International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane arrived in Paris, France, yesterday morning, 04 December 2013, where she is leading a South African Government delegation to the France-Africa Summit taking place from 06-07 December 2013.
The summit will be preceded on 05 December 2013 by a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
It is expected that the summit will focus on three identified themes; namely (i) Peace and Security, (ii) Economic Partnership and Development and (iii) the Environment.
It is further expected that the summit will examine policies for preventing conflicts, trafficking and piracy, how to deter the formation of armed movements and terrorist groups, and the strengthening of African security mechanisms.
South Africa’s participation at the summit will be informed by its foreign policy, which champions, amongst other things, peace, security and development as well as the African Agenda.
The South African Government delegation to the summit includes Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and senior officials. – DIRCO press release
Avigdor Lieberman, former Israeli minister of foreign affairs
Former Israeli foreign minister says ‘pogrom’ against Jews is just a matter of time
A senior Israeli politician on Sunday urged South Africa’s Jews to leave their homes and emigrate to Israel in the wake of critical comments against Israel by the interior minister there.
The South African government is creating an ant-Israeli and anti-Semitic atmosphere, which means that a pogrom against the country’s Jews is just a matter of time,” former foreign minister and Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman wrote on his Facebook page. “I call on all the Jews still living there to immigrate to Israel without delay, before it’s too late.”
Lieberman’s fiery comments followed an announcement by South Africa’s International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane that South African ministers will no longer visit Israel out of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
“Ministers of South Africa do not visit Israel currently. Even the Jewish Board of Deputies that we engage with here, they know why our ministers are not going to Israel,” she said Friday at a trade union meeting.
“Our Palestinian friends have never asked us to disengage with Israel [through severing diplomatic relations]. They had asked us in formal meetings to not engage with the regime. We have agreed to slow down and curtail senior leadership contact with that regime until things begin to look better,” she said.
Nkoana-Mashabane said she felt solidarity with the Palestinians, saying, “The struggle of the people of Palestine is our struggle.”
South Africa also slammed Israel’s plans to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem, as pro-Palestinian activists launched an international campaign for the release of political prisoners.
“That arrangement there in Palestine keeps us awake,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.
“The last time I looked at the map of Palestine, I could not go to sleep. It’s dots, smaller than those of the homelands,” she said referring to the former homelands in South Africa — which were also known as bantustans — created under apartheid to give blacks a sense of autonomy.
South Africa was chosen by pro-Palestinian activists for the launch of an international lobby seeking the release of 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners, including veteran leader Marwan Barghouti, who is currently in Israeli detention.
The campaign kicked off on Oct. 25 at Robben Island, the former prison where anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela served 18 of his 27 years in jail.
“The Palestinian quest for self-determination remains unfulfilled,” said South Africa’s top diplomat.
Since the fall of the whites-only apartheid regime in 1994, South Africa has been an outspoken critic of Israel, although it maintains diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
There is a Jewish population of rougly 75,000 people in South Africa, mosltly in the large cities of Johanesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Last week, vandals desecrated 32 graves in the Jewish cemetery of Krugersdorp. – i24news
The President of the United Nations General Assembly has also thrown his weight behind calls for reform of the Security Council. Serbian Vuk Jeremic met International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in Pretoria.
Reiterating that an urgent call for change to have a more transparent and representative Security Council, the Minister says the UN body cannot mark 70 years in its current form.
“There will be no change without us, 70% of the issues that go to the Security Council for discussion are about us. So it cannot continue to be without us,” she added.
The council has five permanent members with veto powers and 10 elected non-permanent members with a two year term with no veto powers. South Africa has served two terms as a non-permanent member.
“If it does not encompass Africa then we better not have any change at all. And change is needed, otherwise the UN will slowly drift into irrelevance.”
The main challenge is to get the Security Council to agree on expanding the body. Another is for Africa to find a consensus candidate.
The news that South Africa supplies 70% of the citrus fruit consumed in the European Union adds another ingredient to the debate around farmland in South Africa. In strictly economic terms, both farm murders and ANC’s radical land reform plans serve European protectionist interests.
Our farmers are almost superhuman. Against all odds, they manage to compete against the pampered, subsidised EU agricultural producers. They live within a virtual war zone of terrorist attacks on farms, hostile propaganda from the left-liberal media and concerted attempts by neo-Marxist think tanks like the Cape-based PLAAS that advocate the abolition of property rights altogether.
The ANC government is amenable to the radicals of PLAAS, such Dr. Ruth Hall, an Afrikaner-hating, Oxford academic who came to this country with the sole intention of instigating a Soviet-style “agrarian revolution” that would push Afrikaners off their ancestral, family-owned lands. In the process, agriculture as we know it will be destroyed and our sought-after fruit will again disappear off European supermarket shelves as in the days of the anti-apartheid boycott against South Africa when French communists and Dutch anarchists focussed their hate on the word “Outspan”.
Apart from the teaching profession, there are few areas of economic activity in South Africa that are so dominated by Afrikaners as agriculture. To understand why, one must briefly look at the history of this country. During the nineteenth century, colonial British mining companies snapped up all the minerals in the old Boer republics and when that wasn’t enough, they persuaded Britain to invade us, burn all our farms and put our women and children in concentration camps.
In the cities, Afrikaners were discriminated against and even forbidden to speak their language in stores. With most of business, mining and industry closed to us, we had only farming and the professions open to us. That is how Afrikaners doggedly stuck to agriculture, through droughts and crises, and managed to get fifty percent of the postgraduate qualifications in this country. We also produced a large number of accountants, doctors and lawyers.
With the ANC’s revolutionary takeover, the first thing they did was to apply stringent affirmative action to our medical schools so that hardly any Afrikaner physicians are being trained anymore. The legal profession was dumbed down so that just about anybody could get a degree and even a mediocre advocate could become a judge, as long as he happened to be black. Accounting standards are still being upheld, but one wonders for how long before racial quotas will be applied there too.
Agriculture therefore represents a last economic foothold for Afrikaners. Despite European and American protectionism, we have managed to carve out a niche in the world market. Our beautiful, tasty, healthy oranges and grapefruit grace the breakfast tables of Europe.
However, when EU Commissioner Catherine Ashton and the South African Minister of International Relations, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, met yesterday in Brussels, there was no-one representing the Afrikaner interest around the table. Neither the protectionist EU, nor the anti-white, anti-Afrikaans ANC, gives two hoots about our economic survival in this country. We are already excluded from government, from the big corporations, from the mines, from the bench, from hospitals and banks.
Once our academics were able to build some of the finest universities in this country and in the world. Yet even there, the imperatives of “transformation” have dictated our exclusion on racial and cultural grounds from the very institutions our fathers and grandfathers had founded and developed. Foreign academics from the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and other African countries have flocked to our universities to displace us, the indigenous whites of South Africa.
Until now, the European Union has said nothing about the vicious attacks on our farmers. Unless Europeans want to be seen as siding with the radical, ethnocentric and even genocidal elements in this country who wish to ethnically cleanse Afrikaners from the land, they will have to speak out and condemn such attacks.
At the same time, we insist upon open access to the EU market in fruit as it is one of the few lifelines we have left in this left-fascist environment where an alliance of UK academics and farm killers threaten to destabilise our agriculture further, or even destroy it completely.
We also appeal to European political parties sympathetic to Afrikaners to voice their concerns about maintaining the health of our exports and trade. Stability needs to return, against the outlandish ideas of “land reform” advocated by unreconstructed communists. “Land reform” is a slogan for extending the full-spectrum racial dominance that we already experience in the rest of the economy and the public sector, but it will also serve those in Europe who see a threat in our honest and fair competition with them.
EU Commissioner for External Relations, Catherine Ashton
Statement by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, on international developments, 07 June 2013, OR Tambo Building
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media.
In our briefing today, we will focus on a number of important matters relating to our work, including (1) OAU/AU Golden Jubilee, (2) the outcomes of the recent TICAD-V Summit; and our visit to several countries in Europe On behalf of the Government and People of South Africa, I would like to express the South African Government’s strongest condemnation of the recent attacks and killing of Somali and other foreign nationals in our country.
In terms of our Constitution, South Africa belongs to all who live in it, and we, therefore, have been appalled and deeply saddened by the recent acts of violence against Somalis and other foreign nationals in South Africa.
The looting, displacement and killing of foreign nationals in South Africa should not be viewed as xenophobic attacks, but opportunistic criminal acts that have the potential to undermine the unity and cohesiveness of our communities. There is no cause to justify this heinous crime. We commend the swift action of the South African Police Services in apprehending about 100 people associated with the recent lawlessness.
Our thoughts and prayers are also with the victims, families and friends
of this horrific crime.
We recall the support and solidarity accorded to us during our fight against apartheid by African people, including Somalis, and wish to express our sincere gratitude.
As South Africa, we value our close relations with our neighbours and the rest of the African Continent. Our relations with Somalia have always been cordial. You may recall that recently South Africa committed over a R100 million towards Somalia to build institutions of governance and capacity building.
1. The OAU/AU Golden Jubilee
Last week, our President, His Excellency Mr Jacob Zuma, led South Africa’s delegation to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to take part in the historic activities marking 50 years of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) / African Union (AU). The celebrations preceded the mid-year Assembly of Heads of State and Government.
Through the celebrations, Africa’s people recognise the AU and its visionary founders for fulfilling the Organisation’s mandate, which included promoting the unity and solidarity of Africa’s people, reclaiming the sovereignty of African states and eradicating all forms of colonialism (which included apartheid in South Africa).
South Africa’s contribution to this endeavour is the reason our country is respected on the continent and globally. Our role during the transition from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU), in the establishment of NEPAD and the APRM, as a member of the AU Peace and Security Council, as well as our commitment to the AU Commission and other organs of the union, are all informed by our belief that a better Africa is possible in our lifetime.
This mid-year summit adopted a historic decision to establish the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIR) at the initiative of South Africa.
The decision is in response to the ongoing challenges of peace and security that undermine democratically elected governments. Currently, the African Union does not have such an immediate response mechanism as the process of implementing the African Peace and Security architecture is ongoing.
The ACIR is an interim measure pending the operationalisation of the African Standby Force and its rapid deployment capability. The African Capacity is therefore not a new concept but is built on the principles of the African Standby Force.
South Africa and other countries have pledged support and readiness to contribute to this interim mechanism.
As we look to the future, we embrace the AU’s Vision 2063, which is encapsulated in the 50th Anniversary Declaration. To this end, the achievements of decolonisation must entail self-reliance and true socioeconomic emancipation.
AU Member States have committed to year-long commemorative activities linked to the Golden Jubilee. These commemorative events will be used to raise awareness at all levels of our nations about this historic milestone, what it means for all of us, sharing it and taking collective ownership of Vision 2063 going forward.
The guidelines given to us by the AU include awareness raising and mobiliSation; celebration of best practices; sectoral and environmental activities; cultural and educational activities; as well as legacy projects.
The AU has also proposed monthly themes for the commemorative activities such as July (Health, Women & Pan Africanism); August (Climate Change and the Environment); September: Peace, Solidarity and Human Security; October (Agenda 2063); November (Democracy and Governance) and December (ICT, Science and Technology).
An inter-Departmental Logistical Coordinating Committee (IDLCC) has been set up to anchor the national programme and ensure that all spheres of government are involved in the commemoration activities.
2. Outcomes of the TICAD-V Summit
His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, along with 34 African Heads of State and Government, attended the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-V) Summit hosted by the Government of Japan, together with the other four TICAD Co-Organizers (i.e. AU Commission, UN Development Programme, UN Office of the Special Advisor for Africa and the World Bank), in the Japanese city of Yokohama on 01-03 June 2013 under the theme, “Hand in Hand with a More Dynamic Africa”.
South Africa’s participation at this Summit was premised on the AU’s strategic objective of ensuring that all global partnerships with Africa should support the African development priorities, while also strengthening Africa’s participation in global affairs as an equal partner. The Summit was held a few days after the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) had launched the 2013 Economic Report on Africa, which indicates that Africa’s medium-term growth prospects remain strong at 4.8% in 2013 and 5.1% in 2014.
The TICAD-V Summit adopted the Yokohama Declaration 2013, as well as its five-year Action Plan (including the Implementation Matrix) that will guide the strategic cooperation between Africa and Japan from 2013 -2017. The Action plan is divided into six main categories, which are: (1) Boosting Economic Growth, (2) Accelerating Infrastructure and Capacity Development, (3) Empowering Farmers as Mainstream Actors, (4) Promoting Sustainable and Resilient Growth, (5) Creating an Inclusive Society for Growth, and (6) Consolidating Peace, Stability, Democracy and Good Governance. Based on these key areas, Japan (both public and private sectors) has committed to support Africa’s development priorities. The South African Government commends the Government of Japan for the commitment made towards the development priorities and strategic objectives of the African Continent. With the TICAD Process celebrating 20 years of its existence this year, South Africa further supports the intention to hold the next TICAD Summit on the African continent, thereby further strengthening Africa’s long-standing partnership with Japan.
3. Visit to Europe
We are scheduled to meet Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is also the Vice-President of the European Commission, for the 12th SA-EU Ministerial Political Dialogue (MPD) on Monday, 10 June 2013.
The Ministerial Political Dialogue is a structured engagement that takes place annually as part of the SA-EU Strategic Relationship. It also serves as a preparatory meeting for the annual SA-EU Summit, which this year will take place in South Africa on 18 July 2013.
South Africa and the EU’s common interests and shared values provide a natural foundation for the strategic partnership, underpinned by the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA), which was signed in 1999. The TDCA provided the legal basis for close relations on trade, development, economic cooperation and political dialogue and was an important stepping stone for the eventual establishment of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership and the adoption of its Joint Action Plan in May 2007.
In 2013, the engagements between South Africa and the EU will be focussed around a central theme namely “Job Creation Through Inward Investment” in response to the diverse demands of the National Development Plan.
South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) sets out ambitious goals for poverty reduction, economic growth, economic transformation and job creation.
It is hoped that European investment in South Africa will continue to play a vital role in bringing the vision and proposals contained in the NDP to life. Investment, in this regard, should be seen as broad and multi-facetted to encompass all the aspects of South Africa’s relationship with Europe.
From a trade perspective, the EU has maintained its lead as South Africa’s most important regional trading partner between 2000 and 2011.
Since the entry into force of the TDCA, there has been a 128% increase in total trade between South Africa and the EU.
The EU in addition remains South Africa’s main partner in terms of development assistance. Currently the EU has set aside EURO 980 million (close to R10 billion for South Africa) for the period 2007-2013 or about EURO 140 million a year. To date, the total envelope has been committed largely towards areas of employment creation, water services, health and education through the use of South African systems. However, South Africa’s classification as high middle-income state signifies a possible decrease in development assistance from the EU.
The SA-EU Ministerial Political Dialogue on 10 June 2013 will provide for a high-level discussion on issues pertaining to the SA-EU Strategic Partnership, areas of common interest in Africa, specifically in terms of peace and security; and SA-EU international cooperation. Major issues to be discussed include ongoing negotiations regarding the Economic Partnership Agreements; domestic developments in both South Africa and Europe, considering the 2014 General Elections in South Africa and the ongoing financial crisis in Europe; and developments regarding SA-EU development cooperation.
We will also hold bilateral discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Mr Didier Reynders. In July last year, we hosted Minister Reynders during his visit to South Africa. During that meeting, we extensively discussed the state of bilateral relations between South Africa and Belgium and exchanged views on developments on the continent, including the situation in the Great Lakes Region.
Belgium is one of South Africa’s development partners. Cooperation between the two countries covers a broad range of areas, development cooperation, transport and logistics. In particular, cooperation between the Ports of Durban and Antwerp is longstanding and highly valued.
Belgium remains a valued economic partner of South Africa and trade and tourism between the two countries are growing. Belgium is South Africa’s 12th largest export destination globally and the 4th in Europe.
Belgium ranks 6th in the world in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Africa, focusing on the following sectors: mining, green energy, ports, logistics and agriculture. Belgium is also one of the leading sources of inbound tourism. In 2012, more than 44 000 Belgian tourists visited South Africa.
Currently Belgium has allocated an amount of EURO 25 million (R327,3 million) as Official Development Cooperation in South Africa over five years, up to 2016. In addition, the Region of Flanders also has a programme valued at EURO 25 million, over the same time period.
From Beigium, we will proceed to Turkey for an Official Visit to on 13 June 2013 at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Minister Dr. Ahmet Davuto?lu.
Our visit to Europe will conclude in Finland, where we will participate in the 13th African and Nordic Foreign Ministers Meeting, scheduled for 15-16 June 2013.
The meeting is expected to address three issues, namely: (1) How do macro-economic challenges affect the Nordic Welfare model? (2) Africa on the rise – how to make economic growth inclusive? and (3) Seeking solutions to African conflicts – the role of regional and global actors.
South Africa attaches great importance to its Nordic partners and believes that this engagement will serve as a platform to further consolidate and strengthen the already cordial relations with the Nordics.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
South Africa is considering ways of strengthening bilateral economic relations with Belgium, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Wednesday.
She told reporters in Pretoria that a visiting Belgian delegation would meet South African ministers to explore the possible co-operation.
Belgian deputy prime minister Didier Reynders is on his first official state visit to South Africa. He is also the country’s minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade and European trade.
“I am encouraged by the fact that you will be meeting other members of our Cabinet, specifically our minister of trade and industry, and also the minister of mineral resources,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.
“We believe there is an opportunity there (in the mining sector) to work with Belgium on our plans for beneficiation of our mineral resources and taking advantage of your historical expertise in this field.”
She said the west European country had helped support South Africa’s national priorities since 1994. The help had covered areas such as health, ports management and logistics, education, rural development, and further education and training, Nkoana-Mashabane said.
“Despite the ongoing economic challenges confronting Europe, Belgium has remained steadfast in its support for our development efforts,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.
She said South Africa had expressed interest in having Belgium play an active role in the mooted Tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA), which involves the Common Market of East and Southern Africa (Comesa), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“I indicated to the minister that the T-FTA will encompass 26 countries, with a combined population of 600 million people and a GDP (gross domestic product) of approximately US one trillion,” she said.
“We are convinced that the key to economic development of the continent lies in creating the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the free movement of goods and services,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.
Reynders said Wednesday’s meeting had focused on renewed interest in deepening bilateral trade between his country and South Africa.
On the international front, Reynders said the discussions touched on the possible ways to bring lasting peace and stability to its former colony, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Our role is not to blame the DRC or Rwanda or any one of the parties in the conflict in the eastern parts of Congo. We called for dialogue to bring peace in that region.”
An army mutiny by a group of former Congolese Tutsi rebels known as M23, who were integrated into the army but defected this year, started more than two months ago in the eastern DRC.
Rwanda, also a former Belgian colony, has denied accusations that it has been helping the M23 mutineers. – Sapa
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International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane arrived in Paris, France, yesterday morning, 04 December 2013, where she is leading a South African Government delegation to the France-Africa Summit taking place from 06-07 December 2013.
