President Thabo Mbeki to depart for Kinshasa ahead of Binational Commission

Pretoria – South African President Thabo Mbeki will on Monday 20 August 2007 depart for Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of the South Africa – Democratic Republic of Congo Binational Commission (SA-DRC BNC) where he will together with his counterpart President Joseph Kabila co-chair the 4 th session of the BNC on Tuesday 21 August 2007.

Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma who arrived in the DRC yesterday, will today Sunday 19 August 2007 together with her counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi, co-chair the the Ministerial meeting of the BNC scheduled for Sunday – Monday 19-20 August 2007.

South Africa 's participation in the fourth session of the South Africa - DRC BNC comes within the context of the its commitment to consolidate relations with the DRC and to support the political, economic reconciliation and nation building processes in the country.

The fourth session of the South Africa - DRC Bi-national Commission, the first meeting of the BNC since democratically held elections in 2006, is expected to evaluate: The status of Politics and Diplomacy co-operation includes the capacity building project, the public service census project, population and immigration matters;

• Defence and Security co-operation includes security sector reform projects;
• Economy, finance and infrastructure co-operation includes spatial development initiatives, mining, geology and metallurgy, energy, civil aviation, technical assistance in financial administration and agriculture;
• Social and humanitarian affairs which includes co-operation in the fields of education, and humanitarian and health projects; and
• Evaluate how current projects support the development priorities of the DRC and the identification of possible additional projects to this effect.

South Africa ’s assistance to the DRC is informed by its vision of an “African Renaissance” of peace, stability and security and sustained renewal, growth and socio-economic development for the African Continent . South Africa is committed to a strategy for post conflict reconstruction and development in the DRC that is aligned with that of the African Union and NEPAD. South Africa’s assistance to the DRC is broadly based on 3 key areas as decided by Cabinet, which are: the Security Sector Reform (SSR), Institutional capacity building and Economic development. In this regard, the following Government Departments are currently active in the DRC.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

19 August 2007