Annual Report of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs

JANUARY - DECEMBER 2004

NAME OF COMMITTEE:

Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs

Chairperson: Mr D J Sithole

MANDATE OF THE COMMITTEE:

The mission of the Committee is:

To contribute to the effective implementation of foreign policy.

To ensure that foreign policy implementation does not infringe on peoples rights and freedoms as stipulated in the Constitution.

To ensure that the country’s foreign engagements lead to the development of the country and its people.

To effectively conduct an oversight role on the Ministry and Department of Foreign Affairs promote and protect Constitutional values and national interests while working towards the goal of a better world for all.

The vision of the Committee is:

To link the work of the Portfolio Committee to the consolidation of a non-sexist, prosperous, democratic South Africa and to reflect the values of the country to the continent and the world.

List of Entities reporting to the Committee:

The Department of Foreign Affairs

 
CHAIRPERSON’S OVERVIEW:

As we all know that 2004 was a year of elections and all of us were not certain as to whether our parties will return and on what percentage.

I am sure that the outcome is a reflection of our performance as a group and our endeavours to better articulate the South African Foreign Policy.

The area of Foreign Policy is a difficult one, as the events are not predictable and the solutions are not prescribed, but they are dependent on how we understand and articulate our policies.

I must pause here to thank Mr. R Suttner, Mr. Ebrahim Ebrahim, Dr Z P Jordan and Prof K Asmal for leading this committee at the time when each one of us was trying to find his/her footing both in parliament and in the committee.

Since then the committee had very important engagements with the Ministry and the Department. We had discussions on the Departmental Budget and the Strategic Plan. Political briefing by the Director General, the Minister and the two Deputy Ministers were held.

As Members are aware that this committee is very unique in the sense that it has two subcommittees. The two sub-committees are entrusted with a responsibility to effectively perform an oversight role on the Ministry and the Department.

It would be noted also that this is the only PC that has 37 members, which makes it the biggest committee of parliament. With a Sub Committee on International Relations, chaired Ms F Hajaig, whom we must also thank for her guidance. The challenge to manage such a big committee is enormous. The committee has in the last quarter of Parliament engaged scholars on issue of Foreign Policy and we hope to continue with that route to expose members to the wider community of International Practitioners.

The decision by the AU to entrust South Africa with the responsibility to host the Pan-African Parliament brings with it a very important responsibility to the committee to ensure that we follow very closely the debates and the developments in the continent. To inform ourselves as to how best can we contribute to the development of the PAP and other organs of the AU including Regional Bodies like the SADC and SADC-Parliamentary Forum.

The committee undertook a Public Hearing on Xenophobia. This hearing was important for the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs to undertake to understand, not only, how permits are granted or not granted, but also to locate the debate on Xenophobia within the context of our Foreign Policy. It must be said that this issue does not only effect South Africa but our interest is to see the SADC as a whole debating the issue so as to have a Regional View on how we should deal with the challenges of Xenophobia.

I am conscious of the fact that a number of people believe that Xenophobia is about the conduct of Police or how Lindela deals with people but I submit that unless the SADC region discuss and understand the movements of its citizens we will not be able to deal with this issue.

We will again look at issues around the World, the restructuring of the UN, Brettenwoods Institutions and the WTO, the unfolding situation in the continent, as we continue to work towards resolving conflicts and encouraging peaceful co-existence among people.

I trust that the committee will take active interest on the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe and other SADC countries to contribute to the development of the principles outlined in NEPAD and the SADC Guidelines.

As I conclude, I want to draw the attention of the committee that South Africa will be Peer Reviewed soon and we must discuss how we want to contribute to that process and how we will carve our role when the report is made public.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for the contribution you have made and hope that this committee will continue to draw from your wisdom.

Mr. D J Sithole

Chairperson: Foreign Affairs Committee

 

CORE OBJECTIVES:

The Objectives of the Committee are to perform all the tasks required of a parliamentary committee in a democratic South Africa. The functions here will include: consideration of protocols, treaties and oversight.

Legislation:

The Committee does not normally deal with legislation and none was dealt with during the current business year:



4.1.1 Matters other than mandated legislation:

The Committee, together with the South African Human Rights Commission, held Public Hearings on Xenophobia in Johannesburg, from the 02^nd to the 04^th November 2004.

4.1.1.1 International Agreements and Protocols: None.

Oversight:

Oversight was conducted in a form of briefings to the Committee, by the Department, the Deputy Minister (Ms S Van der Merwe) and the Minister (Dr N Dlamini-Zuma).

.1 Institutional Oversight:

The Committee was briefed on the Budget Vote of the department that reports to it.

4.2.2 International / National Visits:

No National or International visits were undertaken during the current business year, due to 2004 being an election year also due to the long time it took to constitute Committees, this made the year very short, this would also be reflected in the financial statements of the last six months of 2004, however the international visits are still under consideration.

 

OTHER COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES:

5.1 Committee Meetings

SEPTEMBER 2004

 

 

 

 

OCTOBER 2004

 

 

NOVEMBER 2004

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:

Budget allocated to Committee: R 970,863.00

Expenditure: R105, 232.69

Catering: R13, 392.00

Provincial Visits: R00, 000.00

Overseas Trips: R00, 000.00 (see page 4, Item 4.2.2)

Conferences, R25, 134.72

Public Hearings, R66, 705.97

Workshops R00, 000.00

Total Expenditure: R105, 232.69

Balance: R865, 630.31

Due to reasons mentioned under Item 4.2.2, page 4, the below-mentioned activities could not be undertaken and this lead to the enormous balance in the Committee budget:

Symposium on the review and assessment of the South African Foreign Policy in the last 10 years.

Conference on Women and Nepad.

Oversight visit to the Department of Foreign Affairs

International visits to Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Sudan

OUTSTANDING MATTERS:

The Committee considered the following matters to be ongoing and expressed the wish for them to be taken up in the Next business year.



Consideration of the transformation of the SADC Parliamentary Forum into the SADC Parliament.

Adoption of the 2004 Annual Report and minutes.

Consideration of the Report of the Public Service Commission on the Investigation into the Appointment of Professional Cubans in the South African Public Service.

 

…………………………………….. ……………………..

COMMITTEE SECRETARY DATE

……………………………… ………………………

CONTROL COMMITTEE SECRETARY DATE

 

 

……………………………………… ………..…………

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON DATE

 

APPENDIX I

COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE:

 

SUPPORT STAFF:

Control Committee Secretary: Mr. N Lala

Period: from May 2003 to date.

Committee Secretary: Mr. E Kgopa

Period: from August 2004 to date.

Committee Assistant: Ms N Mahlanyana

Period: from Jan 2001 to date.

Secretary to Chairperson (Mr. D J Sithole): Ms V Williams

Period: from September 2004 to date.

 

Secretary to Chairperson (Ms F Hajaig): Ms J Merckel

Period: from November 2004 to date.

 

 

Researcher (Research Unit): Mr. M Parks

Period: from Jan 2002 to date.

 

APPENDIX II

 

REPORTS TABLED: