Internal Question Paper No. 33 of 2013
2829. Dr P J Groenewald (FF Plus) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1) (a) With reference to his reply to question 6 for oral reply on 15 March 2012, what progress has been made with the presidential pardoning process of persons who were already specified by him in October 2010 and (b) when are these specified persons expected to receive a pardon;
(2) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
(1)(a) Following the decision of the Constitutional Court in 2010 relating to this case, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development launched a media campaign inviting victims and interested parties to make representations in respect of the 149 cases.
The Victims and interested parties who requested further information relating to particular applications for pardon in respect of certain of the 149 cases were provided with the requested information to enable them to make meaningful representations. They thereafter submitted their representations. Upon receipt of these representations, these were forwarded to the relevant applicants who were invited to submit any comments they may have. The applicants have now responded to the representations received in their specific matters.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is considering these matters and is in process of preparing the relevant documents for my final decision.
(b) I will make a final decision once the applications are submitted to me.
(2) It is assumed that the question relates to whether a statement will be made once the applications have been considered and a decision made. If so, then yes, a statement will be made at the appropriate time.
Internal Question Paper No. 36 of 2013
2980. The Leader of the Opposition (DA) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1) Will he (a) retract or (b) apologise for his comments regarding the roads of the Republic of Malawi made on 21 October 2013 at the University of the Witwatersrand;
(2) what (a) correspondence has he received from the (i) Malawian High Commissioner and/or (ii) Republic of Malawi regarding his comments and (b) are the details of each piece of correspondence;
(3) what (a) correspondence has he sent to the (i) Malawian High Commissioner and/or (ii) Republic of Malawi regarding his comments and (b) are the details of each piece of correspondence?
Reply:
The light-hearted comments were made in the spirit of encouraging Gauteng road users to respond positively to the need to pay for the extensive road freeway network built as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project electronic tolling system which was adopted by Cabinet in 2007.
The open tolling system will assist government to repay the debt already incurred in upgrading the freeway network in Gauteng and to ensure a well-maintained road network into the future.
It is a matter of fact that Africa has a poor roads infrastructure and that this needs to be corrected. That is our primary focus. That is the primary reason for the African Union’s decision to address the continent’s infrastructure challenges through the development of the programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), the AU NEPAD Africa Action Plan (2010-2015) and the NEPAD Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI). The Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plans have identified priority infrastructure development projects that are critical to promoting regional integration and industrialisation.
South Africa champions the North-South road and rail infrastructure corridor, which is a multi-modal infrastructure corridor and it includes road, rail, border posts, bridges and ports and other related infrastructure. The North South Corridor passes through eight countries:
- Tanzania
- Congo
- Malawi
- Zimbabwe
- Mozambique
- Zambia
- Botswana, and
- South Africa
It also stretches across three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) – SADC, East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA). The North South Corridor has been expanded, on the request of the South African President to include the road and rail from Cape to Cairo (Trans-African) which now also includes the 4 countries; of Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, thereby involving various funding and multi-lateral agencies and institutions.
My view is that we should all focus on making these projects of building a good road and rail network in Africa to succeed.
No correspondence has been received from the Republic of Malawi and South Africa has not sent any correspondence either.
The President of Malawi, Her Excellency, Dr Joyce Banda was in South Africa on, 3-6 November, for the joint SADC and International Conference of the Great Lakes region summit on the Democratic Republic of the Congo convened in Pretoria.
Diplomatic and trade relations between South Africa and Malawi remain cordial and strong. We will continue to work together at a bilateral level, and also within the SADC and AU ambit to promote sustainable development for the mutual benefit of the region and the continent in general.
Internal Question Paper No. 36 of 2013
2997. Mr D J Maynier (DA) to ask the President of the Republic:
Why did he not inform Parliament about the employment of the SA National Defence Force in Gemena, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in April 2013 that was not for service in fulfilment of the international obligations of the Republic of South Africa towards the United Nations?
Reply:
On 7 January 2013 I informed Parliament about the employment of a total of 400 troops of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in fulfilment of the international obligation to render support to the Government of the Central African Republic (CAR).
Of the total 400 troops mentioned above, 286 were initially deployed, the rest were retained at home pending an assessment of the security threat posed to the already deployed members of the SANDF by developments in that country.
When the security situation in the CAR deteriorated after the battle of Bangui, part of the remaining troops were then strategically deployed and stationed in Gemena to prepare for the evacuation of those that were still in the CAR.
This Gemena contingent was therefore not a new deployment, but formed part of the initial deployment to the Central African Republic as indicated in the President’s letter to Parliament.
All members of the SANDF have since been returned home from the Central African Republic.
