Analysis of the State of the Nation Address February 2015

INTRODUCTION This presentation will begin with a brief overview of what the State of the Nation Address (SONA) entails and its value for the Republic of South Africa. Remaining sections will provide an International Relations perspective on the 2014 and 2015 SONA’s as well as reflect on how the Committee is affected.

INTRDUCTION At the annual opening of Parliament, the State of the Nation Address (SONA) is an address to the nation by the President of the Republic of South Africa. The President addresses a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament, the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)

INTRODUCTION It focuses on the current political and socio-economic state of the nation. The State of the Nation Address also allows the President of the Republic of South Africa to describe the government’s foreign policy imperatives

SONA FEBRUARY 2014 In the 2014 SONA held in February 2014, President Zuma focused on highlighting the historical narrative which shaped the country’s foreign policy, the prominence of Africa in South Africa’s foreign policy and discussing some of South Africa’s successes particularly in terms of climate change negotiations

SONA JUNE 2014 In the SONA that took place 17 June 2014, President Zuma focused on domestic priorities and emphasized that South Africa would build on the issues highlighted in the National Development Plan and the Presidency Twenty Year Review President Zuma only touched briefly on areas of International Relations policy, by noting that Africa would remain a priority of South Africa's engagement in International Relations.

SONA 2015 The 2015 SONA reflected on key aspects of International Relations that will require some attention from the Committee in terms of how it assess the Departments implementation of South Africa’s foreign policy

THE AFRICAN AGENDA President Zuma stated that from this year, schools must also practise the African Union anthem, in preparation for the celebration of Africa month in May President Zuma emphasized that to contribute to building a better Africa, South Africa continued to support peace and security and regional economic integration in the continent

ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY President Zuma noted that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shows that South Africa doubled its Foreign Direct Investment inflows to 88 billion rand in 2013 while 2014 projections are also positive President Zuma raised concern that South Africa’s ambition of achieving a growth target of 5 per cent by 2019 is at risk, because of the slow global growth as well as domestic constraints in energy, skills, transport and logistics amongst others

ENERGY SECURITY President Zuma reflected on the long term energy master plan within which South Africa will pursue gas, petroleum, nuclear, hydropower and other sources as part of the energy mix South Africa has signed Inter- Governmental Agreements and carried out vendor Parade workshops in which five countries came to present their proposals on nuclear energy. These included the United States of America, South Korea, Russia, France and China

SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION President Zuma noted that economic cooperation with South Africa’s BRICS partners was strengthened when the first two intergovernmental agreements were concluded on the occasion of the sixth BRICS Summit This was the Agreement on the New Development Bank and the Treaty Establishing a Contingent Reserve Arrangement

NORTH-SOUTH DIALOGUE President Zuma noted that countries of the developed North would remain important strategic partners for South Africa President Zuma emphasized that South Africa has a valuable partnership with the European Union in amongst others, the infrastructure Investment Programme for South Africa valued at approximately R1.5 billion The renewal of AGOA and a commitment to support African peace initiatives also important

INSTITUATIONS OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE President Zuma stated that at a multilateral level, 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations which brings into sharp focus the need to transform the UN Security Council and other international institutions

BILATERAL RELATIONS President Zuma made mention of efforts to have national liberation heroes, Moses Kotane and JB Marks reburied in South Africa. In this regard, President Zuma thanked the government and people of the Russian Federation for looking after the remains of those liberation heroes with dignity for so many decades

CONCLUDING REMARKS Will the Department play a role in popularizing the AU Anthem in preparation for Africa month in May? What is the progress in renewing AGOA and outcomes from the US-Africa Leadership Summit? Will the Department be working with the DOE regarding the Energy Build Programme mentioned by President Zuma? Will the Department brief the Committee on the agreements emanating from the 6th BRICS Summit

Thank You