The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Supra Mahumapelo, welcomed the committee’s Mozambican counterpart, the Communities of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique, to Parliament yesterday.
The purpose of the Mozambican visit is to facilitate an exchange of views and experiences and to consolidate friendly cooperation between the two countries. In welcoming the delegation, Mr Mahumapelo said the portfolio committee welcomes the continued exchange of information between South Africa and Mozambique and would like it to continue.
Mr Mahumapelo assured the Mozambican delegation that South Africa will continue to assist Mozambique where it can, with natural and other disasters. He then went on to explain the South African Parliament’s constitutional role: “We make sure that we live to what the Constitution of South Africa says. Parliament is responsible for three things: law making, oversight and we must ensure public participation. These are the three cardinal responsibilities of Parliament and they cascade through the committees of Parliament.”
Sharing experiences on his committee’s oversight role, Mr Mahumapelo said the committee scrutinises the work of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, including the 116 South African missions spread across the world. The department provides the committee with annual performance plans and the committee assesses them based on the department’s monthly, quarterly and annual targets.
“We also conduct supervisory and political oversight on other organs, for instance, all the United Nations and affiliated bodies. We have to look at the work that they do and the role that South Africa plays. In Africa, we look at the work of the Africa Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Commonwealth, G77, plus China and all the other bodies in terms of oversight,” he said.
He further explained that Chapter Nine institutions, such as the Office of the Auditor-General, play a crucial role in South Africa’s democracy by checking up on how taxpayers’ money is spent, for example. In addition, each parliamentary committee comprises members from the various political parties presented in Parliament. “There are always robust debates among ourselves. Without those debates we will be homogeneous and we don’t need that in a situation like ours in South Africa. We need that diversity to bring energy to engage from different perspectives on issues,” he said.
The Chairperson of the International Relations, Cooperation and Communities of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique and the leader of the delegation, Ms Catarina Mário Dimande António, gave a brief overview of the political, economic and social situation in Mozambique following various natural disasters, COVID-19 and the fight against terrorism.
She indicated that the devastation caused by terrorism has stabilised thanks to the combined actions of defence and security forces supported by the SADC and Rwandan forces. “We would like to thank South Africa for the unconditional support in fighting against terrorism in Mozambique and by sending its military personnel and for providing humanitarian support,” she said. Infrastructure is now being rebuilt and public administration and financial services are continuing.
From an economic point of view, the Mozambican government has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to resume financial support, which was suspended in 2015. We will continue to work on this cooperation with South Africa and Mozambique, she concluded.
Source: Parliament of South Africa