING VISIT TO ANGOLA |
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The meeting took place following a successful visit by President Jacob Zuma to Angola on 16 January 2013 where the main objective was to consolidate and strengthen bilateral political and economic relations. |
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President Zuma held diplomatic consultations with President José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola and President Joseph Kabila Kabange of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Luanda on 12 March 2013.
The three heads of state deliberated on, among other issues, peace and stability in the region. |
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SOUTH AFRICA TO HOST FIRST COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF YOUTH WORKERS (CCETW) |
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“The CCETW is coming at a very significant time as our partner, the Commonwealth Youth Programme, celebrated 40 years of its existence as the world’s only specialised intergovernmental development agency focussing on youth development.” |
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During his message on Commonwealth Day on Monday 11 March, President Jacob Zuma announced that South Africa would host the first CCETW from 18 to 20 March 2013 at the University of South Africa (Unisa) in Pretoria.
The conference will be held in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Youth Programme, Unisa and the National Youth Development Agency.
Reflecting on the significance of educating and training youth workers, the theme of the conference will be “Towards Professionalising Youth Work”. It seeks to engage various stakeholders from the public, private, academic and civil-society sectors as well as the diplomatic corps on the urgency and importance of recognising youth work as a profession. |
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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, signs the Commonwealth Charter at a reception at Marlborough House, London, Monday, 11 March, 2013.
The Charter is an historic document which brings together, for the first time in the association's 64-year history, key declarations on Commonwealth principles. (AP Photo/PA, Philip Toscano). |
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SADC TROIKA MEETS IN SOUTH AFRICA |
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The summit commended President Jacob Zuma as facilitator of the Zimbabwe Political Dialogue for his efforts towards full implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA.) |
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| The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit of the Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation was held in South Africa on 9 March 2013 to consider the political and security situation in the region, in particular the developments in Zimbabwe. The summit was attended by heads of state and government from South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia and Mozambique. |
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The summit commended and congratulated the parties to the GPA for completing the constitutional-making process, which created conditions for holding a referendum scheduled for 16 March 2013. The summit urged Zimbabwean citizens to participate in the referendum in order to pave the way for the holding of peaceful and credible elections in Zimbabwe.
A SADC Election Observer Mission will be launched in Zimbabwe on 10 March 2013. |
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The security situation in the region topped the agenda of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika on Peace, Defence and Security meeting held in Dar es Salaam on Friday. |
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY COMMEMORATED |
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“Acts of brutal violence against women, rape and murder necessitate that we raise awareness to combat and prevent this scourge in our society.” |
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The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, joined members of the international community in observing the International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March 2013.
“We join the peoples of the world in recognising the importance of women in society and their contribution to social progress, international peace and security. It is through our collective efforts in the struggle for the full emancipation of women that we were able to forge international solidarity with the rest of humanity in the fight for human rights, dignity and equality. Though much progress has been made, our society cannot utterly assert itself free from gender-based discrimination and violence, inequality, gender wage discrepancies, inequities in access to land and social services.”
In light of recent events of gender-based violence, the Minister welcomed the newly established Council for Gender-Based Violence and the establishment of sexual offences courts, which she said were “part of our commitments as a country to deal effectively with gender-based violence”. |
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SOUTH AFRICA PUTS RHINO ON CITES AGENDA |
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South Africa hosted and participated in a number of side events during the conference, three of which focussed on rhino matters, including conservation, safety and security, and rhino economics and trade.
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South Africa is one of 178 countries that gathered in Bangkok recently to decide how to improve the world’s wildlife trade regime, and to ensure the survival of threatened species.
More than 2 000 delegates attended the 16th Conference of Parties of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 3 to 14 March.
The CITES parties meet every three years to consider amendments to the appendices of the convention, assess its implementation and make recommendations to improve its effectiveness. |
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BRICS ACADEMIC FORUM HELD IN DURBAN |
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The Academic Forum was hosted by the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Higher Education South Africa and Durban University of Technology. |
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The fifth Brazil, Russia, Indoa, China and South Africa (BRICS) Academic Forum took place from 10 to 13 March 2013 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation”.
The forum endeavours to complement and supplement the BRICS Leaders Summit and the official consultation process among officials and ministries of the respective BRICS countries. It seeks to collectively offer viable and timely advice and recommendations to government leaders of the BRICS to support policy-making, the adoption of best practices, exploration of new frameworks and assistance in the implementation of existing and new schemes and programmes.
Addressing delegates during the forum’s welcome dinner on 10 March, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said that delegates had an opportunity to play a part in the shaping of the 21st century, given their function in society of observing, analysing and influencing policy direction in the reconfiguration of the global landscape.
“When South Africa planned our hosting of the summit and related meetings, we reflected on the existing synergies within the grouping and appreciated that the academic and business forums as well as our think-tank network are critical components of our people-to-people interaction and that their salient relevance vis-à-vis the BRICS leadership needs to be emphasised.”
South Africa will host the fifth BRICS Summit in Durban from 26 to 27 March 2013. |
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SUMMIT TO LAUNCH BRICS BUSINESS COUNCIL |
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The council will be made up of five business representatives from each BRICS member country, and will promote business-to-business cooperation as well as provide advice and technical support for multilateral business projects. |
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The BRICS Business Council, to serve as a platform for promoting trade and investment between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be launched at the fifth BRICS Summit in Durban on 27 March 2013.
South Africa's nominated representatives on the council will be African Rainbow Minerals executive chairperson Patrice Motsepe, Business Unity SA CEO Nomaxabiso Majokweni, Zungu Investment executive chairperson Sandile Zungu, Sekunjalo group chairperson Iqbal Surve and Transnet CEO Brian Molefe, with Aspen Pharmacare CEO Stavros Nicolau serving as an alternate. |
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PRESIDENT ZUMA IMPRESSED WITH TOURISM FIGURES |
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“We want to make a huge success of the BRICS Summit in Durban as this is also an enormous marketing opportunity for the Republic.” |
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President Jacob Zuma has congratulated the tourism sector on the impressive tourism figures which indicate that South Africa continues to be an attractive international tourism destination.
Tourism is one of the country’s six job drivers in terms of the New Growth Path, the economic strategy within the umbrella of the National Development Plan.
The Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has announced that the months from January until October 2012 showed an increase of 10,4%, with 7 535 498 tourist arrivals compared to 6 823 517 for the same period in the previous year. A total of 204 247 tourists from Germany visited South Africa from January to October 2012. This represents an increase of 12,2% compared to the corresponding period in 2011. Germany is one of the key traditional overseas markets for travel to South Africa, with the United States of America and the United Kingdom taking the lead.
“We are pleased to see that the considerable investment by government and the private sector in the tourism industry and our continued targeted marketing around the world is beginning to pay off. We congratulate the tourism sectors on this achievement.” |
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