Official DIRCO Programme: Saldanha Industrial Development Zone (lDZ), with respect to the Public Participation Programme (PPP) hosted by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation on 20 March 2012 at Saldanha and St Helena

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO: 862 (NW1039E)

PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO: 9-2012 OF 20 APRIL 2012

MR IO DAVIDSON (DA) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION:

1. Whether the Saldanha Industrial Development Zone (lDZ), with respect to the Public Participation Programme (PPP) hosted by her department on 20 March 2012, is an official DIRCO programme; if not, why not; if so, (a) how does the Saldanha lDZ relate to DIRCO's mandate, (b) what were the costs incurred to host these events in (i) Saldanha and (ii) St Helena and (c) who authorised these expenses;
   

2. whether the invitation to these events was printed on official departmental correspondence; If not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
   

3. whether the Deputy Minister (i) submitted any travel claims and (ii) made use of official vehicles as part of this programme; if not, how was this conclusion reached; if so, what are the total of the claims submitted?

 REPLY

1) The programme in respect of the Saldanha IDZ was an official public participation programme hosted by DIRCO

1a) The Saldanha programme was directly related to the work and mandate of DIRCO. One of the key policy directives of DIRCO is to ensure that South Africans know and understand the country's foreign policy, the principles underpinning it, its thrust and objectives and how this links with South Africa's national interest.  Economic diplomacy is an important element of this. The Public Participation Programme serves as a platform to engage and interact with South Africans in an effort to explain how the execution of South Africa's foreign policy impacts on them and the direct benefits thereof.  Projects like the IDZ project in Saldanha can be understood within this context, hence the choice of venue for this PPP. One of the main objectives of this engagement was to identify challenges currently being experienced by the local communities/stakeholders and to find innovative ways to address these challenges.

1. b. i) R15 750.00 – Saldahna Bay

1. b. ii) R 41 434.00 - St Helena Bay

1. c The associated expenses were authorised by the Branch Public Diplomacy.

2) Yes, the invitations were issued on departmental letterheads, since the function was a departmental event.

3 i) No travel claims were submitted.

3ii) An official vehicle was used in line with provisions in the Ministerial Handbook.

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