ISS Seminar, Cape Town: South Africa in Africa, The Roadmap for 2012

Date: 2012-02-07

Venue: , ISS Cape Town Offices , 2nd Floor, The Armoury , Buchanan Square , 160 Sir Lowry Road , Woodstock , Cape Town , (Secure parking will be available)

RSVP:
Ms Bongeka Mdaniso
Tel: +27 21 461 7211

On the occasion of the Opening of Parliament and President Jacob Zuma`s 2012 State of the Nation Address the ISS Cape Town office invites you to a public seminar with a focus on South Africa’s relationship with the African continent.  How is this informed by and how does it impact on the country’s domestic affairs?

The State of the Nation Address is an important occasion for the President to outline the focus of South African domestic and foreign policy in 2012. This comes in the wake of apparent attempts to reposition – and possibly reprioritise - its relations with the continent given the recent nomination of a South African to chair the AU commission and the countries positioning as the gateway to Africa within the BRICS group of countries. South Africa also played an important role in the debate around the conflict in the Ivory Coast and Libya in 2011 and continues to do so in Sudan and Madagascar.

Key issues to be discussed include: What informs the countries foreign policy in Africa and who is guiding this strategy within government? What view do African governments (such as Nigeria and Kenya), business and civil society have of South Africa’s renewed engagement with the continent? To what the extent is South Africa’s foreign policy informed by domestic constitutional human rights imperatives? What role do domestic business and political ambition play in shaping such policy?

The seminar will be followed by a reception.

Speakers:

Chairperson:

Please note that discussions occur under ISS Rules.

Participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed without his/her express permission.