'We supported Ramaphosa': Pandor reflects, calls for support of cabinet

Naledi Pandor on her last day as minister of international relations and co-operation put a spotlight on the department's support for President Cyril Ramaphosa during her tenure. 

Pandor, who has been at the helm of the department for the past five years, said the department did well in supporting Ramaphosa’s objective to attract foreign direct investment.

“Our department played a critical role in ensuring that we support Ramaphosa in his first term to achieve the objective he had set with respect to attracting foreign direct investment. It was our missions that worked hard to identify those business interests that wanted to establish new opportunities in South Africa each year for five years,” she said.

“We also did very well in supporting Ramaphosa as chair of the AU (AU) in the most difficult period. I will never, never forget the hard work of our heads of mission and our transferred officials in ensuring that South Africans were protected and cared for as we confronted the dire circumstance of Covid-19, we came through that strong.”

Pandor also put it out to the finance ministry that the department needed more funding.

“I hope the minister of finance will be persuaded by our arguments that we deserve the resources to ensure that we are able to make new organisational structure real and make it work to enhance the work of Dirco,” she said.

She said though her department did not get a clean audit, she hoped in the new administration things would be different.

“Given the progress we've made [and] with improved financial administration, I hope with the seventh administration, seven being my lucky number, that you will achieve a clean audit.”

Her tenure has been marked by significant diplomatic matters, including South Africa's recent genocide case against Israel.

“All of us as humanity should be ashamed that 35,000 plus people have died and here we are sitting while more are killed. Maybe if we could find a way, we should all go to Palestine and be a wall of protection of civilian people,” the minister said at the global anti-apartheid conference on Palestine in Sandton last month.

“There can never be peace if the Palestinian people are not free. We need to stress that there can be no solution to the situation for as long as the international community continues to ignore Israel's systematic human rights transgressions and settler colonial apartheid project and through it sustains the illegal Israeli colonial settler project at the cost of Palestinian liberation.” 

Pandor emphasised the importance of continuing the excellent work of the UN Human Rights Council. In her parting words, she expressed hope for the future and urged her colleagues to welcome the new minister and deputy ministers.

“Might I ask you to be as professional and as welcoming to the new minister and to the deputy ministers, as you were to me, I know you're an excellent team. I know the appointees are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work with you,” she told department staffers.