SA YEARBOOK 2009/10 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION 14 South Africa’s growth in stature in international will lead to greater unity and solidarity between relations resulted in increased demands on the African countries and people. country to play a significant role in contributing South Africa was instrumental in establishing towards efforts aimed at the creation of a more the AU and its organs, namely the: democratic, peaceful, prosperous continent and a • Assembly better world. • Executive Council The name change of the Department of Foreign • specialised technical committees Affairs to the Department of International Rela- • financial institutions tions and Cooperation in May 2009, was in line • Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) with international trends and informed by the • Peace and Security Council (PSC) need to give greater clarity on the mandate of the • Pan-African Parliament (PAP) department. • Economic, Social and Cultural Council In this regard, over and above its normal func- (Ecosocc) tions, the department will also engage in dynamic • Court of Justice partnerships for development and cooperation. • African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Accordingly, the foreign-policy features still • African Commission on Human and People’s remain: Rights. • pushing back the frontiers of poverty and The financial institutions, namely the African underdevelopment in South Africa and Africa, Monetary Fund, African Central Bank and African based on the continental economic and devel- Court of Justice, still have to be operationalised. opmental plan, the New Partnership for Africa’s The 53-member AU was officially launched in Development (Nepad) Durban in July 2002, following its inaugural sum- • creating peace and pursuing the peaceful reso- mit. lution of conflicts It replaced the Organisation of African Unity • contributing to peace efforts in Africa and the (OAU), which was established on 25 May 1963 in world Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. • building and consolidating strategic partner- The AU’s objectives include: ships to advance the country’s developmental • achieving greater unity and solidarity between agenda African countries and the peoples of Africa • building and reforming African continental • defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity institutions and independence of its member states • the continued exertion of influence on global • accelerating the political and socio-economic political and economic issues. integration of the continent As South Africa seeks to attain its foreign-policy • encouraging international cooperation objectives, it simultaneously pursues a devel- • promoting peace, security and stability on the opmental agenda on the continent and in the continent developing world. South Africa and Africa Guarantees that are binding on the Department South Africa recognises that its destiny is inex- of International Relations and Cooperation (for- i tricably linked to that of the developing world in merly Foreign Affairs) for the FIFA 2010 World general and the African continent in particular. Cup TM are: Africa faces the challenge of positioning itself • no country will be excluded from participating in the to address the marginalisation of the continent by 2010 World Cup engaging global role players on socio-economic • national anthems of all participating countries will be development and facilitating a fair and just global played order. • national foreign flags of all participating countries will African Union (AU) be flown The AU is Africa’s premier institution and principal • any violation of the above would constitute an offence organisation for the promotion of the continent’s • the provision of protocol services at official government accelerated socio-economic integration, which and FIFA 2010-related events. SA YEARBOOK 2009/10 322 • promoting democratic principles and institu- In May 2009, the Deputy Minister of Defence, tions, popular participation and good govern- Mr Thabang Makwetla, attended the third Ordi- i ance nary Meeting of Ministers of Defence and Safety • promoting and protecting people’s rights and Security at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Ad- • establishing the necessary conditions to enable dis Ababa. the continent to play its rightful role in the glo- The purpose of the meeting was to consider the progress bal economy and in international negotiations made in the operationalisation of the African Standby Force, • promoting sustainable development at eco- and consider proposals for further implementation. The nomic, social and cultural level, and integrating meeting was also attended by African chiefs of defence and African economies heads of security. • promoting cooperation in all fields of human The African Standby Force was established by the AU activity to raise living standards to support and keep peace in Africa. To this end, the AU • promoting research in all fields has recommended the development of a common secu- • eradicating preventable diseases and promo- rity policy and, by 2010, the establishment of the African ting good health on the continent. Standby Force capable of rapid deployment to keep or en- The AU has made notable progress towards the force peace. political and economic integration of the conti- Once fully operational, the African Standby Force will nent: comprise standby brigades in each of the five regions, and • the permanent home of the PAP will be com- incorporate a police and civilian expert capacity. pleted in 2010 • the AU has developed the PSC, which is responsible for the resolution of conflicts, determine time lines to achieve free trade agree- peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction ments and customs unions. in conjunction with the United Nations (UN) • a common defence policy has been adopted, Promoting peace, security and stability which includes the Standby Force, with a on the continent nucleus of five brigades, one from each region The AU is responsible for the peaceful resolution • the Human and Peoples’ Rights Court has been of conflict among member states, through such established with Judge Bernard Ngoepe as one appropriate means as may be decided upon by of the first judges the AU Assembly. • the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa The PSC Protocol took effect in December 2003 and the Declaration on Gender Equality is being and comprises 15 member states. The PSC was implemented launched in Addis Ababa in May 2004. • the Protocol on the Court of Justice is under- As a collective security and early warning way arrangement, the PSC allows for a timely and The eight existing regional economic communities effective response to conflict and crises in Africa. (RECs), which include the Southern African Devel- In terms of PSC statutes, all African countries opment Community (SADC) and the Economic should establish their own early warning centres. Community of West African States, have begun to The AU PSC Protocol provides for the creation of the African Standby Force, to be operationalised In February 2009, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, former over 10 years. Secretary-General of the African Union (AU) and i The second extraordinary session of the AU AU special envoy for the inter-Sudanese political Assembly, held in Libya in February 2004, adopted talks on Darfur, paid a visit to South Africa in his ca- the Common African Defence and Security Policy. pacity as a member of the Panel of the Wise. The panel was South Africa is sparing no effort in conflict established by the AU in 2007 to support the efforts of its resolution and/or peacekeeping missions in Peace and Security Council and those of the chairperson of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Côte the commission, mainly in the areas of conflict prevention d’Ivoire, Sudan, Comoros, Ethiopia and Eritrea. on the continent of Africa. Members of the panel were appointed in Janu- Socio-economic development and inte- ary 2007 for a period of three years and inaugurated on gration of the continent 18 December 2007. The members are: Salim Ahmed Salim, The AU is the principal institution responsible for Ahmed Ben Bella, Elisabeth Pognon, Miguel Travota and promoting sustainable development at economic, Brigalia Bam. social and cultural level, as well as integrating African economies. 323 SA YEARBOOK 2009/10 RECs are recognised as the building blocks The underlying principles of Nepad are: of the AU, necessitating the need for their close • Accountability: Nepad recognises the impor- involvement in formulating and implementing all tance of good political, economic and corporate AU programmes. governance in creating the conditions for devel- To this end, the AU must coordinate and take opment, with African governments embracing decisions on policies in areas of common inter- greater accountability to their constituents. est to member states, as well as coordinate and Nepad also seeks to base Africa’s partnership harmonise policies between existing and future with the North on mutual accountability. RECs, for the gradual attainment of the AU’s • Ownership: Nepad is a long-term vision that is objectives. African-led and -owned. Ownership should be Seven specialised technical committees are promoted through broad and deep participa- responsible for the actual implementation of the tion by all sectors of society, and by tapping continental socio-economic integration process, into indigenous knowledge/expertise to define together with the PRC. needs and solutions. • Partnership: While Nepad is a partnership New Partnership