Written evidence submitted by Professor
David Simon, Centre for Developing Areas of Research, Royal Holloway,
University of London
NEW INQUIRY INTO SOUTH AFRICA: ISSUES RECOMMENDED
FOR INCLUSION
1. Thank you for the personal invitation
to submit this memorandum. Clearly the range of issues that could
potentially be examined is vast, but I believe that the six broad
but closely interrelated themes identified in the Announcement
of the Inquiry cover the principal ground well. I will group my
suggestions for issues to address using the relevant of these
headings.
THE UK'S
DIPLOMATIC AND
POLITICAL RELATIONS
WITH SOUTH
AFRICA
Bilaterally
2. How effectively has the FCO's engagement
with post-apartheid SA reflected the changing circumstances in
SA and the region, in the sense of seeking genuine partnership
and recognising South Africa's leadership role in southern, and
indeed, the rest of Africa? Here it would be important to ascertain
perceptions in South Africa as well as in the UK.
3. The impact of current British recruitment
campaigns for skilled health and education workers, in particular.
The key issue requiring attention here is the known (and on occasion
recently even admitted) `brain drain' effect of such recruitment
in sectors where South Africa itself has serious shortages of
skills as it attempts post-apartheid transformation by providing
more equitable access to appropriate levels and qualities of social
services and human capacity development. Are such campaigns therefore
ethical and/or appropriate at a time when the UK is also—and
quite correctly—funding various initiatives in health and
education in SA, especially at the level of tertiary skills?
4. UK asylum policy in respect of South
Africans: South Africa's recent addition to the so-called `White
List' of countries from where asylum seekers will be presumed
to have unfounded cases already appears to be making it yet more
difficult for people with very plausible fears of persecution
to have their claims assessed fairly. Even before this recent
development, South Africans claiming asylum were being treated
with great scepticism. I have personal experience of this through
the provision of expert evidence for asylum appeals. Although
asylum policy falls under the Home Office, there are clear ramifications
for perceptions of the UK abroad and hence for important aspects
of FCO work. Accordingly, is there adequate liaison and `joined
up thinking' between the two departments?
Multilaterally
5. Is the UK being sufficiently proactive
and successful in ensuring a fair and equitable dispensation for
South and southern African trade with the UK and the EU as a whole?
Many South African perceptions of the Free Trade Agreement and
the process of its negotiation are very critical and are far from
any sense of equitable partnership.
South Africa's role within the Southern African
region
6. How effective has communication and collaborative
effort between the ECO and SA been with respect to addressing
the Zimbabwe crisis? The rather different approaches adopted by
successive ministers of state appear to have made little difference
in terms of headway, either with the South African or Zimbabwean
governments. At the same time, the SA government's softly-softly
approach has also had little success. Can a way be found to promote
joint and productive efforts that escape charges of non-African
(even neocolonial) interference and also provide evidence for
North-South partnership?
South Africa's role within international bodies
7. Akin to the question in para 5 above,
is the UK maximising its efforts within the EU, but also bilaterally,
to ensure equitable outcomes to regional and global negotiations
on trade and development issues, such as the Doha Round of WTO
negotiations? There was little evidence of British dissent from
the hardline approach of the EU at Cancun, for instance. At the
heart of these issues are the twin questions as to what substance
there is to the government's claimed "ethical foreign policy",
and whether there is adequate "joined-up" thinking and
action between the ECO and DEID to ensure effective coordination
and mutually reinforcing activities?
8. What is the British government's perception
of the African Union in comparison to its predecessor, the OAU?
How well placed does the UK perceive South Africa, especially
President Mibeki, to be to promote an effective agenda within
it?
The impact of NEPAD
9. Has the UK government's open enthusiasm
for NEPAD been translated into appropriate support beyond rhetoric
and a "wait and see" attitude? Certainly, the outcome
of the Evian Summit was most disappointing in this regard.
10. Is the UK government sufficiently attuned
to differences of opinion within Africa to the NEPAD as the most
appropriate instrument for promoting development and, in that
light, what steps are being taken to maintain support for SADC
initiatives and bilateral programmes? Is support for South Africa's
leadership role being balanced sufficiently by efforts to ensure
that all member states benefit from its programmes, not just SA
and the other continental powers (see Attachment 2—from
International Affairs 2001). Again, both the FCO and DfID have
roles here.
The Effectiveness of the FCO in South Africa
11. Is sufficient being done through the
Chevening Scholarships and related schemes to provide the essential
longer-term support for the education of a highly skilled leadership
corps? These play very valuable roles and should not be subject
to short-term changes in priorities or political dynamics. Similarly,
if the current suspension of the British Council's Higher Education
Institutional links scheme, pending a review of its global operation,
were to be extended or the scheme dropped, it would impede generally
positive interuniversity and other tertiary institutional collaboration.
12. I confirm that I would be happy to provide
further details, or to answer questions, regarding these or related
issues during the forthcoming oral hearings.
Professor David Simon
September 2003
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