Department of International Relations and Cooperation on its Quarterly Report October-December 2013

Meeting report

Opening Remarks by Chairperson
The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting and especially new Committee Member, Mr Justus De Goede (DA) and he paid tribute to the late Mr Ben Skosana (IFP).  The report on the Solidarity Conference would not be discussed, but would be dealt with at the next meeting and there would not be a legacy report from the Committee without members’ involvement. There was concern about what was happening in Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Committee hoped for future engagement on these issues.  Instability had the potential to spread to other regions and it undid the gains made on effecting stability and South Africa and the African Union (AU) were working together to help in this regard.  There was a reconfiguration of power relations that were taking place in some areas more aggressively than in others despite the cost to those countries and should be discussed more broadly with the Department.  South Africa took its seat as a member of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission and the Chairperson congratulated Russia on their successful hosting of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Remarks by the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
Mr Marius Fransman, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said the Department’s perspectives on very strategic issues were enriched by the interactions with the Committee.  Two years back, when the President decided on the UN Security Council (UNSC), a mechanism was identified that should be utilised by the AU and the UN when complex issues were on the table that affected African countries. Subsequent to the Solidarity Conference hosted by the Committee, there had been invites to the Department to visit various communities because of the fruitful discussions.  The Department had embarked on a process to strengthen systems, mechanisms and processes around planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation and proper performance management around administration.  Training was also important, because as legislation get strengthened, it was equally important to enhance skills.  A Risk Management Committee and an Audit Committee with the necessary protocols were established.  The Department was deliberate and focused to deliver quality service to the country and the African Continent.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Director General, Mr Jerry Matjila, said a performance review of the Department was done on the last 20 years, with a focus on the last five years. The structure of the Department would be discussed with the next Administration to explain how the Department would deliver on its mandate.

Briefing by DIRCO on Quarterly Report Summary - 1 October to 31 December 2013 
DIRCO Director: Strategic Planning, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms Delores Kotze, outlined the objectives of the presentation. The Committee was presented with the four programmes covered in the quarterly report.

Administration
Mr Kotze told the Committee that during the reporting period, 20 vacant posts were filled and brought the total to 59 post filled for the year.  DIRCO provided 27 training programmes during the reporting period which included training programmes on Economic Diplomacy and Mediation and hosted the first BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) National Youth Consultative Forum.

International Relations
The targets were around 14 structured bilateral mechanisms which included bilateral engagements with Namibia and Botswana.   In Asia and the Middle East engagements with China resulted in two memorandums of understanding being signed (MOUs) with regards to tourism and public administration.

Ms Kotze highlighted the high level visits in the programme that involved Africa, Asia and the Middle East and Europe.  The total number of investment seminars held and participated in amounted to 42. DIRCO participated in Mexico in the Mining Expo and engaged with Africa Bilateral, Asia and the Middle East and Europe.

International Cooperation
The Department participated in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Second Committee meetings in New York in October 2013 and delivered statements advancing South Africa’s positions on Financing for Development and South-South Cooperation.  Participation in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Executive Committee Meeting contributed in articulating South Africa’s positions on the call for a multi-faceted approach and response to resolve the Syrian refugee situation, commitment to a world without statelessness and establishing mechanisms that enhanced security situation of refugees.  DIRCO contributed in advancing SA’s positions during the19^th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the ninth Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol Session, in Warsaw in November 2013 and put forward its views in the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action on the work programme for pre-2020 ambition and on the 2015 agreement.

DIRCO participated and advanced South Africa’s positions in two G20 meetings in Moscow in 2013 and contributed towards the discussions on the working practices of the G20 in 2014, the structure of the Brisbane Leaders declaration and the global growth challenges. 

Public Diplomacy and State Protocol services
Seven media briefing sessions were hosted by principals to articulate South Africa’s position on international developments and nine Public Participation Programmes were undertaken to enhance public understanding of South Africa’s international engagements.  The Department coordinated three special events that included the funeral of former President, Mr Nelson Mandela.  A challenge for the Department was the difficulty to fill vacant posts within four months, because the delay caused with verifications processes at the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

Mr Matjila explained issues dealing with training and a module was introduced through the international school that focused on conflict prevention and mediation and in 2013 a number of African countries participated in the programme.  In 2014, 22 African women were elected to participate in this programme because the intention was to form a forum that focussed on conflict prevention and prevention run by women in Africa.  For the past 12 years there had been some discussion on the areas surrounding the Continent and the possibility existed that by 2018/19 South Africa could double its geography based on the discussions by the DIRCO legal team and that would make South Africa the largest country in Africa.  There were intensive discussions currently and the oceans were critical because the oceans could be explored for economic purposes.  The negotiations with Namibia were at a delicate stage with regards to the borders and the Orange River border issue was not yet resolved.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked DIRCO for the presentation and asked if there was any progress on the discussions with France with regards to St Lucia Island.

Mr Matjila replied that it was a challenge because people did not realise there was building capacity and mobility to move deeper south and people also realised the sea’s potential for good resources.  There were marine resources beyond St Lucia and the complication occurred when everyone started looking for these resources without regard for the sustainability of the economy.  This was not an isolated issue and a team needed to be reorganised to address the complexity and new dynamics.

Mr De Goede asked with regards to the interface between DIRCO structures and the private sector, if there were forums that facilitated interaction with the private sector, because feedback from the private sector suggested exclusion from policy making with regards to foreign relations. It would be useful to have a more detailed discussion on executed and planned projects with regards to the Renaissance Fund because it was a considerable amount of money and how that money was applied.  He extended congratulations to DIRCO on an excellent performance in Sudan and the assistance given by the Department was much appreciated by the countries involved.

Mr Matjila said the Minister and the Deputy Minister had engaged on certain issues and whenever the Minister went abroad the business component of DIRCO was also taken abroad.  Areas around protocols and agreements with the private sector needed to be explained when doing business abroad.  The Department planned to build an in house capacity in terms of public diplomacy and the position was that every DIRCO official needed to undergo economic diplomacy training before going abroad.   

Ms H Mahomed (ANC) asked for clarification on how many vacancies there were in DIRCO and in what areas those vacancies were. On international relations with the Middle East, and how the effectiveness of the input and the oversight by the Department was measured according to the mandate, she asked for comment on progress made with the objectives in terms of the Kyoto Protocol and she asked if the G20 participation was successful in terms of the global challenges raised.  She urged the Department to work closely with the Committee in the next Administration because of the similarity in goals and would be valued by members.  She asked how South Africa was rated globally in terms of public diplomacy.

Mr Matjila replied that the Department had 10 to 15 vacant posts currently and some of posts which had been vacant for 19 years had been removed.  The Department expanded over the last 20 years and the challenges such as overseas posting and training programmes created artificial vacancies in the Department and although more could have been done in 2013, the process of filling vacancies was laborious, but had been fast tracked later on. 
Asia Middle East had replaced Europe as South Africa’s biggest trading partner.  Since 2009 exports had grown from R210 billion to R800 billion and was forecasted to grow to R1 trillion worth of exported commodities in the next five years.  There had been huge investments in countries like Vietnam, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Japan and as the South African footprint in those countries grew, so would the expansion of the economy.  These were all long term investments and DIRCO had been working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to sustain these relationships and to identify new areas.  The Department took a log range view with regards to measuring input according to the mandate.  The Department planned, with regards to trade relations investment with Indonesia, to plough resources into Indonesia over the next five years.  Trade patterns and tourism would be monitored as it had been monitored since 1994 to determine what the effects of the investments were and if the returns could be justified.  Exports to China would be measured by the resource deployment in China and although many of these were done in collaboration with other departments, DIRCO had always been five to six years ahead of other departments in terms of international relations.  When missions in Africa grew from 43 to 47, it could be measured that trade grew considerably over that period.  There had been a reversal in goals with regards to the Kyoto proposal after visiting Qatar and Poland and after studying the climate change agenda.  South Africa needed to commit to a legally binding protocol by 2015 and the shift in trend was that the biggest emitters should pay and meet obligations prescribed by the protocol.  South Africa was not the biggest emitter, but because of the country’s BRICS and G20 alignment, the obligations of the country was clear and the delegation needed to be realigned. The biggest challenge of the G20 was the issue of development and preparation for the Brisbane G20 summit included preparation to remind the world of the challenges in Africa. 
The support from the Committee was appreciated and the Department would commit to working with the Committee in future.  The diplomacy rating of the Department could be measured by how well South Africa has hosted passed events and most recently planned what was believed to the biggest funeral ever, that of the former President, Mr Nelson Mandela in limited time.  South Africa had the proven capacity to deliver on the world stage.

Prof S Mayathula (ANC) requested documentation to be forwarded to the Committee three or four days before the meeting to allow members time to study the documents.  He referred to the challenges related to filling vacancies and asked what the recommendations were with regards to the issue with SAQA, because these challenges should have been communicated to the Committee.

The Chairperson said it was important for the Department to engage the Committee with any challenges, because the Committee could be able to assist in issues especially with regards to SAQA. 
In addition to comments made earlier, the Chairperson said Madagascar could be regarded as a success story for now.  This was because the collective efforts of the Department, especially the Deputy Minister, the AU, international partners and Southern Africa Community Development Community (SADC) partners.

Mr Matjila said the Department appreciated the Committee’s proposal of collaboration on certain issues and agreed that any challenges would be discussed with the Committee in future.

Deputy Minister Fransman said good lessons could be learned from the public diplomacy process.  The Department approached non-State institutions and communities to demystify foreign affairs and it should be followed through to assess what could be learned from such a process.  Chinese tourists to South Africa more than doubled in the last 18 months and was expected to double again within the next year and the opportunities for the emerging of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and development expanded. There were a lot of post conflict scenarios and reconciliation was looked at through SADAC processes.

The Chairperson said the Committee had attended a public diplomacy event in Gugulethu, which was attended by approximately 5 000 people. It became clear that this helped to demystifying the work of the Department and help people understand foreign relations and the country’s international policy better. In addition, the event addressed the objectives the Department wanted to achieve.  There should be a symbiotic relationship between the private sector and the Department.  Companies should understand the responsibility of representing the country, because the process also highlighted those that did not do the country any favours.  Public diplomacy was indispensable to the work of the Department, because with an appreciation of the objectives of the country, there should be sense of moving in the same direction.  

Department of International Relations and Cooperation Quarter 3 Expenditure report - 2013/14
DIRCO Chief Financial Officer, Mr Caiphus Ramashau, said the presentation would illustrate the DIRCO expenditure report and the ARF budget allocation.

The Committee was presented with an overview of the programmes which covered; Administration, International Relations, International Cooperation, Public diplomacy and Protocol and International Transfers.

The projected expenditure was estimated to be 76.7% compared to the actual expenditure of 71.1% of the total budget.  These programmes included the economic classifications that included compensation of employees, goods and services, transfer payments and payments for capital assets.

The total expenditure for the Department as at the end of the third quarter amounted to R4.128 billion or 71.7% of the appropriation.  This expenditure was 6.5% lower than what the department had projected for the period.

The total expenditure for Administration as at the end of the third quarter amounted to R842.8 million or 63.5% of the programme’s total appropriation. This expenditure was 18% lower than what had been projected for the period. The reasons for the low spending were:

Diplomatic training, research and development – the Heads of Missions training did not take place as planned.  Furthermore, outstanding invoices for nine training programmes that were provided during quarter three contributed to the lower projected expenditure.
Foreign fixed assets management – Payments for capital projects in Tokyo, R38 million, Washington, R25 million, Dar es Salaam, R18 million and Lilongwe, R3.8 million were projected for December 2013. However, actual payments were made in January 2014. 
Office accommodation – there are outstanding invoices for rented properties from the Department of Public Works (DPW) and it was resolved in the meeting that all outstanding invoices would be sent to DIRCO by the end of February 2014.

The total expenditure for International Relations as at the end of the third quarter amounted to R2 087 billion or 75.6% of the programme’s total appropriation.  The expenditure was in line with what was projected for the period.

The total expenditure for International Cooperation as at the end of the first quarter amounted to R320.1 million or 69.8% of the programme’s total appropriation. This expenditure was 6.3% lower than what the Programme had projected for the period. The lower than projected expenditure was mainly under the sub-programme Continental Cooperation, which was 15.8% lower than projections as a result of major meetings that were not convened in the during the third quarter.  The overspending on Payments for capital assets was due to procurement of office furniture and equipment for officials.

Total expenditure for Public diplomacy and Protocol and International Transfers as at the end of the first quarter amounted to R207.7 million or 81.6% of the programme’s total appropriation.  Expenditure for this programme was 11.8% higher than what had been projected for the period. This is mainly due to expenditure incurred by the department for facilitating State Visits and providing protocol services during the funeral of the late and Former President Nelson Mandela.

The Committee was then presented with an overview of the ARF budget allocation.

Discussion
Ms Mahomed asked for clarification on the negative variance of -11.8% for public diplomacy and protocol on slide 3, the great variance between actual and projected amounts for payments for capital assets on slide 3,  the negative variance for financial management on slide 5 and the variance of 15.8% of continental cooperation on slide 11.  She asked what the problem was with the outstanding invoices in terms of the training programmes and if the outstanding fixed asset management invoices hampered the progress in the department.  She referred to the African Renaissance Fund (ARF) financials and said there were some big gaps between the approved amount and the actual amounts spent and in some instances some amounts were untouched.

Mr De Goede said DIRCO was underfunded, but if extra money was to be argued for the Department in Parliament, there needed to be guarantees that the money would be well spent.  He asked for an indication if there were gaps in the financial support with regards to African institutions like the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP).  Salaries were approximately 28% of the budget and the public did not often realise that DIRCO was trapped by certain commitments that other departments did not have like the international payment commitments and the currency issues and he said he was worried by the comments made that important meetings did not take place.  Roughly 4% was spent on public diplomacy which should be well spent.  The EU had cut developmental aid to South Africa by 75% from R2 billion to R500 million and this was worrisome and with regards to the ARF, he asked how projects were prioritised and who had the final decision and the public would also appreciate greater clarity how the money was spent.

Mr Ramashau replied that the Department would welcome additional funding and the money would be well spent, because control and monitoring measures would be put in place to supervise how the money would be spent.  The Department had noted how other partners had reduced their allocation to the African Continent in terms of development, but the challenge was that money toward the countries was allocated with specific conditions.  No-one wanted to be involved in the conflict resolution space until an immediate return on investment could be assured.  The host country agreement with agencies was undertaken when the AU was re-launched in Durban 10 years ago and this agreement compelled the Government to provide permanent accommodation to host all agencies and National Treasury and the DPW were engaged to address the issue with the PAP to find a home and headquarters for the AU.  The compositions of employees were a cost driver and the Foreign Service Bill needed to be presented so that that environment could be regulated outside the normal function of the Department.

The chairperson asked specific clarification on the negative variances.

Mr Ramashau replied that as an overall explanation of the negative variances referred to the projected amounts as compared to the actual amounts that took into account the unexpected expenses in terms of the third quarter.  Programme 1 was financial management and the Auditor-General audited approximately 20 missions and because the Department would be billed as soon as the audit was done, the amount was projected and the actual bill was R18 million.  In programme 4 the public diplomacy projection was R47 million, but the actual expenditure was R55 million because of the launch of the Ubuntu Radio station, the procurement of equipment and the use of freelance presenters.  The launch was in October 2013 and it was not part of the initial projection for that quarter and protocol services were the VIP services provided during a State event and overall these were only projections, but the Department was fine in terms of overall spending.

The Chairperson asked what the budget support to the Seychelles entailed.

Mr Ramashau replied that the budget support was for disaster relief and was requested from the ARF for that function.

The Chairperson asked why it was not under humanitarian assistance as was in other cases.

Mr Matjila said the Seychelles struggled with their obligation to the AU and DIRCO provided assistance in that regard as was done with other countries from time to time.
The money from ARF could be allocated to countries based on certain standing agreements based on countries that would be hosting elections.  Another issue could be based on the request for capacity building after conflict resolution and would be presented to the Executive.  The Minister would approach the Minister of Finance and the amounts allocated would be decided on and allocated to those countries.  Projects were decided on in a Heads of States discussion with departments and pledges and commitments made during those discussions.

Deputy Minister Fransman said the details involved in the process of prioritising projects were the responsibility of building peace and conflict resolution in terms of the foreign relations policy and with that came responsibility.  The mechanisms that were being used to build peace and a reduction in crime were through developmental initiatives.  Somalia was in crisis now because of food insecurity and although it was not budgeted for, an intervention was underway based on the responsibilities of the Department.  The process of prioritising projects and the decision making aspects of the process needed to be strengthened with the understanding that a disaster remained a disaster that should be attended to regardless of the processes.  With the challenges of climate change, there was a real possibility of more and more natural disasters that could happen.  When there was a cyclone in Madagascar, an agreement with the Norwegian government was made to supply some sort of food relief.

The Chairperson said ARF was an important movement and it needed to be strengthened, both in terms of the agencies the Director General spoke about, as well as capacitating to anticipate over and above the crises that needed to be addressed, into a proactive longer term strategy.  The chairperson thanked the Department for their input.

The meeting was adjourned.