Breakdown of protocol? Dirco says South Africa, not an individual minister would take credit for Ukraine visa deal
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has given its sentiment on the Ukraine visa agreement debacle which has been a major talking point after Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber announced the deal on his social media account.
The deal outlines an agreement for visa-free access between South Africa and Ukraine for holders of diplomatic, official, and service passports.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola, told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that protocol dictates that such announcements would be made by officials after the President has signed any deal on behalf of the nation.
“I think we are dealing with a bit of breakdown in a bit of protocol because ordinarily an agreement gets announced once the president has signed a presidential minute, then it is official that we now have an agreement,” Phiri told the broadcaster.
“But in the background you can imagine, building up to getting that presidential minute there will be a lot of going to and from between the specialist department, Dirco and the counterparts in another country to ensure that we agree on the text, and everything is in order.”
Phiri said once all of those boxes are ticked, everything is then presented to the president for approval and his signature.
“Then we can officially say South Africa has entered into an agreement with country X on a particular issue, and in this case, it is the diplomatic visa waiver agreement. Normally, what happens is, we would announce it as ‘South Africa has’ – it would not be an individual minister taking credit for a particular development on the government process,” said Phiri.
The Dirco spokesperson agreed with the stance taken by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya who called out Schreiber for the announcement on X.
Schreiber wrote on Sunday evening: “I am honoured to announce that, in my capacity as Minister of Home Affairs representing the Republic of South Africa, I have signed an historic agreement granting visa free access to our country for Ukrainian holders of diplomatic, official and service passports - and vice versa.”
He added: “We continue to see Ukraine as a valued ally, as a valued friend, who supported us right from the beginning, from the days of our struggle against apartheid, right through to now.
“I look forward to President (Cyril) Ramaphosa adding his signature to this agreement in the coming week, so that we can conclude this important step forward for relations between our two peace-loving nations,” Schreiber posted, adding the flags of South Africa and Ukraine on his post.
The minister’s post has attracted thousands of comments, with many questioning the move – just days after Ramaphosa was in Russia for the 16th BRICS Summit hosted by President Vladimir Putin.
Apart from attending the Russia-held summit, Ramaphosa also held a closed-door bilateral meeting with Putin.
South Africa and Russia have deep historical ties dating back to the fight against apartheid rule in South Africa.
As the flurry of comments swelled on Schreiber’s post, one of the reactions was from Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Magwenya who questioned the minister’s actions.
“The president (Ramaphosa) is yet to sign the minute authorising the minister to sign the agreement with Ukraine. It is unclear how the minister can announce signature of an international agreement without prior formal authorisation to do so,” said Magwenya in response to Schreiber.
On the other hand, on Sunday night the Democratic Alliance welcomed Screiber’s move.
“The DA welcomes an announcement by Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, that the Republic of South Africa intends to grant visa-free access to our country for Ukrainian holders of diplomatic, official, and service passports.
“This development is a poignant show of solidarity by South Africa with the people of Ukraine, an Eastern European country which served as a haven for many anti-apartheid activists during the struggle, and where many exiled South Africans advanced the fight against a racially oppressive regime from abroad with the aid of Ukrainian resources and support,” said Member of Parliament Ryan Smith, who is also the party’s deputy spokesperson for international relations and cooperation.
He added that the DA also welcomes this announcement as “a crucial move” to advance South African diplomacy and positions South Africa as a diplomatic authority in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
IOL