International relations minister Ronald Lamola has called for a re-commitment to improve the workings of the forum on bilateral relations between South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Lamola, speaking during a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development of UK, David Lammy, in Cape Town on Tuesday said bilateral relations can be significantly improved.
“The convening of the Forum today must result in a re-commitment to improve the workings of the Forum and chart a way forward to achieve this.
“It is imperative that the different departments, who are responsible for the myriad of issues of cooperation that underpin our bilateral relationship, agree on specific ways and plans of action that will ensure the successful implementation of the various agreements as well as the key outcomes of the State visit and working visit,” Lamola said.
He said that in recent years the Forum had declined.
“When the Forum was first established in the 1990s, it met annually at the level of head of government, so our Deputy President met with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which was necessary at the time.
“The Forum then evolved to annual meetings at the level of Foreign Minister who were supported by numerous other Ministers and Deputy Ministers and the meetings were in-depth and lasted for two days to allow for substantive engagement and discussions.”
Lamola said that since 2014 there were fewer meetings.
“South Africa’s hope is that we can decide today that we will “reset” the Forum and restore it to in-depth discussions on a wide range of issues so that the Forum will set the tone of our bilateral engagement at all levels.
“From our perspective, the Forum must be utilised to not only discuss the current status of issues, but also identify new areas of cooperation, discuss challenges, drive engagement, and give a mandate to its working groups.”
He said South Africa had proposed that the Forum and its working groups be reviewed and that it discuss and agree on a memorandum of understanding which will underpin the Bilateral Forum.