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The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) to enhance and better coordinate its humanitarian relief efforts in famine-struck Somalia. This recommendation comes from insights given to the Portfolio Committee on International Relations yesterday, where local relief organizations explained to Parliamentarians the difficulty their charitable efforts faced because of Dirco’s uncoordinated approach to the regional tragedy. The message these agencies made clear was that not enough money has been allocated to support humanitarian relief, not enough planning has gone into coordinating an effective response between Dirco and the agencies, and not enough diplomatic energy by South Africa has been used to rouse the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) into providing humanitarian assistance in Somalia. The DA believes that South Africa has an important role to play in African affairs and must do much more to help alleviate the suffering of fellow Africans who rely on us for leadership and support.
Up to now, the government has pledged R8 million in humanitarian relief in Somalia, up from a meager R1 million a few weeks ago. This increase is welcome, but not enough to make the kind of impact required. Considering the commitment we made to the Kingdom of Swaziland in the form of a R2.5 billion loan just to bail it out from its own financial mismanagement, we should give more muscular support to Somalia which faces literal starvation. We are blessed to have capable charity organizations in our country, such as the heroic Gift of the Givers, thus we should give them massive financial, technical and logistical support.
The DA believes that the Minister of International Relations, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, should use her office to increase South Africa’s ability to help Somalia in three ways. First, she should rally our SADC colleagues to make contributions of money, food and other material aid to send north. These could be funneled to the multiple local charity organizations that are already making trips to Somalia from southern Africa. Second, she should echo the DA’s call that the AU establish a humanitarian wing so that it can pool the collective charitable resources of African states into an effective relief response. At present, the AU has a military force in Mogadishu, AMISOM, which is helping prop up the shaky Transitional Federal Government (TFG). This is vital work, but it is not enough to deal with the ravages of the drought and the famine. Lastly, the Minister should coordinate directly with groups such as Gift of the Givers which has on-the-ground experience in Somalia and knows how and where to focus humanitarian resources. By leveraging the talents and experience of charitable organizations that have gone into Somalia, with or without our government’s assistance, she would enhance the effectiveness of the government’s participation in coordinating a useful intervention.
The DA looks forward to the time that South Africa plays a greater role in solving problems on the African continent and helping fellow Africans when they are in need. It is our obligation to do so. We have the leadership, expertise and resources, but just not the political will. Thus the DA calls on the government to start coordinating with local charitable organizations as well as regional and continental political bodies to help bring an end to the famine in Somalia.