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The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation today received briefings from South African missions in the Middle East on the impact of structured bilateral mechanisms (SBMs) in the area.
 
The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Ronald Lamola, informed the committee that an investigation is under way into the 17 South Africans stranded in Russia. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the South African Police Services are engaging with international law enforcement agencies and will report to the committee on the investigation in due course.
 
The committee has adopted a regional approach through physical and virtual meetings to deepen and accelerate its oversight, as there are 114 missions around the world and it is not possible to physically visit all of them in a term, said the committee Chairperson, Mr Supra Mahumapelo. The committee received briefings from the deputy Director-General of the Middle East and ambassadors from the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.
 
On the impact of structured bilateral mechanisms in the Middle East, the committee heard that there are no mechanisms chaired by the President and Deputy President in the Middle East region. SBMs with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are chaired at the level of the DIRCO minister.
 
After receiving the presentations, the committee resolved that due to time constraints, the committee will resume with the deliberations on what was presented at the committee’s next meeting.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Supra Mahumapelo