Political tensions are escalating within South Africa’s economic landscape after the cancellation of a crucial meeting between the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade and officials from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic).
The meeting set for Wednesday was intended for a comprehensive briefing on the sensitive issues surrounding the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and European Union (EU) restrictions on South African citrus imports.
However, the absence of key government officials painted a stark picture of the communication breakdowns that are straining relations between lawmakers and the executive branch.
Sonja Boshoff, chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, expressed her frustration over the no-show of the dtic minister, Parks Tau, who had apologised late for his absence due to a concurrent Cabinet meeting.
While the availability of two deputy ministers from the dtic was noted, Boshoff reiterated that their participation was insufficient as they lacked the political mandate to address the significant implications surrounding AGOA and the ongoing EU citrus import restrictions.
“We have the documents outlining the steps the minister wants us to take but we are not operating in silos anymore. We will not allow anyone to speak on these issues outside of the Government of National Unity,” she said in an interview.
“We could not have discussions with officials who have no political mandate. So we have to insist that Minister Tau become available to discuss these very sensitive issues.”
Boshoff’s comments highlighted the committee’s commitment to ensuring that discussions occur at the requisite political level amidst rising concerns that South Africa’s participation in AGOA may be under threat.
The planned meeting, rescheduled for 18 February, is now set to require compulsory attendance from Tau as the committee looks to confront the mounting pressure surrounding South Africa’s trade status.
With some US lawmakers openly advocating for the country’s removal from AGOA, the sense of urgency surrounding these issues has only heightened.
“The committee has noted with concern that the risk of exclusion has been on the horizon for some time, with some American lawmakers explicitly calling for South Africa’s removal,” Boshoff said.
“Constituencies are deeply worried about the potential impact. As public representatives, we have a duty to ensure that we are regularly and comprehensively briefed on such critical matters.”
According to the dtic spokesperson, Yamkela Fanisi, while the ministry takes its responsibilities seriously and issued an apology for the absence, the commitment to the Cabinet’s directive had to come first.
“As chair of the department for the economic sectors, the minister is expected to attend the committee. The office did issue an apology,” Fanisi said.
“The Ministry takes the work of the Select Committee very seriously and commits to work closely and constructively with the committee and we regret that we could not attend due to Cabinet commitments.”
The meeting was to discuss South Africa’s appeal to the EU from last year's request for the establishment of two dispute panels to review European Union measures affecting the import of South African citrus fruit into the EU.
The request was considered at a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). This is the first time that South Africa has requested the establishment of a panel under the WTO’s dispute settlement system
It was also to discuss mounting concerns over the renewal of the AGOA following the change of political administration to President Donald Trump.
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