SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVELS TO SOUTH AFRICA, 1-4 SEPTEMBER

Press Release
SG/T/2150

SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVELS TO SOUTH AFRICA, 1-4 SEPTEMBER

The Secretary-General ended his vacation in West Africa on Monday, 31 August, when he left Ghana in the morning and travelled to neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire. He met there with the country's President, Henri Konan Bedie, for about two hours, discussing primarily African issues. He also discussed those matters with the country's Foreign Minister, Amara Essy. The Secretary- General then met with representatives of United Nations agencies and with other United Nations staff in Côte d'Ivoire. He departed for Johannesburg on board a Côte d'Ivoire government aircraft, in the company of Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, arriving there that evening.

On Tuesday, 1 September -- the first day of his official visit to South Africa -- the Secretary-General met with eminent South African personalities from government and civil society, including: the Speaker of the National Assembly, Frene Ginwala; Justice Richard Goldstone, of the Constitutional Court; the Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane; and the Nobel laureate and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador, Nadine Gordimer. They discussed issues of governance and poverty eradication in South Africa.

That afternoon, he received an honorary doctorate of law at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. In conferring the degree, the Chancellor of the University, Justice Goldstone, said that it was fitting during the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that Secretary-General Kofi Annan be honoured for he had "played a central role in the protection of human rights during his illustrious career". (For the text of the Secretary-General's speech delivered on that occasion, see Press Release SG/SM/6686.)

That afternoon Mr. Annan flew to Durban where he attended the twelfth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Among those accompanying him on the visit were his Special Envoy in Africa, Mohamed Sahnoun; Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahima Fall; and his Special Representative for Angola, Issa Diallo. Upon his arrival in Durban, he met with South African President Nelson Mandela. He then met with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Salim Ahmed Salim. They discussed issues before the Non-Aligned Movement summit, in particular, the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On Wednesday, 2 September, the Secretary-General addressed the opening session of the twelfth Non-Aligned Movement summit and called on Africans to resolve their problems through political, not military, means. (For the text of his speech, see Press Release SG/SM/6688.)

On the margins of the summit, the Secretary-General together with OAU Secretary-General Salim, convened a series of meetings with African leaders on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He met jointly with President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. For the purpose of that meeting, President Mugabe had been designated by the heads of State of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola to speak on their behalf. Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General held talks with the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa; the President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique; and the Vice-President of Zambia, Christon Tembo. The Secretary-General met separately with President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

During the course of the day, the Secretary-General met President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, and with Princeton Lyman, United States Assistant Secretary of State for international organization affairs. He also held informal meetings at the International Conference Centre with the President of Colombia, Andrés Pastrana Arango; the head of State of Nigeria, Abdulsalam Abubakar; the Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee; the Foreign Minister of Egypt, Amre Moussa; and with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Yannos Kranidiotis.

That evening, the Secretary-General attended a dinner hosted by President Mandela and the First Lady of South Africa, Graça Machel, in honour of the heads of State or government and heads of delegations attending the Non-Aligned summit.

On Thursday -- the third day of his trip to South Africa -- the Secretary-General held consultations at the twelfth Non-Aligned summit. At the request of Mr. Annan, President Mandela hosted a working breakfast at 7:30 a.m. for heads of State of the South African Development Community (SADC), with the participation of the OAU Secretary-General. Their discussions focussed on efforts to work out a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The working breakfast was also attended by the Presidents of Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe; the President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos; the President of Botswana, Festus Mogae; and the President of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi. Also in attendance were King Mswati III of Swaziland; Prime Minister Navinchandra Rangoolam of Mauritius; Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili of Lesotho; the Vice-President of the Seychelles, James Alix Michel; the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean- Charles Okoto; Foreign Minister Alfred Baphethuxolo Nzo of South Africa; and the High Commissioner of Namibia to South Africa, Shapua Kaukungua.

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Addressing a joint press conference with President Mandela and Secretary-General Salim after the working breakfast, Mr. Annan said he was very encouraged with the spirit and content of the discussions and urged all parties to work to resolve the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo peacefully.

The Secretary-General then held meetings with the Angolan President; Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz of Pakistan; President Liamine Zeroual of Algeria; and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea.

He then hosted a working lunch with the President of Uganda, Kaguta Museveni, and the President of Rwanda, Pasteur Bizimungu. The lunch was also attended by OAU Secretary-General Salim.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General continued his consultations on the margins of the Non-Aligned summit, meeting with Glafcos Clerides, leader of the Greek Cypriot community; President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat; Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan of Iraq; and the Prime Minister of Morocco, Abderrahman El-Youssoufi. He also met with the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, Seyoum Mesfin; Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas; and Foreign Minister of Libya, Omar Muntassar.

On the last day of his visit to South Africa, Friday, 4 September, the Secretary-General met the Deputy President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki. The two men reviewed the outcome and follow-up of the Non-Aligned summit which had ended late the day before. They also discussed the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other crisis spots in Africa, as well as cooperation between the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, under South African leadership.

That day, Mr. Annan also met Mr. Salim of OAU. They reviewed the ongoing talks on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the steps ahead; the United Nations operation in Angola; the Eritrea-Ethiopia border conflict, which the OAU was attempting to mediate; cooperation between the United Nations and the OAU; and the forthcoming session of the General Assembly. Earlier, the Secretary-General held talks with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi. They reviewed the situation in Afghanistan and the results of the Non-Aligned summit.

Mr. Annan also held talks with the Foreign Minister of Myanmar, Ohn Gyaw. The Secretary-General pressed the Foreign Minister on the need for democratic liberalization in the country, and for a sustained and effective dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Secretary-General left Durban for New York in the afternoon of Friday, 4 September.

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