DIRCO Annual Report

High-level engagements Regarding the southern African region, some of the high-level engagements included the appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa of Dr Sydney Mufamadi, Ms Baleka Mbete and Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi as his special envoys on Zimbabwe. They visited Zimbabwe from 9 to10 August 2020 to find ways and means to assist Zimbabwe in finding solutions to the difficulties in the country. The Minister received the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Honourable Mathibeli Mokhothu, on 26 August 2020. The Deputy Prime Minister visited South Africa as a Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Dr Moeketsi Majoro, to discuss urgent COVID-19 pandemic-related cross-border challenges. Activities in the West African region included the virtual meeting between President Ramaphosa and President Faure Gnassingbe of the Republic of Togo on 3 June 2020, in an effort to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. A high-level meeting between President Ramaphosa and President Faustine Touadera took place on 3 September 2020, during which South Africa agreed to provide electoral support to the Central African Republic (CAR), for the December 2020 and February 2021 elections, with funding from the African Renaissance and Cooperation Fund (ARF). Economic diplomacy and contribution to national priorities Economic diplomacy activities on the continent were aimed at: • promoting and protecting South African investment on the continent • identifying investment opportunities in target sectors such as services, mining, manufacturing and infrastructure • attracting potential investors from the continent into South Africa’s foreign direct investments • increasing inwards tourism • promoting initiatives to increase South African exports into the continent. DIRCO, through its missions, collaborates with other government departments, particularly the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (dtic) and state- owned entities (SOEs).

continental economic development and integration, particularly the strengthening of political and economic integration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Structured bilateral mechanisms Taking into consideration the limited resources government-wide and other constraints, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the branch undertook a process to review its 43 SBMs, with priority given to countries in the region as well as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Algeria, Uganda, Côte D’Ivoire and Senegal, as countries that South Africa intends to build strategic relations with. In this regard, the following SBMs were held between December 2020 and March 2021:bi-national commissions (BNCs) with Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); joint commissions for cooperation (JCCs) with Kenya and Uganda; and senior officials meetings (SOMs) with Nigeria and Senegal. Only the Joint Bilateral Commission for Cooperation (JBCC) with Lesotho was successfully convened. Unfortunately, the rest of the projected activities were postponed due to the effects of the COVID-19 global lockdown.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation

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