DIRCO Annual Report

duty-free alcohol and tobacco products in volumes far greater than those considered to be for personal or official use. The branch has embarked on a project to establish a section which will control the volumes of tobacco and alcohol products allowed per diplomatic and consular agents. A quota system was approved in conjunction with the South African Revenue Service and will be implemented in mid-2021. In terms of one of the key performance areas of the branch, namely providing consular assistance to South Africans abroad, the Consular Incident Command Centre (CICC) was activated twice in the reporting period to facilitate assistance to South African citizens who found themselves stranded abroad due to unforeseen circumstances amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and to support victims of the insurgence attack in Mozambique. The total number of consular cases attended to amounted to 668. In dealing with South African citizens in distress abroad, it became evident that the concept of Consular Services was misunderstood by South African society. Consular Services, in partnership with ICT, has created an application for South Africans to register themselves during a major disaster, be it natural or manmade. The training phase of this application will commence in the new financial year. The branch, as one of its core activities, authenticates/legalises public documents issued across all spheres of government and, among others, facilitates the movement of exports and imports in the manufacturing, mining and energy sector (i.e. industrial production), as well as the agricultural and construction sector. Despite risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Branch authenticated/legalised 37 551 public documents during the 2020/21 financial year for use abroad.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation

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