PROTOCOL GUIDELINES AND ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS SADC Council of Ministers Date: 24-27 March 2018 Venue: OR Tambo Building Pretoria Province: Gauteng South Africa Page 1
1. INTRODUCTION The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers meeting will be held on 26 and 27 March, 2018 at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), O R Tambo Building in Pretoria, South Africa. The SADC Council of Ministers, will be preceded by the meeting of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials on 22 nd March, and the meeting of the Finance Committee on 23 rd March 2018. The Council of Ministers oversees the functioning and development of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and ensures that policies are properly implemented. The Council consists of Ministers from each Member State, usually from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning, or Finance. It meets twice a year in January or February and immediately prior to the Summit in August or September. The information contained in this document is for the benefit of the countries attending the Standing Committee of Senior Officials and Finance Committee and Council of Ministers scheduled to be held at the OR Tambo Building, Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa, from 22 to 27 March 2018. SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS WEDNESDAY: 21 MARCH ARRIVAL OF THE SENIOR OFFICIALS THURSDAY: 22 MARCH FRIDAY: 23 MARCH SATURDAY: 24 MARCH SUNDAY: 25 MARCH MONDAY: 26 MARCH TUESDAY: 27 MARCH STANDING COMMITTEE OF SENIOR OFFICIALS ADOPTION OF ANNOTATED AGENDA FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING COUNCIL BY THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF SENIOR OFFICIALS ARRIVAL OF, AND BRIEFING TO MINISTERS PREPARATION OF DOCUMENTS COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING PRESS BRIEFING WEDNESDAY: 28 MARCH DEPARTURES
2. LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS The Government of the Republic of South Africa will be responsible for logistical support, security, protocol, ground transport and accreditation for SADC Council of Ministers and preceding Standing Committee of Senior Officials and Finance Committee meeting. 3. CONTACT DETAILS All correspondence should be directed to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Operations Room, contact details are hereby attached (Appendix 1). 4. COURTESIES 4.1 Courtesies per category The Government of the Republic of South Africa will extend the following courtesies to visiting Heads of Delegation: 4.1.1 Heads of Delegation (Minister) Accommodation (1 x Suite) Transport (1 x E Class Mercedes Benz/equivalent ) Access to the Council of Ministers Meeting: (1+15) Accommodation and Transport Courtesies are not transferable to Heads of Mission (Resident/Non-Resident). 5. ACCOMMODATION DETAILS The Government of the Republic of South Africa has secured headquarter hotels in Pretoria for accommodation of Heads of Heads of Delegation. The list of hotels where the visiting dignitaries will be accommodated will be made available to the Embassies/High Commissions. Accommodation courtesies will be extended as follows: 5.1 Heads of Delegation (Minister) One (1) Suite Check in: 25 March 2018 Check out: 28 March 2018 If a Head of Delegation is not a Minister, an Executive Room will be booked The Government of the Republic of South Africa will be responsible for the cost of all meals, non-alcoholic beverages and laundry only (No dry cleaning).
Please note: Extensions of stay will be for the cost of the Guest; If the visiting Heads of Delegation prefer to upgrade the room booked by the South African Government, it will be for their own account. If the visiting Heads of Delegation prefer to book accommodation at a different hotel that is not part of the headquarter hotels provided by the South African Government, it will be for their own account. In this instance, the rooms of the assigned South African Security Team, including health support, will also be for the account of the visiting Heads of Delegation and Ministers. The Embassy/High Commission will be responsible for reservations and bookings of accommodation for additional members of the delegation not indicated above strictly at their own cost. It should be noted that as is an international practice, hotels usually require deposits within 48 hours of making the reservations. In some hotels cancellation fees may also apply for late cancellation of reserved rooms. 6. TRANSPORT DETAILS The South African Government will provide appropriate transport in Gauteng as follows: 6.1 Heads of Delegation 1 x E Class Mercedes Benz or equivalent for the Head of Delegation (Minister) From: 25 to 28 March 2018 If a Head of Delegation is not a Minister, a C Class Mercedes Benz or equivalent will be arranged 1 x E Class Mercedes or equivalent for two Ministers accompanying the Head of Delegation From: 25 to 28 March 2018 1 x Delegation minibus From: 20 to 28 March 2018 (From Senior Officials Meeting)
Please note: Extension of vehicles after the courtesies have ceased will be for the cost of the Guest. The Embassy/High Commission will be responsible for providing additional delegation vehicles, a luggage van for arrival and departure as well as any other transport required. 7. ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE Ministers arriving at OR Tambo International Airport will be facilitated through the State Protocol Lounge. Heads of Resident and Non-Resident Missions with a maximum of two (2) accompanying officials will be given access to the VIP/State Protocol Lounge to receive and bid farewell to their Ministers. It is the responsibility of the Embassy/High Commission to make logistical arrangements for the Ministers arriving and departing from Lanseria International Airport. 8. OVER FLIGHT AND LANDING CLEARANCES The Department of International Relations and Cooperation will facilitate the application process of over flight and landing clearances for State Aircraft of visiting Ministers; and Flight Clearance Application Form (Appendix 2) for a State Aircraft should be submitted under cover of a Note Verbale and e-mailed to the Operations Room at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation not later than 16 March 2018. 9. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS Passports of the guests should be valid for at least 30 days beyond the expected date of departure from South Africa and should have at least two (2) unused pages when presented for endorsements; Yellow Fever vaccination certificates will be required from guests over one (1) year of age who come from Yellow Fever endemic regions or guests who have passed through such regions. The guests are required to be vaccinated at least ten days prior to entering the Republic of South Africa; Guests without proof of vaccination will be refused entry into the Republic of South Africa; Valid visa (if applicable) should be obtained from the nearest South African Embassy/High Commission in each country. No visas will be issued upon arrival in the Republic of South Africa.
10. SECURITY / VIP PROTECTION The South African Government is primarily responsible for the protection of the visiting Ministers; Security at all venues will be the responsibility of the South African Police Service. 11. MEDIA CARNET All delegations travelling with official media (i.e. photography and video services) need to apply for media accreditation and once accepted, will be assigned Official Media cards; The category of Official Media applies only to those officials travelling on official or diplomatic passports and does not include personnel working for private media; and List of Official Media should be submitted by hand, under cover of a Note Verbale and email to the Operations Room not later than 15 March 2018. 12. VENUE OR Tambo Building, Pretoria is the identified venue for the Standing Committee of Senior Officials and Finance Committee and the Council of Ministers meetings. 13. DELEGATION LISTS Embassies/High Commissions should kindly submit the delegation lists under cover of a Note Verbale and email to the Operations Room not later than 15 March 2018; and The delegation lists should be submitted in order of seniority with the names, surnames, passport numbers and designations of each member of the delegation. 14. ACCREDITATION OF DELEGATES The applicable Electronic Accreditation Form (Appendix 6) should be duly completed and forwarded by email to the Operations Room under cover of a Note Verbale not later than 15 March 2018. Passports will be the applicable form of identification for all international Participants (Foreign Delegations, Security and Support Staff); A waiver is in place for Ministers and Heads of Resident Mission. This category will be accredited in absentia by means of a jpeg photograph, copy of passport and duly completed applicable accreditation form; All other accreditation will be done in person on presentation of a passport;
Media accreditation will be done live. Media shall present themselves, produce a passport, valid media card or a letter from the media house as well as a duly completed registration form; Accreditation forms and venue for live accreditation will be communicated to the Embassies/High Commissions Delegates are advised to wear their accreditation pins/cards at all times. Special security arrangements will apply in all venues and access will only be accorded to accredited persons; Access to venues is strictly limited to guests with appropriate accreditation; and It is advisable that all other support staff without accreditation remain at the hotels. 15. PROGRAMME The final programme will be communicated to all the participating countries and invited guests through their Embassies/High Commissions. 16. MEETING FORMAT As per the SADC Secretariat s directive, Council Meetings will be paperless, only the Annotated Agenda will be printed and (6) six copies will be provided to each delegation. All documents will be accessible through any smart devise (personal laptops, smartphones and tablets) by accessing: https://intranet.sadc.int/en/council Username: council Password: Pretoria18 (P should be caps) Each delegation will be provided with five flash disks with all the meeting documents. 17. MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS The Government of the Republic of South Africa will provide emergency medical services to all the Guests attending the SADC Council of Ministers. The emergency facilities will be available at the meeting venue. Ambulance transportation to either state or private healthcare facilities will be for the account of the patient; Hospitalisation at either a state or private healthcare facility will be for the account of the patient;
As with all international travel, it is strongly advised that guests are adequately covered by international health insurance for the duration of their stay in South Africa; and Guests are further advised to bring along their chronic medication. Should prescription medication be required, it will be provided at the guest s cost. 18. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES Tap water in South Africa is safe to drink. 19. GENERAL INFORMATION 19.1 Information Technology The following South African mobile telephone service providers are available: Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom and Virgin Mobile. Mobile telephone service providers also provide gateway to Internet using GPRS, 3G and 4G. Cell phone SIM cards are widely available. However, every SIM card user/buyer in South Africa is expected by law to be registered for activation. The SIM card can be registered at the point of purchase. A letter from your hotel/embassy/high Commission as proof of residence as well as your passport will be required. 19.2 Climate The time of the year in South Africa in which the SADC Council of Ministers Meetings will take place is the warm season and rain maybe be experienced. 19.3 Time The time in South Africa is GMT+2. 19.4 Electricity Supply The power supply in South Africa is 220V AC, 50Hz. Electrical sockets are rounded three pronged. Most hotels provide adaptors on request. 19.5 Business and Shopping Hours Offices and businesses are generally open from 08:30 to 17:00, Monday to Friday. Opening times on Saturdays and Sundays range between 09:00 and 17:00. 19.6 Value Added Tax Value-added tax (VAT) is charged on most goods and services except when purchased in duty-free shops at international airports. The current rate is 14%. On presentation of the goods and tax invoices, VAT may be reclaimed on certain items at international airports on departure.
APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 Email Address sadc1@dirco.gov.za sadc2@dirco.gov.za sadc3@dirco.gov.za sadc4@dirco.gov.za accreditation1@dirco.gov.za accreditation2@dirco.gov.za Telephone Country Number 012 351 1750 Secretariat Angola Botswana Union of Comoros Democratic Republic of Congo 012 351 1751 Lesotho Madagascar Malawi South Africa 012 351 1752 Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Seychelles 012 351 1753 Swaziland Tanzania Zambia Zimbabwe 012 351 1756 Secretariat Angola Botswana Union of Comoros Democratic Republic of Congo Lesotho Madagascar Malawi South Africa 012 351 1758 Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Seychelles Swaziland Tanzania Zambia Zimbabwe