The seventh session of the Germany-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC), co-chaired by the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr Guido Westerwelle, and the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, took place in Berlin on 8 May 2012.
This meeting further strengthened the excellent bilateral relations between Germany and South Africa and reaffirmed the BNC as the principal framework in which this strategic partnership is managed.
Premised on shared values, the BNC constructively engaged on critical issues of global concern as equal partners. Against the background of the five national priorities of the South African government; peace and security, post-conflict reconstruction and development of the African Continent with a particular focus on infrastructure development and regional integration initiatives which converge with the Africa Strategy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Committees of the BNC reviewed their work over the last two years and agreed on concrete focal areas and projects for future cooperation.
Accordingly, the BNC received and endorsed the following reports from the Joint Committees:
Foreign and Security Policy
Building on the agreement between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa to intensify cooperation at senior officials level, the Committee reviewed the functioning of the BNC and the structure of its Committees, agreeing to pay specific attention in the future to accommodate cross cutting issues such as Vocational Education and Training.
The Committee was briefed about the establishment of the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA) which will be operationalised in the near future with the objective of establishing coherent and effective development cooperation between South Africa and its development partners. In this regard the Committee expressed its strong support for expanded trilateral cooperation between South Africa and Germany on the African continent within the framework of SADPA once it has been established.
The Committee further exchanged views on peace and security issues on the African continent relating to Sudan and South Sudan, Somalia, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. Other topics discussed were the Middle East, Iran as well as cooperation within the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
With regard to Sudan and South Sudan in particular, the Committee expressed its concern on the recent developments and stated its full support for the AU/UN initiatives, including the role of the African Union (AU) High Level Panel in resolving their differences.
On Syria, the Committee expressed concern at the continued loss of life and supported a negotiated political solution based on the Kofi Annan Six Point Plan. With reference to Iran, the Committee took note of the constructive engagement between the E3 +3 and the Iranian government in Istanbul and expressed its hope that the forthcoming meeting in Baghdad would take the negotiation process forward.
Regarding the reform of the UN Security Council the Committee reaffirmed the need for comprehensive reform and discussed options for bringing added impetus to the process.
Defence
The close defense relationship between the Republic of South Africa and the Federal Republic of Germany over the last decades has been highlighted by successful training exchanges benefiting their landward, air, naval and medical services. Over time, a solid military training assistance and a bilateral annual cooperation programme have been established with numerous visits and exchanges of members of both defence forces to South Africa and Germany respectively.
Moreover, the German Navy and Air Force members deployed to South Africa have jointly operated with their South African counterparts within the framework of the Exercise Series GOOD HOPE. Since the inaugural exercise in 2000, the scope of this exercise has widened and gained more operational depth. The fifth exercise within the series has successfully been completed in March 2012 in South African territorial waters with a focus on contemporary operational requirements, namely anti-piracy and asymmetric operations with the South African Navy assuming the lead for the first time.
The dynamic military cooperation between the two countries, based on mutual and common understanding, has established a high degree of procedural and operational interoperability.
Furthermore the military diplomatic cooperation between South Africa and Germany also serves as a basis to strengthen Southern African Development Community (SADC) 's regional standby capabilities for peacekeeping operations. The shift of the exercise focus GOOD HOPE V, the embarkation of SADC sea-riders during the exercise and the preparedness of the German Armed Forces to possibly stage a future exercise (in support of the SADC Maritime Strategy), are indicative thereof.
The 13th South African-German Defence Committee will convene in the first half of 2013 in Pretoria.
Economy
At the seventh session of the Economic Committee, both sides acknowledged that there existed signs of economic recovery in their respective countries following the deterioration in the global economic situation during 2009. Both sides stressed the need to increase efforts towards further sustainable growth.
With a volume of trade of €14.8 billion in 2011, South Africa remains Germany’s most important economic partner on the African continent. The South African side was encouraged by the relatively significant share of value added items in its exports to Germany. These positive developments need to be further strengthened in the interest of both countries.
South Africa welcomed the fact that German firms are operating successfully and with an awareness of their responsibility in the country, and that they were also expanding their activities into the rest of Africa.
The German side welcomed the report received from the South Africa side on the country’s infrastructure development programme and acknowledged the potential commercial opportunities this entailed. To this end, the sides undertook to work together in encouraging joint commercial activities in the area of infrastructure development both in South Africa and on the African continent.
South Africa noted that contribution by German companies in terms of the technology transfer, technical expertise and direct investment would be vital towards the development of its renewable energy, and in initiatives to enhance energy efficiency.
The sides noted the agreement currently under negotiation on a “Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany”.
Both sides agreed that the intensification of cooperation between the countries in the context of the BNC can be fostered even further, and that full use must be made of all possibilities to increase investment in the respective countries.
The German side welcomed ongoing developments in the Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP), and expressed the hope that the manufacturers of components for medium and heavy duty vehicles would be included in the programme.
The German side expressed its supports for South Africa’s policy of “Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment” (B-BBEE). The South African side declared its willingness to offer individualised advice and support for German SMEs, particularly in areas such as enterprise development support, procurement, and critical skills development in matters involving B-BBEE policy. Furthermore, the countries agreed to enhance entrepreneurial initiatives that are targeted at increasing export opportunities for South African SMEs.
The South African side explained that German companies who need special expert support in SA from abroad should contact the relevant authorities in the Department of Trade Industry (DTI).
Both sides highlighted the important contribution that tourism makes to the economic performance of countries. In this regard the positive role of tourist from Germany was duly acknowledged.
The German side indicated their interest in increasing their participation in the South Africa’s mineral beneficiation initiatives in the area of mineral resources. The South African side underlined the continuing need for initial and further vocational training, not least in order to intensify the bilateral economic relations and thus to become more attractive for foreign investment thanks to the availability of skilled labour. The South African side noted with satisfaction the willingness from the German side to cooperate in this area.
Development Cooperation
Negotiations on development cooperation between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany were held in Berlin on 7 and 8 May 2012. The agreed minutes of the negotiations were signed by the South African Minister of Finance and the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The total volume of bilateral Technical and Financial Cooperation since cooperation began in 1992 amounts to €758.3 million. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany undertakes to provide the Government of the Republic of South Africa with a new amount of up to €286.9 million for bilateral Technical and Financial Cooperation for 2012/13.
This comprises €251.4 million for Financial Cooperation programmes and €35.5 million for Technical Cooperation programmes.
Both sides underlined the successful and meaningful development cooperation since 1994, which is fully aligned with South African policies and priorities. Both sides noted the special nature of development cooperation due to South Africa’s status as an emerging economy (Global Development Partner) and its important role for the stability of the entire region.
This entails, next to an intensive political dialogue on concepts and strategies, among others the predominance of loans for investment measures, an innovative/pilot character for technical cooperation programmes and financial cooperation grant funding on social infrastructure as well as a catalytic role of German development funds for leveraging South African funds.
Both sides confirmed the continuation of the three focal areas of cooperation “Energy and Climate”, “Governance and Administration” (including Violence Prevention) and “HIV Prevention”. Both sides reaffirmed the common overarching goals for these focal areas: Energy and Climate as stated in the “Joint Declaration of Intent on Energy and Climate”, agreed on in November 2010: To make an effective and visible contribution towards achieving South Africa’s ambitious targets in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy and thus climate protection. The German contribution aims to help improve energy security in South Africa and to stimulate climate-friendly economic growth.
Governance and Administration: To contribute to an effective, efficient and citizen-oriented system of public service delivery, which is the basis of safe, sustainable and stable development in South Africa and the region, based on strategic priorities and the outcomes 3, 9, and 12 that were adopted by the South African Cabinet in 2010.
HIV Prevention: To contribute to the reduction of new HIV infections and therefore to the social stability of South Africa and the region. The objective at programme level is to increase uptake by the most vulnerable population groups of adequate HIV and AIDS-related services and support structures in all sectors of HIV prevention.
On skills development, both sides confirmed the joint decisions taken in 2008 and 2010 to focus efforts in this field on the specific area of “green skills/jobs” within the focal areas of “Energy and Climate”. Both sides also agreed to continue the programme on “trilateral cooperation”.
Environment
South Africa and Germany have been cooperating on environmental issues for many years, inter alia through projects supported by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and through their strategic environmental dialogue. The Committee intends to strengthen and enhance environmental cooperation in the following areas:
- Green growth and green jobs;
- Design and implementation of national actions for the transition to a green and low carbon economy, including through the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV (Measurable Reportable Verifiable);
- Renewable energy and energy efficiency;
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation policies and demonstration programmes.
The German Federal Ministry for the Environment intends to continue its support for projects in South Africa in particular concerning the above mentioned areas, inter alia through its International Climate Initiative.
South Africa hosted the 17th Conference of States Parties (COP17) and the 7th Session of the Conference of Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban. This was preceded by the second Petersberg Climate Change Dialogue Ministerial in Berlin in July 2011 co-chaired by Germany and South Africa. The Dialogue contributed to the identification of a balanced outcome of the COP17/CMP 7 meeting.
Germany will continue to work with South Africa in the build-up to the next climate change COP, taking place in Doha (Qatar) in November/December 2012. Both parties stressed that they would work towards a balanced outcome of the Doha Conference including the adoption of the amendment of Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol, conclusion of the work of the AWGLCA on the Bali Action Plan and adoption of a work programme under the new Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action tasked with the negotiation of the new legal instrument for the period from 2020 and beyond as well as the work programme on raising the level of ambition in the period between now and 2020.
The Committee underlined that the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), to be held in June 2012, provides a significant opportunity for the international community to address emerging and long-standing sustainable development challenges and move the sustainable development agenda forward.
The Committee further emphasised the need for Rio+20 to achieve concrete, ambitious results based on the UNECA preparatory meeting in Addis Ababa in October 2011 and the European Council Conclusions of March 2012. In particular, the Committee agreed that the Conference should lay the groundwork for collaboration among countries leading to the adoption of national green economy policies that are inclusive of low-carbon and climate resilient initiatives.
The Committee agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the field of climate policy, in particular through the Climate Support Program (a project aimed at elaborating and implementing the South African National Climate Change Response Policy).
Science and Technology
Since the signing of the bilateral agreement in 1996, there has been a deepening and strengthening of the partnership in the field of science and technology. The mutual commitment to address global challenges such as climate change and environmental issues has always been of major significance in the joint cooperation of both countries.
The Committee reviewed progress and discussed the future advancement of science, technology and innovation cooperation between the two countries. This Cooperation has culminated in the successful launch of the German-South African Year of Science in 2012/13 on 16 April 2012 in South Africa.
The broad objectives of the Year of Science are to highlight the excellence and diversity of the joint initiatives, projects in science, technology and innovation under the overall theme of “enhancing science partnerships for innovation and sustainable development”. In addition, the year of science is aimed at strengthening the partnership and to build a new level of strategic cooperation between the two countries.
The thematic focus areas include astronomy, bio-economy, social sciences and humanities, human capital development, health innovation, climate change, urbanisation and megacities. A joint call for initiatives was released at the beginning of this year and 41 applications were approved for funding. Both sides were impressed by the high number and quality of applications received from the German and South African researchers and institutions.
The Committee elaborated on the future strategic direction of the cooperation. In this regard, both sides agreed to set aside funding for mutually identified cooperation projects. The discussions further addressed the large research projects such as CLIENT (International Partnerships for Sustainable Technologies and Service for Climate Protection and the Environment), SPACES (Science Partnerships for the Assessment of Complex Earth System Processes) and SASSCAL (Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use). The Committee noted the signing of the Joint Declaration on SASSCAL in Namibia by political principals of the respective partner countries, namely Angola, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, as a positive step in strengthening regional cooperation. SASSCAL is a joint initiative that seeks to respond to the challenges of global climate change.
In the area of human capital development, both sides took note of the on-going German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and National Research Foundation (NRF) scholarship program aimed at educational cooperation in areas such as staff development, higher education, institution building and promotion of university cooperation that seeks to develop the skills base of researchers and students.
Both sides are pleased with the strong relations under this collaboration and committed to further advance the science, technology and innovation cooperation between the two countries.
Culture
Following the Agreement concerning Cultural Cooperation between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the Republic of South Africa signed on 10th March 1998, intensive cooperation in culture, education and sports has developed over the past years.
Future areas of collaboration with a particularly high potential for joint projects could be the field of heritage preservation, the digitisation and exchange of archive information as well as capacity building initiatives in that field. The German side will inform the South African side in more detail about the existence of the Federal Foreign Office’s Heritage Preservation programme, which supports such projects abroad.
South Africa envisages cooperation with Germany on the subject of blank tape levies, where the German system could serve as a model for potential South African legislation.
The German side is grateful for the good cooperation between South African bodies and the Goethe-Institute, the official German cultural institute. The Goethe-Institute is involved with, inter alia, cultural education projects and the promotion of South Africa’s local cultural scene.
Its focal subjects for the period 2012/13 are Culture and Climate, Culture and Conflict, as well as Culture and Public Space.
Labour and Social Affairs
The last two years saw the exchange on high level visits from both sides. In the framework of the Joint Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries there has been an intense exchange of ideas and best practises. In this regard a workshop was organised in South Africa in April 2011, supported by the German Federal Public Employment Agency (BA). The workshop developed a draft employment services implementation plan. Of particular interest was the integration of systems for labour market policies, labour market institutions (Unemployment Insurance and Compensation Fund), as well as social dialogue entities.
The South African Department of Labour has integrated the results of this workshop into its five year strategic plan.
During this year’s session the Committee agreed on the following:
1. Finalisation of an overall Capacity Reinforcement Project Plan;
2. Priorities for immediate implementation, based on available budget allocation on both sides.
These include:
2.1 conducting a workshop on registration of Private Employment Agencies/Temporary Employment Agencies and their relations with Public Employment Services;
2.2 facilitating further exchanges in the alignment between the payment of unemployment insurance and counselling/placement in employment;
2.3 arranging further exchanges in institutional structures of social dialogue, occupational health, safety enforcement and social security;
3. Cooperation in addressing youth unemployment (in accordance with multilateral activities in the context of G20 and ILO).
New area of cooperation
Noting South Africa’s commitment to skills provision and increased access to vocational education and training and Germany’s tested experience on dual system, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Institute on Vocational Education and Training and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training have agreed to establish a Joint Committee on Vocational Education and Training.
The new Committee will meet as soon as possible to develop the programme of action.
Other
The South African delegation invited their German counterparts to South Africa for the next meeting of the Germany-South Africa Bi-national Commission.
