afrol News, 12 May - Foreign Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zum on Sunday said it was not necessary for the South African government to seek permission from the new ANC leadership before entering into international agreements.

Mrs Dlamini-Zuma - who made the comments after a ministerial meeting involving South Africa, Brazil and India (IBSA) in Cape Town - said there was no need to seek permission because the government was pursuing the same policies agreed to by the governing party's last December policy conference in Polokwane.

"There is no need since there is no diversion from what was agreed on at the ANC policy conference and what government is doing," she told a media briefing.

IBSA, a forum that allows the three governments to maintain close trade, political and economic ties. And according to Foreign Affairs Minister, IBSA would continue to operate as usual.

She said the just-ended IBSA meeting had among other things focused on multilateral issues, including global governance, Millennium Development Goals and regional political issues of importance.

In response to a question about whether the party had raised eyebrows over the way the government has been handling the Zimbabwean government, especially its adopted "quiet diplomacy," Dlamini-Zuma said there was no contradiction between the two centers of powers.

On few occasions, the ANC leader Jacob Zuma had criticised the Zimbabwean government's affairs, especially on democracy and political freedom, which many people said was not in tandem with President Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy."

But Mrs Dlamini-Zuma said, "quiet diplomacy does not mean if you see something wrong you should keep quiet."

Most political observers fear that a split within the ANC, Africa's oldest party, will pose a great challenge for a country that had long reeled with racial discrimination, xenophobia and other social problems.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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