Ireland and Irish people have been supporting South Africa for many years. Ireland provided assistance to anti-apartheid groups in South Africa and Irish missionaries have worked in South Africa for over one hundred years. With the transition to a democratic, non-racial Government in early 1994, Ireland, along with other donors, significantly increased its level of support to South Africa and the Irish Aid bilateral programme was established.

While South Africa is a middle income country and parts of society enjoy socio-economic conditions equivalent to those in the developed world, in other parts there is extreme deprivation and exclusion, leading to poverty comparable with that of least-developed countries. Almost 50% of the non-white population is reported to live below the national poverty line.

The Irish Aid programme seeks to address the needs of previously disadvantaged and marginalised communities. In 2007 Irish Aid finalised a 5 year programme to provide bilateral assistance of over €65 million to South Africa from 2008 to 2012. The goal of this programme is to contribute to the reduction of poverty and inequality through support for government and civil society. The programme will focus on the areas of HIV and AIDS; pro-poor service delivery in Limpopo Province; and supporting the response to Gender Based Violence.

In 2008 over €12 million will be expended on these programmes.

In addition to the bilateral aid programme Irish Aid provides development support to South Africa through Irish Non-Governmental Organisations and through support for the work of Irish missionaries. Irish Aid also operates a Regional HIV and AIDS Programme for Southern and Eastern Africa based in Pretoria, South Africa. The regional programme enables Irish Aid to complement responses at national level in South Africa and elsewhere in the region which already benefit from Irish Aid support.

HIV and AIDS

HIV and AIDS continues to be one of the greatest threats to South Africa’s development. The country is currently experiencing one of the worst HIV epidemics in the world with an estimated 5.5 million South Africans, or over 11% of the total population, infected with HIV.

Irish Aid is working with the Government of South Africa, the UN and Non-Governmental Organisations to contribute to the reduction of HIV and AIDS and the mitigation of its impact with a particular focus on women and children. In 2008 Irish Aid will spend €1.6 million on HIV and AIDS in South Africa.

Service Delivery in Limpopo Province

Ireland has been engaged in Limpopo Province since 1998. Limpopo Province is one of the poorest of South Africa’s nine Provinces. It has the highest proportion of people in South Africa living on less than US$1 a day. The province also has the highest level of unemployment in the country.

In 2008 Irish Aid will spend €8.38 million improving pro-poor service delivery in Limpopo Province with a particular focus on Water and Sanitation, Education and Governance. Working in these three sectors Irish Aid will seek to improve the provincial government’s ability to manage service delivery; improve the quality and spread of social services; improve government accountability in the delivery of services and improve the ability of civil society to engage and coordinate with government.

Gender Based Violence

The level of violent crime in South Africa is amongst the highest in the world. Crime statistics released by the South Africa Police Service in 2006 showed 55,000 rape cases being reported in a single year.

Ireland will support implementation of the National Action Plan on Gender Based Violence (GBV) through building the capacity of government and civil society at national level to respond to GBV. At a provincial level in Limpopo, Irish Aid will work with the Limpopo Provincial Government and Non-Governmental Organisations to support their response to GBV. In 2008 Irish Aid will allocate €1.8 million to support the prevention of GBV and the mitigation of its impact in South Africa.