7 April 2000
THE 10TH CONGRESS ON CRIME TO BE HELD IN VIENNA FROM 10 TO 17 APRIL 2000
Minister Penuell Maduna will lead a South African Government delegation to Vienna to the 10th Congress on Crime on Monday 10 April. The delegation will include Ministers Steve Tshwete and Ben Skhosana as well as Justice Pius Langa and National Directorate of Prosecutions Director Bulelane Ngcuka.
At this Congress, SA will, through Minister Penuel Maduna, assume the Presidency of the 10th Congress on Crime. In this regard, SA will play a very central role in an area of utmost importance to the Government as indicated by the reclustering of the work of Cabinet by President Mbeki.
South Africa’s role in the Congress offers the Department of Foreign Affairs an opportunity to do three things. Firstly, this indicates the centrality of the Department of Foreign Affairs mobilisation of resources and the harnessing of international expertise to beef-up our own policing capacity.
Ninety percent of funding and other recourses that flow to SA to assist South Africa in combating crime, is mobilised by the Department of Foreign Affairs mainly through the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as well as bilateral relations. South Africa is now the largest recipient of UN assistance on crime matters.
Secondly, South Africa’s Presidency of the Congress offers the country an opportunity to show the seriousness and commitment of the Government to combating crime, not only just by focusing on the domestic front, but also ensuring that the international climate and norms provide a climate conducive to success for our Government.
SA’s leadership role in the drafting of the Convention on Transnational Crime and its protocols has received a lot of praise from most Member States within the UN system. The challenge for South Africa is to sustain this leadership.
Thirdly, through the Congress SA hopes to relay back to the country and its people how in spite of the difficulties the Government is faced with, the international community looks upon what has been achieved by our Government in combating crime, not only as creative, but also highly impressive.
Particularly awesome to the international community is how our Government has, in its five and a half years in existence put in place a firm foundation for a crime prevention and criminal justice system where there was virtually none before.
It has not escaped the collective mind of the international community just how heavily focused on political repression rather than crime prevention our previous safety and security sector was. Comparing us to some major states in Eastern Europe that began their transformation at the same time as we began ours, what the international community is struck by in SA is the establishment and consolidation of systems which in some Eastern European countries are virtually collapsing.
The Congress itself will focus on the challenges facing the international community in this century and millennium and as charged by the General Assembly conclude a political declaration of recommendations to be submitted to the Millennium Assembly to be held by the General Assembly later this year. Its recommendations and conclusions will be forwarded to the General Assembly through ECOSOC.
A central part of the Congress will be the high-level segment to be attended by Heads of Government, Ministerand Attorneys-General. The high-level segment will serve as a platform for Member States to commit themselves to the fight against crime, particularly transnational organised crime, in furtherance of human security.
The key individual areas that will be central in the deliberations of the Congress itself are:
There will also be workshops on the following:
a)Combating corruption.b)Addressing crimes related to computer network.
c)Community involvement in crime prevention.
d)Women in the criminal justice system.
All of the above entails a mammoth task for Minister Maduna and South Africa in ensuring that this being the first of UN Congresses to be held this century addressing and important area, which not only has a bearing on human security, but also on political stability and sustainable development is resoundingly successful.
In pursuit of this Minister Maduna will have to devote his energy towards ensuring that agreement is reached by Member States on the best possible approach to crime this century and above all on commitments from developed countries to assist developing countries and cooperation amongst Member States.
For more information contact Ronnie Mamoepa at 082-990-4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
PRIVATE BAG X152
Pretoria
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