DIRCO & African Renaissance Fund 2019/20 Quarter 1& 2 performance

Meeting report

The Chairperson commended the Department on its contribution in obtaining approval of the Foreign Service Bill by the National Assembly. 

Department of International Relations and Cooperation: Performance report

Ms Dolores Kotze, Chief Director: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) focused on the Department’s performance for the first and second quarters, based on its annual performance plan (APP), and provided an overview of the challenges it had faced.

The first issue was the requirement to settle invoices within 30 days. There were delays with the travel and cellphone invoices which individuals first needed to review, prior to submitting them to the finance Department. The Department was currently working on the matter. The second challenge involved the structural bilateral mechanisms targets which were set out upfront, but whose achievement was dependent on the negotiation process between South Africa and other states, over which DIRCO did not have much control. In future, the Department would not be setting targets for these activities.

Looking at the issue of economic diplomacy, the one challenge was that it required interdepartmental collaboration between the DIRCO and the Departments of Trade and Industry, Agriculture and Tourism, which it was aiming to improve.

The country’s  African, Caribbean and Pacific  (ACP) agreement was coming to an end, and it was currently deliberating on whether South Africa should continue with its membership or rather participate as an observer. The underlying concern was the membership fees associated with continued participation in the forum.

Ms Kotze informed the Committee that it needed to work with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to strengthen the country’s efforts to help South African nationals in need of the state’s assistance outside the country. 

Ms Bingo Thamaga, Assistant Director: DIRCO, presenting the Department’s financial expenditure report for the first two quarters, said the low spending on capital expenditure was due to delays in procuring information communication technology (ICT) equipment during the first quarter. There were also delays in capital projects which were still in the planning phase, and the Department was currently pursuing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) to assist with the matter.

The Department was anticipating over-expenditure on the compensation of employees. High spending on international transfers was because the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) membership transfers had been paid in the first two quarters of the financial year, so it did not anticipate any overspending for the full year. 

Ms Dineo Mathlako , Head of Operations: African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund (ARF), presented on the entity’s performance for the first two quarters.

She said it had conducted an additional ARF advisory committee meeting due to urgent proposals that needed to be considered. The humanitarian assistance projects for Mozambique and Zimbabwe, as well as aid to assist with the animal disease outbreak in Lesotho, had been approved by both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. Thus far the vaccinations for Lesotho had been implemented, and the others were still pending.

The Chairperson asked why the issue of the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA) had not been addressed in the presentations. She said that the Committee wanted a framework on the establishment of the SADPA before the Parliamentary recess.   Regarding the ARF, she wanted to know what South Africa was receiving in return for its overly generous foreign aid to other countries.

Mr Kgabo Mahoai, Director-General (DG): DIRCO, said the Department took note of the Chairperson’s concerns, and said they had received the information pertaining to SADPA only at the meeting. The Department would work towards meeting the deadline.

The Chairperson warned the DG that the worst thing that could happen would be if the Committee rejected whatever the Department put forth, should it not in line with Section 3 of the Public Entities Act. It was not acceptable that the Committee had made decisions regarding SADPA, and after two decades these decisions were still not being implemented.

Discussion

Mr D Bergman (DA) asked why the chief financial officer (CFO), rather than the chief operations officer (COO), was attending the current United Arab Emirates (UAE) mid-term meeting, as the Committee had specifically requested the CFO to attend the current Committee meeting. Additionally, these mid-term meetings were an enormous cost to the Department, as the various countries participating in these reviews had to meet at one place. He asked where Southern African Development Community (SADC) election observer missions had taken place, and who had been sent to participate.

He encouraged DIRCO to undertake an exercise to determine how much money the country was spending on membership fees for all the bodies to which the country belonged -- what was the country’s contribution in terms of participation, what had it achieved during its membership, how much would the country save if it was an observer, and what would be the difference be in its influence. He believed that this exercise would save the Department money. He also wanted to know how much the mid-term missions were costing the country.

He asked why the asset register was not part of the scorecard that the Department was reporting on, and suggested that the ARF funding could be used to support observer missions in Namibia and other SADC countries’ elections.

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) asked what guided the Department’s decisions in terms of promoting South Africa as an investment destination. How did the Department know what to prioritise? He asked whether it was possible for DIRCO and the DHA to work together to assist South Africans going overseas to know the location of the country’s embassies should they be in need of any assistance abroad. How did DIRCO measure whether the ARF missions were profitable or not, and how often was this exercise undertaken? How did applicants for the funds justify the amounts they requested, and how did they account for expenditure?

Mr B Nkosi (ANC) referred to the issue of SADPA, and said that when presenting on the matter, the Department would need to focus on the previous discussions, the implementation plan and the roadmap. It also needed to provide the Committee with a target date for when the matter could be taken to Parliament. 

He asked whether ARF targets were set in a manner would make them easily achievable. He suggested that the Department should look into what the implications would be if South Africa decided to change its status within the various bodies it participates in, and how this decision would affect its relations with other countries. With regard to the ARF, he observed that there was a R400 million surplus, and commented that it appeared as if DIRCO had requested funds from Treasury without having established what the demand for the funds would be.  What were the Department’s intentions with the surplus AFR funds in the next financial year? He added that he found it problematic that the Department set a target of only one meeting per quarter where only one or two applications were reviewed, as this made it easy for it to achieve its target. 

Ms T Msane (EFF) asked about the cost implications of South Africa’s involvement in the Pan African Parliament (PAP). What programmes had South Africa implemented or promoted in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)? How many South African missions did not have heads of missions, and what was the country’s plan regarding the matter? She asked about the training of finance department staff, since the CFO had previously indicated that DIRCO was currently under-skilled. Were youths and individuals from the rural areas targeted for the Department’s job shadowing and awareness programmes?

How much foreign aid had the DIRCO received in the period under review, and where had it come from? She asked about the role and programmes that Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, as executive director of UN Women, had implemented that had benefited South Africa. She said the Department was very silent on refugee issues, both domestically and internationally, and urged it to be more proactive on such matters.

Regarding the Brazil-Russia-India-China-SA (BRICS) community, she asked what the Department’s strategic plan was to achieve the three goals the country’s president had promised to the BRICS leaders by the next summit date.

Who -- besides Eskom, Transnet and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) -- was participating in the People Empowering & Development Alternatives (PEDA)? With regard to ARF, who were the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that were used to provide humanitarian services, and how were they identified.  She wanted to know whether the products and services used for humanitarian assistance were locally produced. Lastly, she asked about South Africa’s oversight role in the Mozambique and Botswana elections.

Mr X Nqola (ANC) said the Department had to ensure that they addressed the issue of complying with the 30-day payment period, as this had a negative impact on small businesses and their ability to absorb people into the labour market. He also asked why the Russia-Africa and  China-Africa summits were always hosted outside the country. He wanted to know whether other African countries were also contributing to the ARF, and also whether ARF funds were also available to assist with domestic disaster relief.

Mr T Mpanza (ANC) said that the performance indicators were too loaded, and that the Department should stick to SMART principles. It should use the internal auditors to perform dashboard services to highlight when it was falling behind in reaching its targets. He also asked DIRCO to address its challenges with capital projects.

Department’s response

Ms Mathlako first addressed the issue of SADPA, and indicated that DIRCO was working on it and would be available to make a presentation on it at the Committee’s request. Regarding observer missions, the SADC was responsible for inviting individual member states to observer missions, and thus far DIRCO had attended to all missions at SADC’s request. 

Regarding the profitability on ARF disbursements, she said the entity focused on impact as opposed to profitability, considering that these were given out at a time the individual country would be experiencing some form of pressure. There was therefore no expectation of a return on investment for giving assistance.

On the issue of accountability, in most cases countries did not receive money, but received goods or services instead. In instances where money was disbursed, the Department did monitor what the money was used fo,r and the AG also conducted audits to ensure that the money was used accordingly. Amounts disbursed were given out based on the advice of the advisory committee, and applicants were granted funds based on what the Department considered as sufficient, instead of focusing only on the amount requested by the applicants.

Ms Mathlako said that surplus ARF funds would be used to support South Africa’s initiatives around its AU projects in 2020.

Regarding the targets in the performance information, the Department was currently working on developing frameworks that focused more on outcomes and impact, as opposed to activities. Regarding NGOs involved in project implementation for the ARF, currently there were two NGOs involved in project implementation. With regard to sourcing products, DIRCO made use of both local and externally sourced goods and services. As for contributions from other African states to the ARF, she indicated that other states were not contributing.

A DIRCO official referred to the Department’s asset register, and said it was currently undertaking a physical verification of its assets, and intended to finalise the process by the end of January 2020.

Regarding the housing of the Pan African Parliament, the Department was currently working towards updating the 2006 feasibility study so that it could establish a way forward on the matter.

There were currently 25 missions without heads.

Ms Kotze addressed the suggestion that South Africans traveling abroad should be advised where its overseas missions were, and said the Department had launched a “travel safe” campaign last year, and this was still in operation.

Regarding what informed DIRCO’s targets, she said it looked at the baseline performance and compiled them with input from the missions.

To choose trainees for the Department’s training programmes, it works with National Youth Development Agency, the South African Youth Council and civil society to select participants.

Ms Kotze acknowledged that the Department needed to be more proactive about international issues. Regarding the hosting of summits, South Africa had hosted the event when it was co-chairing with China, and this was rotated amongst the countries.

Mr Mahoai addressed the matter of the UN Security Council, and said the country played the role of bridge builder, and often the achievements were intangible. Regarding the refugee situation, the Department was working on the matter, but it had to balance its domestic role against its international responsibilities.

Rev Meshoe had a follow-up question on the issue of accountability, and asked if the Department had tangible records such as invoices and receipts to ensure funds were used for the intended purpose. 

Mr Bergman took issue over the R1.5 million set aside for mission trips, especially since these trips historically were not done in such a manner.

The Department assured the Committee that it had records to ensure accountability.

Ms Msane asked which NGOs provided assistance with project implementation. She repeated her request for clarification on the role of Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, and wanted a date for when the Department would be housing the PAP. 

Ms Mahlako responded that the two NGOs providing assistance were the Zanele Mbeki Foundation and the In Transformation initiative.

Mr Mohoai said midterm reviews were held every year. The Department was currently unable to pinpoint the achievements of Ms Ngcuka in her role at the UN. 

The Chairperson said South Africa had a clear position on the Israel-Palestine situation, and was opposed to the Israeli actions. The ruling party had firm position on the matter, and the mission’s office in Israel had to be closed. She added that she welcomed the release of Lula Da Silva as a victory for progressives across the world. She took heart from the fact that the Department had not been proactive on issues where foreign nationals instigated violence against South Africa nationals, such as the recent assaults on religious leaders and human rights officials in South Africa.

The meeting was adjourned.