Issue 98 | 20 February 2014
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MINISTER’S ANNUAL BANQUET: CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY
 
   
 
     
 
     
South Africa, as a valued and respected member of the international community, is a very popular destination for diplomats. The country houses the second-largest number (315) of diplomatic representation accredited to any capital after Washington DC.
 
The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, hosted the Minister’s Annual Banquet in honour of the Diplomatic Corps on 15 February 2014 at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset-West, Western Cape.

More than 700 guests attended the lavish event, which was sponsored by Eskom, Vodacom, Dimension Data, MTN, PetroSA, Old Mutual, SAMSA and Standard Bank. 
 
 
 
RAMAPHOSA APPOINTED AS SPECIAL ENVOY
 
 
The appointment of the African National Congress’s Deputy President comes at the request of Sri Lanka and South Sudan for assistance in bringing about peace and reconciliation in those parts.
 
President Jacob Zuma has announced that Cyril Ramaphosa has been appointed as South Africa’s Special Envoy to Sri Lanka and South Sudan.

“His expertise in conflict resolution and negotiations, as well as our country’s experience in this regard, will greatly assist the two countries to resolve their problems,” said the President during his sixth State of the Nation Address on 13 February.

The President said progress was being made in negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan on outstanding issues following the secession.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and some 870 000 others have fled their homes, 145 000 of them to neighbouring countries and 75 000 to United Nations bases within the country, since fighting broke out in December last year between the forces of President Salva Kiir and former Deputy President Riek Machar.

President Zuma said South Africa would continue to support peacemaking and conflict resolution. – Source: www.SAnews.gov.za
 
 

BRICS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTERS VISIT THE SKA SITE
 
 

The tour to the construction site formed part of the First Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting, which started in Kleinmond on 9 February 2014.
 
 
The Minister of Science and Technology of South Africa, Derek Hanekom, recently headed a delegation of science and technology ministers and senior officials from BRICS to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) construction site near Carnarvon, Northern Cape. 

The BRICS ministers and officials received a presentation on MeerKAT and the SKA from Dr Bernie Fanaroff, Director of the South African SKA Project, after which they toured the facilities, including the KAT-7 demonstrator telescope and the underground data centre, which is still under construction.

The ministers were impressed with the progress made in the construction of the MeerKAT, the South African precursor to the SKA telescope.

The Russian Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Ludmila Ogorodova, expressed the hope that Russia could get involved in the project.

Minister Hanekom remarked that every time he visited the site he was inspired by the rapid progress of infrastructure development at the site and the expansion of the facilities, which made it clear that South Africa would be able to handle the mega-infrastructure needs of the SKA. – Source: www.skatelescope.org
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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