Notes following briefing to the media by Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad and Ambassador Gert Grobler, Media Centre, Union Buildings, Pretoria

Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad:

[As] you remember, in my last briefing I expressed my view that there was growing concern about the International Criminal Court's request for President El-Bashir of Sudan to be interdicted. Since then, you know that the Foreign Ministers of the Arab League have met in an extraordinary meeting and have expressed their concern about the indictment and have indicated that they would take the necessary measures to ensure that we can deal with this issue in a better manner.

However, more important for us: the AU Peace and Security Council met on 14 July 2008 and I believe they have now taken a decision that binds us all in how we should approach this issue: I will just give you elements of this decision of the AU:

"The AU reiterated its unflinching commitment to combating impunity and promoting democracy, the rule of law and good governance throughout the entire continent, in conformity with its Constitutive Act, and, in this respect, condemns once again the gross violations of human rights in Darfur.

However, the "Council reaffirmed its statement of 11 July 2008, in which it expressed its strong conviction that the search for justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardise efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace and reiterated the AU's concern with the misuse of indictments against African leaders, in conformity with its decision on the Abuse of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction, adopted by the 11th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on 30 June and 1 July 2008.

"It went on to say, in accordance with the Rome Statute, the ICC is complementary to national criminal jurisdictions, which have therefore the primary responsibility of investigating or prosecuting cases over which they have jurisdiction."

"It also recalled the "principle of the presumption of innocence, as a general principle of law which is enshrined in the Rome Statute of the ICC."

It "stressed the need for international justice to be conducted in a transparent and fair manner, in order to avoid any perception of double standard in conformity with the principles of international law, and expressed concern at the threat that such developments may pose to efforts aimed at promoting the rule of law and stability, as well as building strong national institutions in Africa."

"It went on to express its conviction that in view of the delicate nature of the processes underway in Sudan, approval by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the application by the ICC prosecutor could seriously undermine the ongoing efforts aimed at facilitating the early resolution in the Sudan as a whole, and may lead to further suffering for the people of the Sudan and greater destabilisation with far-reaching consequences for the country and the region."

It has now decided and has requested the "United Nations Security Council, in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, to defer the processes initiated by the ICC."

This is what will guide most of the African countries in dealing with this request for the indictment of President El Bashir and we hope now that the Security Council will consider very seriously the views of Africa and the Arab League and will take the necessary measures to defer this matter so that we can deal with this matter in a much better way that will not undermine the ICC and will enable us to deal with impunity in the broader context of reconciliation and finding solutions.

Outcomes of South Africa-European Union Summit (Ambassador Gert Grobler)

The historic South Africa-European Union Summit which took place within the context of South Africa- uropean Union Strategic relations took place in Bordeaux, France on Friday, 25 July 2008.

The South African delegation was led by President Thabo Mbeki, and included Ministers Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Marthinus van Schalkwyk and Mosibudi Mangena. Unfortunately, due to pressures of the Doha discussions which are at a critical stage in Geneva at the moment, Minister Mpahlwa could not join the discussions.

The EU delegation for the Summit will be led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and included the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council and EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.

I will not go into the background of this meeting; Deputy Minister Pahad in his recent media briefing presented the background to this meeting quite extensively.

As you are aware, we have the South Africa - European Union Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) which continues to serve as the foundation of interaction between South Africa and the EU but based on the importance that the EU attaches to South Africa to its bilateral relations, the role that South Africa plays on the continent, to its role globally, the EU had proposed that we enter into a Strategic Partnership which they also have with countries like Russia, India, Brazil and makes provision for, apart from the existing sound and good bilateral relations and the focus on trade and economic issues, the focus on broadening the political dialogue between South Africa and the European Union that will look not only at bilateral relations but also increasingly at issues relating to the continent and also globally.

There are a number of fora to ensure that there are opportunities, not just at senior official's level but on Ministerial level, there will be two Ministerial troikas a year and then there will be regular summits.

The Summit in Bordeaux was preceded by a senior officials meeting, as is customary and then a Ministerial troika meeting chaired by Ministers Dlamini Zuma and Bernard Kouchner and in essence, the two Ministers discussed four documents that had to be tabled at the Summit. The first one was a report on the implementation of the South Africa-EU Strategic Partnership and the priorities for future co-operation i.e. the way forward. There was also the joint statement that was adopted by the Summit and then there were two other documents given the importance of climate change, there was a joint declaration on climate change. And finally there was a joint statement on the role of the private sector in Africa this is an initiative that was launched by French President Sarkozy and to which the South African government had no objection in principle but it had to be very closely aligned to the Africa - EU Summit decisions and the Joint Action Plan agreed to in Lisbon in December 2007 and off course, to Nepad.

After these intensive discussions at senior officials and Ministerial levels, the substances of these documents were taken to the Summit and were adopted by the Summit. The Summit took place in a highly constructive and amicable atmosphere which really augurs well for future co-operation between the EU and South Africa. I will not deal at length with all the various sectors but will highlight some of the areas.

The first was off course political dialogue and I can say that since we established the Strategic Partnership in 2007 the Political Dialogue between the two countries has strengthened considerably. We also agreed at the Summit that there would be a Political Dialogue Forum on a troika basis with the European Union which will make provision for regular consultations on issues related to the continent and globally.

On co-operation in specific areas, the officials and ministers had detailed discussions on the environment, co-operation in the field of energy, science and technology - that is one of the areas in which co-operation between South Africa and the EU is particularly vibrant and intensive and in which we have a whole range of co-operation projects with the European Union.

There are areas like customs where revenue services like South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) and the EU Commission have ongoing dialogue on customs matters within the ambit of the World Customs Organisation in the interest of trade facilitation and this is going very well.

Another important area that was identified was transport: South Africa and the EU have agreed on the need to deepen co-operation in the field of transport and that we have just created a transport dialogue forum which will look at areas such as aviation and maritime co-operation and issues relating to air services agreements. This is necessary, particularly in view of the 2010 World Cup to see what we can do in this regard.

There are areas like space and migration statistics these are areas that form part of our existing co-operation and which will be deepened. Let me briefly say something on the trade and economic co-operation on the issue of the Economic Partnership Agreements as you are aware at the Lisbon Summit a decision was reached that there would be ongoing discussions between the EU and South Africa on this matter. We had an open and frank exchange on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) President Mbeki once again reiterated the concerns of Angola, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia on certain provisions of the interim EPAs and made it very clear that there are elements that are of concern. For South Africa, the EPAs should serve to promote development, regional integration. It was agreed and both sides expressed their commitment to bridge the prevailing differences and to see how an outcome that was balanced and agreeable to all parties could be reached.

Other areas that are discussed in terms of our co-operation: employment and social policies, ICT, development co-operation where the EU is playing a key role in working with South Africa in terms of the multi-annual programmes and the country strategic paper and the President thanked the EU for the excellent programme that we have in this regard.

I mentioned that Minister van Schalkwyk was present and given the vital challenges that climate changes poses, it was agreed that both sides should work jointly in terms of the European Commission and South Africa for environment and sustainable development. We also have a working group on climate change and we will take this very important issue in a concrete manner. I can just mention that the EU had a lot of praise for the role that South Africa has been playing and continues to play in this field and commended South Africa for its role recently in Bali and moving towards Copenhagen.

For us the Strategic Partnership has been an issue on which we have said to the EU from the beginning that this is mechanism that we would utilise to promote the interests of Africa, the Africa - EU Joint Action Plan emerging from the Africa - EU Summit and we agreed on this issue that the implementation of the Action Plan should be taken forward as a matter of urgency and President Mbeki strongly stressed this.

There was also a discussion on food security which is an issue currently. President Mbeki alluded to the serious implications of food security not just for Africa but also further a field and welcomed the involvement and engagement of the international community in addressing this very serious issue. In response the EU recognises the impact of high food prices on the developing world and President Sarkozy and Mr Louis Michel announced the EU will make available, over the next two and three years, an amount of €1 billion towards assisting the developing world in dealing with the food crisis. It is expected that this fund will go towards fertiliser, seeds, capacity building and investment in food production. President Mbeki welcomed this initiative by the European Union.

There was a discussion, although not a very lengthy one, on the Doha Round currently underway in Geneva. The situation is quite fluid and proposals by the EU, the NAMA countries both sides reiterated that this should be concluded as a matter of urgency.

Deputy Minister Pahad briefly touched on the ICC this was also briefly discussed by the EU and the EU expressed its dismay regarding Sudan's lack of co-operation with the ICC but President Mbeki elaborated the African position as mentioned by Deputy Minister Pahad.

There was the issue of Zimbabwe where the EU expressed its position just prior to the Summit, as you are aware, sanctions against Zimbabwe were increased. This was not discussed however. President Mbeki gave a briefing on the current status of the Facilitation. The joint communiqué indicates that South Africa stressed the need for the right of the Zimbabwean people to determine their future free of outside interference and the most urgent task right now is for the leadership of Zimbabwe to be assisted to negotiate an agreement that will assist the Zimbabweans resolve their current challenges. The EU welcomed the commitment of President Mbeki to the facilitation with a view to reaching an early and successful outcome. We referred to the AU resolution at Sharm El-Sheikh and said that consistent with the undertaking of the AU that the EU and South Africa calls for an immediate end to violence and South Africa also said that we called on the Zimbabwean parties to act with urgency and co-operate in good faith towards the successful conclusion of the negotiations.

I can also add that at the press conference, there was very strong support from the EU through statements made by Presidents Barosso and Sarkozy. President Sarkozy said, "We wholeheartedly support the courageous mediation of President Mbeki and back the idea to give him more time. President Mbeki's mediation must be supported. There is no other way and everyone in Europe agrees to this."

In conclusion, this first and historic Summit was indeed a constructive one which laid the foundation for even deeper and stronger co-operation between South Africa and the EU not only bilaterally but in the interest of Africa.

Questions and answers

Question: Deputy Minister, are you aware of any parallel talks happening in Harare?

Aziz Pahad: No, all I am aware of is that in the Memorandum of Understanding all parties said that negotiations should not be carried out through the media.

Question: Deputy Minister, the Bordeaux Summit, do you think that the EU extending the travel ban on Zimbabwean officials ahead of the Summit supports the work of President Mbeki?

Aziz Pahad: You have heard by consistent view that the AU Summit meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh took a unanimous view on the situation in Zimbabwe we then had a situation where the British and the Americans tried to force this matter through the UN Security Council through a Chapter VII resolution. When this was defeated through a veto by Russia and China, they took the matter to the EU. For us, it is difficult to understand the objectives of new sanctions when everyone if aware that there is progress.

As Ambassador Grobler has said, the EU welcomed President Mbeki's Facilitation as the only game in town. I think that everyone should concentrate on supporting the AU decision to assist the Zimbabweans, following the MoU to get on with their work. Let us stop having outside interference. That is our consistent view - the Zimbabweans are meeting, let them meet and sort out what they want for their future and let us and the international community support them.

This is an extract from a transcript issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs Pretoria, July 27 2008