A delegation of senior officials, led by South Africa’s G20 Sherpa and the Director General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr. Zane Dangor, visited the United Nations General Assembly to brief them on South Africa’s G20 Presidency. The General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed the priorities and theme of the South African G20 Presidency.
During their visit, the delegation advanced discussions originally initiated by the former US Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, engaging with counterparts in Washington, D.C., including senior officials at the White House and the State Department, to address bilateral priorities. The delegation clarified key issues and misconceptions in meetings with the National Security Council’s Africa Director, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, as well as Treasury Department representatives. We believe that these dialogues will assist to refine the current administration’s understanding of South Africa’s position on critical matters, fostering a more nuanced perspective.
The delegation directly addressed the perception that the South African government’s policies are designed to violate the human rights of minorities in post-apartheid South Africa. Amongst the issues addressed was the matter of how the Expropriation Act’s nil compensation clause is not designed to facilitate unlawful land seizures and undermine property investment but rather to ensure that:
(1) where the land is not being used and the owner’s main purpose is not to develop the land or use it to generate income, but to benefit from appreciation of its market value;
(2) where an organ of state holds land that it is not using for its core functions and is not reasonably likely to require the land for its future activities in that regard, and the organ of state acquired the land for no consideration;
(3) where an owner has abandoned the land by failing to exercise control over it despite being reasonably capable of doing so;
(4) where the market value of the land is equivalent to, or less than, the present value of direct state investment or subsidy in the acquisition and beneficial capital improvement of the land.
During the cordial discussions the senior officials addressed misconceptions on what has been presented by some as race laws designed to undermine minority rights in South Africa. To this end the senior officials presented information which highlights the persuasive racial and structural inequality that continues to divide South Africa in all areas of the nation. The post-apartheid administration is constitutionally mandated to correct the injustices of the past. These initiatives are consistent with the efforts to ensure that post-apartheid South Africa entrenches human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism, non-sexism and the supremacy of our constitution and the rule of law.
These fruitful engagements will be carried out at various levels of government pursuant to the 7 February Executive Order issued by the President of the United States. This includes ensuring that the 7th administration positions itself as a strategic partner in a manner that avoids conflagration of our national interests against those of our strategic partners across the world.
