International Relations and Cooperation Budget Review and Recommendations Report; Committee's Operational Plan

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International Relations

18 October 2011
Chairperson: Mr T Magama (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee reviewed its Budget Review and Recommendations Report. The main objective of the Department was to pursue African development and enhanced integration within Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The President had been very active in pursuing economic diplomacy within SADC and beyond the region. Coupled with diplomacy, was the issue of mediation, which had been witnessed several times on the continent; most recently in Libya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and in Sudan. The main outstanding issue of South-South cooperation was the coordinating mechanism for between all spheres of government for the contracting of international work.

The budget briefing revealed an overall spending of 93.4%. The main expenditures were on capital projects in London, Washington and Abuja. Registration of South Africans Abroad (ROSA) registered over 3 000 people but there was a need to popularise the service still and make sure that people were aware. Since the Committee had made a recommendation on the training of personnel on economic diplomacy, 210 people were trained nationally. The main challenge under administration was the Auditor General’s (AGSA) report, which was unqualified, but had emphasis of matter, which related to non-compliance to with procurement regulations and some strategic objectives of the Department were not measurable or time bound. Programme 3 on Public Diplomacy saw the achievement of the unit being elevated to a branch and five director positions were filled. The recent prominent activity was the campaign for Somali drought and famine relief, where the Department partnered with local NGOs and the South African Broadcasting Corporation and raised R8 million.

The AGSA report mentioned 11 concerns with non-compliance. The Committee regarded these concerns as important. There was an irregular expenditure R526 000. The conclusion had been that the overall performance of the Department had been satisfactory except for the AGSA’s report. The activities of the Department and fulfilment of its mandate had contributed towards improving lives of South Africans towards a stable and secure continent. The Committee was satisfied that the Department had utilised its budget in accordance with its strategic plan. South Africa was being regarded highly in multilateral forums because of its facilitation and mediation skills. The unqualified report and emphasis of matter should not obscure the good work of the Department for the 2010/11 financial year, but should show room for improvement.

Committee members agreed that the report was sound and raised question of there being no record of SCOPA in the report.

The Committee considered its draft operational plan most of the issues in the Committee Programme had been lifted from the business plan, except for the Palestinian issue the issue of how the Committee would engage with COP17. It was important for the Committee to have a final briefing by the Department on South Africa’s readiness to host COP17 before house rises.

Committee members proposed an oversight visit to Israel-Palestine and raised question as to who would present at the proposed symposium on Palestine, who would present at the regional integration workshop and would the Committee be represented at the Cop17.

The Committee adopted the Budget Review and Recommendation Report and the draft operational plan

Meeting report

The Chairperson offered apologies on behalf of Ms W Newhoudt-Druchan, Mr B Holomisa, Mr B Skosana, and Ms L Jacobus. He invited Ms Lineo Mosala, Content Advisor to Parliament to highlight the Budget Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR).

Consideration of Committee’s Budget Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR)
Ms Mosala stated that the BRRR was a review of Departmental activities over the past financial year. The document was an assessment of whether the objectives had been met in accordance with what had been stated in the strategic plan and whether the measurable objectives in the operational plan had been met. The main objective of the Department was to pursue African development and enhanced integration within Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The Department embarked on a visible approach by the Presidency towards economic diplomacy, The President had been very active in pursuing economic diplomacy within SADC and beyond the region. Coupled with diplomacy, was the issue of mediation, which had been witnessed several times on the continent; most recently in Libya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and in Sudan. Under the African agenda there was some action on developing the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA). The Committee was briefed on what the organisation would look like and were awaiting the formal introduction of SADPA into Parliament. On the matter of peace and security, the Department had been engaged in the operationalisation of the security architectures within the African Union (AU) and SADC. The SADC early warning centre was launched towards the end of 2010. The AU standby forces had been established, but had yet to be consolidated into the AU structures. With regards to bilateral relations, South Africa’s footprint was visible in all countries in Africa for purposes of economic cooperation and political solidarity. South Africa was conscious of the need for further integration, development and industrialisation within the SADC region. South Africa assumed a seat of Chairship of a troika dealing with security matters. South Africa was part of the AU Peace and Security Council panel. South Africa held a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. These positions had accorded South Africa an opportunity to coordinate maintenance of peace and security in the three areas of the AU, the UN and SADC.

South-South cooperation had seen a lot of progress happening with the India-Brazil-South Africa group (IBSA), as well as the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa group (BRICS). BRICS had proven to be the strongest forum for cooperation in the South. Global systems of governance dealt with issues in participation and the G-20. South Africa had participated in almost all multi-forum meetings. The Committee had made suggestions that the participation of the Department should be to influence the outcomes of these meetings. There had been lots of activity on political and economic relations. The main outstanding issue was the coordinating mechanism for between all spheres of government for the contracting of international work.

The budget briefing revealed an overall spending of 93.4%. The main expenditures were on capital projects in London, Washington and Abuja. The Department also completed projects in Maseru and Ireland. With regards to the achievements per programme, Programme 1 on Administration saw significant progress on the consular services rendered to South Africans affected by disaster incidents in Moscow, Egypt and Libya where people had to be evacuated. Registration of South Africans Abroad (ROSA) registered over 3 000 people but there was a need to popularise the service still and make sure that people were aware. Since the Committee had made a recommendation on the training of personnel on economic diplomacy, 210 people were trained nationally. Also there was a draft white paper on foreign policy still to be tabled in Parliament for consideration and processing by the Committee. The main challenge under administration was the Auditor General’s (AGSA) report, which was unqualified, but had emphasis of matter, which related to non-compliance to with procurement regulations and some strategic objectives of the Department were not measurable or time bound. The issue of locally recruited personnel for the missions was an issue because it often excluded South Africans. The Committee raised concerns that the practice should be reviewed so that South Africans could be given equal opportunities. Regarding the African Renaissance Fund, the AGSA raised the issues of management and physical verification of projects, which had been funded by the ARF. Under Programme 2 on International Relations and Cooperation, the mediation efforts were highlighted and prominently positioned themselves at the forefront of Programme 2. South Africa submitted its African Peer Review Mechanism report last year. Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe visited Turkey, and South Africa increasingly saw Turkey as a key strategic partner within the European Union. For the first time, the Department made inroads into the Gulf States, but met challenges in relation to the cultural dynamics within the Gulf States. The issue of Palestine remained unresolved and remained on the cards. Programme 3 on Public Diplomacy saw the achievement of the unit being elevated to a branch and five director positions were filled. The recent prominent activity was the campaign for Somali drought and famine relief, where the Department partnered with local NGOs and the South African Broadcasting Corporation and raised R8 million. South Africa’s presence on the UN Security Council presented the challenge of communicating issues of national interest, even though the position afforded South Africa a spotlight on its foreign policy. Regarding the State of the Nation address last year, the main issues were the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), mediation efforts and alignment of foreign policy to domestic issues. The strategic plan of the Department was aligned accordingly to directives that came from the President.

The AGSA report mentioned 11 concerns with non-compliance. The Committee regarded these concerns as important. There was an irregular expenditure R526 000. Concerns of AGSA included the incompleteness and inaccuracies of financial statements submitted for audit, strategic objectives were not ‘smart’, issues that went unreported-such as the end result of a disciplinary case held against one of the officials. Also some employees performed remunerated work outside of the Department without permission and awards were made to suppliers who did not submit declaration of past supply chain practices. Some senior managers had performance contracts that were not signed and assessments that were not done, but were still paid for performance. There were some employees acting in higher vacated posts for an indefinite period exceeding 12 months. The law required that if an employee acted for a period of beyond 12 months there needed a formal appointment. Some employees were acting in senior management positions for more than 6 months, which was contrary to regulations. Management did not report outcomes of disciplinary proceedings related to financial misconduct. Most of the non-compliance issues passed by the Department’s management without it noticing. The AGSA recommendations stated that the Department needed to review its check and balances. The Committee was of the view that issues should be taken seriously. This was the first time that the dept had such an emphasis of matter and they needed to be addressed as soon as possible and reported back to the Committee.  The AGSA report on the ARF found similar non-compliance issues. There was no reporting on progress made towards achieving measurable objectives and the other concern was that there should be strategic planning for the fund, so that projections were known well in advance. The response that Committee got back was that this was not possible due to the unpredictable nature of development assistance work and response to humanitarian crises. The Committee was concerned with how SADPA would be run without a specifically detailed strategic plan. The conclusion had been that the overall performance of the Department had been satisfactory except for the AGSA’s report. The activities of the Department and fulfilment of its mandate had contributed towards improving lives of South Africans towards a stable and secure continent. The Committee was satisfied that the Department had utilised its budget in accordance with its strategic plan. South Africa was being regarded highly in multilateral forums because of its facilitation and mediation skills. The unqualified report and emphasis of matter should not obscure the good work of the Department for the 2010/11 financial year, but should show room for improvement.

Committee recommendations stated that the Department needed to conduct review of involvement on the continent under the ARF, so that when SADPA was operational, the Department would have a clear idea of the processes created before SADPA. NEPAD programmes needed funding due to shortage in funding. There needed to be a physical verification of all assets and a regular updating of the asset register. In reference to the AGSA report, there was a need for a refresher workshop for senior and middle management on the creation of ‘smart’ objectives and targets, as well as supply chain management. Issue of performance assessment needed to be addressed. The ROSA system needed to be popularised. Language training courses were necessary because the Department spent lots of money on external consultants for translation services in communication with foreign missions. The issue of locally recruited personnel needed to be revisited to give South Africans equal employment opportunities. There needed to be feedback from the AGSA report and report back to the Committee within three months from the publication of the report.
 
Discussion
The Chairperson opened the floor to discussion

Ms C Dudley (ACDP) stated that the document mirrored what was discussed in the Annual Report and was sound.

Mr K Mubu (DA) agreed that the report was sound

Ms C September (ANC) asked whether there was anything in the report relating to SCOPA?

Ms Mosala responded that there was no record from SCOPA for 2010/2011 financial year. But the following year would definitely have a record from SCOPA.

The Chairperson suggested moving to the programme

Consideration of the Committee Draft Operational Plan
The Chairperson stated that most of the issues in the Committee Programme had been lifted from the business plan, except for the Palestinian issue, which was thrust upon the Committee by condition. The other ‘new’ issue for the Committee to engage with would be COP17. As the Department of International Relations and Cooperation was the lead Department for presiding over COP17, it was important for the Committee to provide oversight on the preparations for COP17. It was important for the Committee to have a final briefing by the Department on South Africa’s readiness before house rises. From previous meeting, there was an outstanding briefing from both the ambassadors from Israel and Palestine. The Committee was, still waiting on final confirmation of availability. The Committee had heard from some members of civil society, but want to have a broader engagement with other players perhaps in the form of a public hearing or a symposium in order to solicit the views of broader society. The Committee had agreed to give priority to the workshop on regional integration, which had been postponed in the past due to availability of SADC members. The Committee was also looking into the availability of the Minister to brief the Committee on the delivery outcome agreement.

The Chairperson opened the floor to discussion.

Mr E Sulliman (ANC) proposed an oversight visit to Israel-Palestine during the first week of December

The Chairperson responded that he was still in the processes of engaging the Speaker on this matter and also engaging the other House. The Committee would finalise that process and move forward accordingly. The Chairperson suggested leaving the timeframe open for now in order to give the Committee the space to fill it in if the request was approved.

Mr Mubu asked who would present at the symposium on Palestine. Who would present at the regional integration workshop? Would the Committee be represented at the COP 17?

The Chairperson responded that the symposium would provide people from both sides the opportunity to present their views and have inputs from a broader section of society.

Ms C Dudley (ACDP) asked how the Committee would advertise the symposium, so that civil society could respond.

The Chairperson replied that the Committee would make the symposium public and use the media to promote it. There were lists of organisation that Parliament linked with on a variety of issues and members could add organisations to the list to ensure that no interested parties were excluded. On the regional integration workshop, the Committee wanted SADC to present and get the Department to make an input. The Workshop was not a repeat as to how regional integration functioned, but rather to come up with a workable framework for the consideration of treaties that would hopefully be adopted by Parliament as the framework for considering treaties within Parliament. Regarding the delegation for COP17, Parliament would send a delegation. The Speaker would determine who would be part of the delegation.

Ms September asked whether it would be advisable for the Committee to establish South Africa’s readiness for COP17 and visit Durban.

The Chairperson suggested merging the oversight briefing with a visit.

Ms R Magau (ANC) proposed that the Committee adoption of the BRRR.

Mr Mubu seconded the adoption.

The Chairperson declared that the BRRR was adopted.

Mr Sulliman proposed that the Committee accept the draft operational plan.

Ms Dudley seconded the adoption.

The Chairperson closed the meeting.

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