African Renaissance Fund; 3rd quarter 2014/15 performance; Lesotho, Madagascar, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia election outcomes: briefing by Department of International Relations & Cooperation; National Coalition on Palestine petition; Israel elections: with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

The Committee reshuffled the items on the Committee’s meeting agenda and placed the additional items of the National Coalition on Palestine petition and the Israel elections on its agenda.

Lesotho, Madagascar, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia election outcomes
In the presence of Deputy Minister Llewellyn Landers, Ambassador Jerry Matjila Director General: Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), briefed the Committee. In of DIRCO undertook the briefing on the outcomes of elections in Lesotho, Madagascar, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Mauritius and Mozambique.

Botswana - Botswana’s general elections took place on 24 October 2014. There were 900 Southern African Development Community (SADC) observers deployed. SA formed part of the SADC Election Observation Mission (SEOM) with a contingent of 12 members drawn from parliament, civil society and government.  Voter turnout sat at 55%. The SOEM concluded that the elections were peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair. There were three political parties contesting: the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). The BDP obtained a governing mandate. There was no case referred to the Constitutional Court challenging the election outcome.

Lesotho - The election took place on the 28 February 2015. The elections should have taken place in 2017 but due to the attempted coup, the election date was moved forward. Prior to the elections there was a need to stabilise the three-party coalition and to stabilise the security situation in the country. At the time of the election, SADC had 400 security personnel deployed in Lesotho. Ambassador Matjila noted that on Election Day an air of tolerance prevailed. More than half of the registered voters turned out to vote.  There was no outright winner hence the formation of a coalition government under the incumbent prime minister Thomas Thabane. The SOEM concluded that the elections were peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair. They also made recommendations on constitutional and security sector reforms. No court case was pending after the announcement of the results.

Namibia - Elections were held on the 28 November 2014. The people of Namibia gave the SWAPO Party and its presidential candidate, Dr Hage Geingob, the mandate to govern the country for another five years. He received 86.7% of the vote. There were no dramas in Namibia.  A tricky issue was however the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) which nearly caused problems due to a court challenge. The SOEM concluded that the elections were peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair.

Zambia – The elections in Zambia were held following the untimely passing away of President Michael Sata on the 28 October 2014. The Acting President of Zambia, Dr Guy Scott, in accordance with Article 38 of its Constitution proclaimed the 20 January 2015 as Election Day. The elections went smoothly with a very tight result. The Patriotic Front party won by a small margin and the President elect Mr Edgar Lungu was inaugurated on 25 January 2015. The SOEM concluded that the elections were peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair.  Zambia would perhaps in the next 18 months be returning to the polls for its general elections.

Madagascar - Presidential and legislative elections were held towards the end of 2013. Mr Hery Rajaonarimampianina was elected President. After the elections there was a period of relative peace, security and stability. All sanctions against the country had been removed. Ambassador Matjila said that the Madagascan leaders and its people would sort out its problems. SA participated in the SOEM and also made financial contributions. Amongst the outstanding issues in the country was the unconditional return of political exiles including former President Ravalomanana. However recent developments saw the unceremonious return and arrest and later release of former President Ravalomanana. President Zuma met President Rajaonarimampianina at the January African Union Summit.   

Mauritius - Ambassador Matjila pointed out that the elections had gone off very smoothly and peacefully. There were only two political parties in the country and over the past twenty years the election was won by one or the other of them.

Mozambique – Deputy Minister Landers noted that on his arrival in the country there was already an AU contingent, a strong EU contingent as well as representatives from the Commonwealth. He noted that the
SOEM had been deployed in all provinces of Mozambique. Unfortunately there had been violence in Mozambique. Mr Alfonso Dhlakama, the leader of RENAMO, wished to take on the government and its defence force. Fortunately SADC leadership intervened and EU members using diplomacy managed to persuade Mr Dhlakama to lay down arms and to participate in the elections. Observer missions prevailed even though people had come to blows on the street. He said that the media had blown the incidents of violence out of proportion. Where needed, law enforcement was called in to keep the calm. On Election Day everything went off smoothly. However an election officer was found with a box of marked ballots in his possession. Mozambique had a Constitutional Council which would make an announcement four months after Election Day on whether the election had been fair or not. The Constitutional Council with a full bench of judges declared the election free and fair. The SOEM concluded that the elections were peaceful, transparent, credible, and free and fair. He felt that the EU and Commonwealth delegations had only been in Mozambique to exert their influence over its natural resources. Mozambique had large gas fields, the largest coal deposits in the world and probably had oil offshore. In Namibia there were very few EU ambassadors present during elections and no Commonwealth members were present. He said that surprisingly Mr Dhlakama did well in the elections. The youth in Mozambique liked Mr Dhlakama. There was clearly a generational change taking place in the country. He said that perhaps the youth did not know what many people knew about Mr Dhlakama or they simply did not care.

Israeli elections
The Chairperson provided an update of the Israeli elections. As Israel went into elections, President Benjamin Netanyahu was leading a coalition government. President Netanyahu’s party is very right wing. The SA Parliament had engaged with the Palestinian National Coalition and with the Jewish Board of Deputies in SA. It was communicated to both organisations that SA was in favour of a two state system. Just prior to the Israeli elections, President Netanyahu had said that if he wins the elections, he would continue to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory. Israel did not want a Palestinian state. It was difficult for SA’s parliament to interact with Israel’s parliament if this was its stance. President Netanyahu’s actions would be in conflict with SA’s parliament, the government of SA, the AU, the UN and even the USA which all want a two state solution. Nobody was calling for the extinction of either Israel or Palestine. SA nevertheless would respect the outcome of the Israeli elections.

Discussion
Members made positive comments in relation to the SADC observer missions that were carried out in the respective SADC countries that had held elections.

Mr S Mokgalapa (DA) noted that he had had the opportunity to observe the role that SA played in the elections in Botswana. He said that the issues with media reporting during the Lesotho elections cut across various countries. Given that SA was the chairperson of the SADC Double Troika, he asked what mechanisms had been put in place by the SADC Forum that such issues were dealt with. Election observations were important and exchanges of best practices could assist the African region. The SADC Forum however lacked funds to do observations. SA nevertheless had good observer missions in many countries.

Deputy Minister Landers responded that it needed to be understood that SADC did not run elections. The SADC only met with all role players. The SADC observers were only there to observe that elections followed SADC and African Union principles and guidelines on elections. Host countries were well aware of this and tried to comply. Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane had had a conversation with a counterpart of hers from North Africa who had asked that SADC observers be sent to North Africa to observe elections. In the North an election was more or less considered free and fair if only fifty people had died due to unrest. The comment was a compliment to the work that SADC observers were doing.

Mr M Maila (ANC) observed that the outcome of elections in the SADC region projected the region to be a champion of election processes. It was an achievement to have convinced RENAMO in Mozambique to lay down its arms. He hoped that the ability of Lesotho to resolve issues by way of elections could filter over to Swaziland.

Ms D Raphuti (ANC) said that she had been an observer in Botswana and that all the political parties had received fair coverage. She noted that things had been exaggerated by the media.

Ms T Kenye (ANC) was glad that most of the elections had been peaceful. She was however concerned about Mozambique. The domestic political situation was fragile. She noted that in Namibia there were also issues pertaining to the amendment of its Electoral and Constitutional Acts. In Lesotho an old voter’s roll had been used. How were the youth that were of voting age accommodated?

Ambassador Majila, on constitutional reform, explained that the constitutions of some of the African countries dated back to the 1950s and 1960s and had been crafted along the lines of the constitutions of its colonial powers. The question was whether the constitutions were in line with the will of their people. Constitutions needed to be updated from time to time. He noted that renewing the voters’ rolls in Africa was a problem. Countries like Mali, Nigeria and South Sudan had voter roll problems. Young people were simply left out of the process. Spending money to encourage people to vote was a costly exercise but had to be done. In Belgium it was compulsory to vote.

Ms H Maxon (EFF) said that the briefing had been very positive but a great deal of work needed to be done on media reform amongst other things. The problem was that if political parties did not have funds then they were unable to participate in elections. The EFF had even taken the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to court over the issue. She strongly felt that updated voters’ rolls needed to be used.

Mr L Mpumlwana (ANC) asked whether former President Ravalomanana from Madagascar was still under house arrest. Relating to Mozambique he was concerned if RENAMO was gaining ground as they had not been friendly to SA’s forces in the past. In Lesotho he asked whether it was about who ruled and did principles differ. What was the attitude towards SA?

Ambassador Majila stated that former President Ravalomanana was not free but not in prison either. It was a very interesting situation. The current President visited him at his residence. They had a gentleman’s agreement. 

Mr M Mncwango (IFP) was concerned about post election engagements in countries like Lesotho and Mozambique. Why had one political party in Mozambique retreated into the bush? He stated that issues would not simply disappear because elections had taken place. He asked whether there were follow ups on issues that had caused problems. What was the role of armed forces in Lesotho? Was there a need for armed forces in Lesotho given that they were landlocked by SA?

Deputy Minister Landers stated that staying on after an election was an expensive exercise for SADC observers. SADC was watching the situation in Mozambique closely. The situation in Lesotho was also being monitored.

Ambassador Matjila, on security reforms, stated that professionalising armed forces was very important. There had to be a semblance of accountability. Countries like Mali, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo ensured that security reforms took place. Both Botswana and Lesotho’s armed forces were formed from the police. A stable SADC region or Africa continent was good for SA.

The Chairperson, referring to the briefing on Lesotho, asked why reference had been made to the term “Basotho”. What was the need to use ethnic speak? The politicisation of Lesotho’s armed forces was the challenge to post elections. Was SADC considering a de-politicisation process? It was a matter that needed attending to. He was concerned about countries using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) if they did not have engineers present. In Mozambique there were huge contingents from the European Union and the Commonwealth during elections and it was only so because of the interest they had in the gas and oil field riches of the country. There were always negative forces present where mineral resources were present. Africa needed African solutions to African problems.

He pointed out that there were certain countries that only intervened in conflict areas where there were trade and economic benefits for them. SA on the other hand got involved in many peace-keeping missions in conflict areas but it did not translate its presence into any economic benefit for SA. 

Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) 3rd quarter 2014/15 performance
Mr Caiphus Ramashau, Chief Financial Officer, said DIRCO’s main appropriation amounted to R5.7bn. Provision had to be made for adjustments of R350m which brought the adjusted appropriation to R6.1bn. For Quarter 3 projected expenditure was R3.9bn, actual expenditure amounted to R3.8bn.There was thus a variance of R95m. The Committee was given a breakdown of figures for each of the five programmes of the DIRCO. He explained that the depreciation of the rand was unforeseen and affected the liquidity of the DIRCO. The rand/dollar exchange rate was an unprecedented R12 to $1. DIRCO projected a budget shortfall of R195m by the end of the financial year due to foreign exchange losses. The projected expenditure as a percentage of the total budget was 103%. Any shortfalls were seen as unauthorised expenditure. National Treasury had been informed of the projected shortfall due to foreign exchange fluctuations.

Members were provided with figures for DIRCO’s asset portfolio of immovable assets, major movable assets (over R5000), minor movable assets (less than R5000) and intangible assets. The grand total of assets numbered 167 901 with a total value of R5.9bn. Recurring audit findings on the management of assets was that assets were not physically verifiable and that assets were not recorded in the fixed asset register. Measures implemented by DIRCO to ensure better management of assets included setting up an oversight task team (consisting of three audit committee members, the CFO and senior managers from its Financial and Supply Chain Management), the development of a turnaround strategy on assets management, the review of the asset procedure model and the appointment of asset controllers at head office. On the verification of assets as at the end of December 2014, the total sat at 145 482.

African Renaissance Fund 3rd quarter 2014/15 performance
The Committee was given insight into the African Renaissance Fund (ARF) performance indicators with actual performance against targets. For example, an annual target was to have four advisory committee meetings to consider project proposals for recommendation. Actual performance was two meetings held, one scheduled and one ad hoc. On the ARF’s Financial Report its accumulated surplus was R1.8bn, its appropriated funds amounted to R277m, its committed funds to existing projects was R581m and its approved grants for disbursement for Quarters 2 and 3 was R189m. Total available funds were thus R1.3bn. Some of the ARF’s approved projects were humanitarian assistance to South Sudan (R15m), humanitarian assistance for drought relief in Namibia (R100m) and humanitarian assistance to Palestinian women and children (R11.2m).

There was also progress on the ARF’s Action Plan. For example where there were lack of policies and procedures, the ARF had developed an operational framework and adopted DIRCO policies and procedures relevant to the ARF. Where there was inadequate monitoring and evaluation, the ARF appointed a full time secretariat for a period of six months as part of the transitional arrangements.  

DIRCO answers to Committee questions on 2nd Quarter Report (4 March 2015 meeting)
DIRCO provided replies to Members questions on the following:

DIRCO Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Infrastructure - Mr Ramashau said that DIRCO had rolled out computers to its missions. A faster wider area network had been implemented. ICT staff had also been trained.

Report on Asset Register - Mr Ramashau stated that the DIRCO was dealing with the issue of non compliance.

Filling of vacancies - DIRCO had completed an Organisational Functional Assessment (OFA). The target had been to fill vacancies within four months. Since the 1 April 2014 the DIRCO was able to fill 22 vacancies.

Report on security protocols for Locally Recruited Personnel (LRP) – Mr Ramashau said that there were two methods for recruiting local foreign nationals to be employed by an embassy. The second process was for South African nationals that worked in embassies. They would have to undergo a background screening by the vetting section of DIRCO.

Public Diplomacy – DIRCO’s public diplomacy programme had been strengthened. Public participation programmes were in place. Weekly media briefings were also held. There were also regular opinion pieces. Social media and community media was used. DIRCO had its own radio station, Ubuntu Radio.

Ambassador Majila said that its Ubuntu Awards had been launched to honour and recognise individuals. It would be an annual event.

Discussion
Mr Mpumlwana was concerned about security when foreign nationals were employed. What percentage of foreign nationals were required to be employed and in what positions?

Ms Raphuti had watched the Ubuntu Awards on television and said it was a great success. Perhaps the Committee could make nominations. She asked on which channel Ubuntu Radio was. She asked what the value of properties that SA owned at its various missions was. Where property was rented, was it value driven or was it costly?  She asked for the amount of membership fees payable by SA to the African Union, the United Nations and SADC. How long were the memberships for? Did DIRCO have a contingency fund to cover the negative variance of R194m? She welcomed the efforts of DIRCO on risk and fraud management. She suggested that asset management should form part of performance management.

Mr Mokgalapa asked whether the Foreign Service Code was operating. Bilateral visits were noted by the Committee but SA needed to see greater economic benefits with its economic diplomacy. He asked what the status was of the White Paper on Foreign Policy. Was there progress in ARF governance? He asked for what period was the ARF secretariat appointed, if indeed it was appointed for the ARF.

Ms Kenye noted that DIRCO had fulltime audit committee members, would they form part of the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA)? She asked what DIRCO’s vacancy rate was and were there key positions that needed to be filled. She referred to Programme 2: International Relations and asked why there were twenty bilaterals but these only involved four countries. Given the lack of capacity of the ARF Secretariat, she asked what progress had been made.

Mr Mncwango asked whether SA owned property in foreign missions or was property leased. If DIRCO provided humanitarian assistance to Palestinian women and children, should assistance not have also been afforded to Israeli women and children? Would SA’s role not be compromised? He asked whether DIRCO shared facilities with the Department of Defence abroad. The verification of assets abroad was a grey area of the Committee’s oversight.

Mr Maila asked how DIRCO monitored the implementation of South African funds donated to other countries.

The Chairperson asked if the DIRCO intended to graduate the White Paper of Foreign Policy into an Act. The European Union had noticed that the White Paper focussed on south-south cooperation and on Africa but why then was South Africa working with Russia which was not sufficiently south. He asked whether it was good to have international relations and cooperation of a country entrenched into legislation.  Public diplomacy was only having an effect if you were English speaking. Parliament and DIRCO needed to take public diplomacy through to indigenous languages. He asked how locally recruited personnel from countries like China and France were vetted. Related to economic diplomacy was classical imperialism where old colonial powers still chased after the natural resources of their ex-colonies. SA needed to benefit economically where it was engaged in peace missions around the world.

SA was elected in 2014 as the chairperson of the G77, what benefit was it to SA? He asked how active the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) was. Was NEPAD dying? He asked what the completion dates were for chanceries under construction. What was the period of migration from ARF to SADPA?

Ambassador Matjila replied that the White Paper on Foreign Policy had been tabled in 2014. DIRCO was awaiting an invitation from parliament to give a briefing on the White Paper. More to the point the White Paper on Foreign Policy was not meant to be an Act. It was purely an outline of SA’s foreign policy. He conceded that the White Paper was Africa focussed. It was correct that locals from the country where SA had an embassy would be hired. There was however the issue of continuity to consider. There was also the consideration of using South African persons to do the cooking, cleaning and driving at embassies. Locally Recruited Personnel (LRP) applications took into consideration that the individual had no criminal record and was not wanted for anything.  DIRCO also encouraged South Africans to register at missions when they arrived in countries. He said that diplomats were trained in economic diplomacy and that there was even an economic diplomacy toolbox. He noted that it was a strategic decision made by SA to be chairing the G77 at present. It was the 60th anniversary of the United Nations and the question should be asked as to whether it reflected the will of the global community. Perhaps the United Nations needed reforms. It was also the end of the Millennium Development Goals and the development agenda was to kick in soon.

He made it clear that NEPAD was not dying. The issue was to translate the spirit of NEPAD for the benefit of Africa into concrete programmes. The NEPAD Secretariat formed a large part of the AU Secretariat’s thinking. NEPAD was being programmatised. He noted that SADPA was a process that was unfolding.

Petition from the Palestinian National Coalition
The Chairperson proceeded to deal with the Petition received from the Palestinian National Coalition. It had been directed to the Speaker of the House. The issues raised in the Petition affected six government departments. Some of the issues raised in the Petition were to halt trade with Israel, to expel the Israeli ambassador to SA, to recall SA’s ambassador to Israel and to expel Israel from the UN. 

He suggested that he meet with the Chairperson of Chairpersons to convene a meeting of all chairpersons of parliamentary committees. The petition affected various committees of parliament and a joint meeting of these committees should be called. The Palestinian National Coalition would be asked to address the committees on the issues that they had raised.

The Committee agreed to the process as outlined by the Chairperson.

The meeting was adjourned.