Committee Programme for 2004

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
4 February 2004
COMMITTEE PROGRAMME FOR 2004

Chairperson: Dr P Jordan (ANC)

SUMMARY
The members met to discuss the committee programme for the year 2004 and suggestions for a provisional programme were proposed.

MINUTES
The Chair noted that this might be the shortest session for this Parliament due to the forth-coming elections which would introduce a new Parliament. He was therefore of the view that it was not necessary for the Committee to design a programme for the whole year. He proposed that the Committee should simply design the programme for this session and the new Foreign Affairs Portfolio Committee would design its own after the new Parliament opened.

Ms M Olckers (NNP) however raised a contrary view noting that the Committee should keep on planning for the whole year since the new Foreign Affairs Portfolio Committee would not altogether be new as it would be taking over and continuing the work of the present Committee.

The Committee agreed with Ms Olckers and therefore suggestions for a programme for the year were put forward. The following is a provisional programme of matters that the Committee proposed needed attending to:
· The Committee would be hosting a delegation from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons between the 9 and 13 February 2004.
· The Committee has received requests from Russia, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Slovakia, Brazil and India for them to visit the Committee in South Africa.
· The Committee has received invitations from the European Union, the SA Ambassador to Greece and Turkey inviting the Committee to visit these countries.
· The Committee will consider a visit to the South Atlantic countries especially those in Latin America.
· To have a joint sitting with the Portfolio Committee on Defence so that they could be briefed by the Defence Department on the SANDF peacekeeping process in the continent and by the National Arms Control Committee on arms procurement.
· To be briefed by the new Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs on his vision for the critical issues affecting the department, such as transformation and foreign affairs policies.
· To be briefed on the political unrest hitting neighbouring countries: Swaziland, Angola and Zimbabwe.
· To be briefed by the Department of Foreign Affairs together with the Security Cluster and the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence on South Africa's position in the war against terror and how this has affected South Africa's foreign relations.
· South Africa's position on Iraq, Palestine and Israel.

The Chair noted that the Committee would be updated about confirmations and innovations to this provisional programme.

The meeting was adjourned.