SA-China People's Friendship Association (SACPFA) is the only people's association for friendship with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. SACPFA was founded in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa on March 21, 2013. Also, its branches cover

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in South Africa,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in China. Its aims are to improve mutual understanding and trust, promote exchange and cooperation between the people of South Africa and China, maintain world peace and promote common development. SACPFA is committed to carrying out all-round, multi-level, wild-ranging friendly exchange between the people of both countries, and enhancing economic cooperation and cultural exchange.

Main objectives

* Developing non-governmental friendship with friendly social organizations and people from all walks of life by organizing exchange of visits of delegations, commemorative activities, and joint activities such as seminars, talks, forums to enhance mutual understanding and trust for friendship between both countries. * Promoting international cooperation by establishing a cooperation platform to further multi-area cooperation in areas such as the economy, trade, society, science and technology, talents, among others. * Launching cultural exchange between South Africa and China. * Promoting local governmental communication and coordination, establishing and developing friendship-city and friendship-community relations between South Africa and China. * Organising social welfare activities to advance the friendship between South Africa and China. * Organising other bilateral non-governmental cooperation between the people of South Africa and those of China.

Structure

Members' Representative Assembly

The highest organ of authority of the Association is its Members' Representative Assembly, which has a term of five years.

Committee

The committee is the executive organ of the Members’ Representative Assembly, which carries out the daily work of the Association and will account to the Members' Representative Assembly. The term of each Committee is five years and at least one committee session shall be convened every year.

Honorary Committee Members

The Committee may invite prominent figures to be the Honorary Committee Members.

= Honorary President

Nomvula Mokonyane Nomvula Paula Mokonyane (born 28 June 1963) is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the first female Premier of Gauteng from 2009 to 2014 and subsequently ...

Minister of Water and sanitation in the

cabinet of South Africa The Cabinet of South Africa is the most senior level of the executive branch of the Government of South Africa. It is made up of the president, the deputy president, and the ministers. Overview The cabinet of South Africa consists of the Presi ...

, former Premier of Gauteng

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, and in the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) National Working Committee Elias Sekgobelo Magashule
Premier of Free State

, Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in the Free State, and in the ANC National Working Committee

= Honorary Chairman

Marius Fransman Marius Llewellyn Fransman (born 15 August 1969) is a South African politician and teacher. He served as Western Cape Provincial Parliament, Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2014 to 2016, and as African Natio ...

Deputy Minister of the DIRCO Jerry Matthews Matjila
Director General of the DIRCO Anil Sooklal
Deputy Director-General of Asia and Middle East of the DIRCO

= Honorary Advisor

Liu Guijin Liu Guijin (born August 1945) is a retired Chinese diplomat who served as Chinese ambassador to South Africa between 2001 and 2007, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe between 1995 and 1998, and as China's first Special Representative on African Aff ...

China's former ambassador in South Africa and the first Special Representative of the Chinese government in Africa.

Executive committee

The executive committee consists of the President, the Executive President, the Directors of each department and the Secretary-General. They preside over the daily work of the Association.

The 1st Executive Committee of SACPFA

President:

Manne Dipico Manne Emsley Dipico, first Premier of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, was born in Kimberley on 21 April 1959. He was appointed Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) in 2006. He is Chairman of Ponahalo Holdings ...

Executive President: Tom Cao
Secretary General: Eddy Maloka"Eddy Maloka"
''Who's Who SA''. Retrieved 2013-7-26.
Director of Organization Department: Zhang Zhengdi
Director of Culture Department:

Keorapetse Kgositsile Keorapetse William Kgositsile (19 September 1938 – 3 January 2018), also known by his pen name Bra Willie, was a South African Tswana people, Tswana poet, journalist and political activist. An influential member of the African National Congr ...

Director of Social Relations Department: Mark Wang
Director of Corporate Department: Bian Dequan
Legal Advisor: Ajay Sooklal
President of Cape Town Branch: Allie Baderoen

Secretariat

The Secretariat is a department of the executive committee that manages the daily work and executes the resolutions of Association. It consists of the Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General, and other staff. The current Secretary General is Eddy Maloka.

Chronicle

Launch of SACPFA

On March 21, 2013, SACPFA was launched in Johannesburg, which turns a new page in the history of the non-governmental diplomacy between South Africa and China. The launch ceremony was succeeded by the first session of the first Committee along with the association who discussed and examined its guiding policies and plans for the future.
The launch of SACPFA is a part of a serial celebration of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Africa and China as well as the

BRICS BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising ten countriesBrazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The idea of a BRICS-like group can be traced back to Russian foreign ...

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

taking place in late March.

Signing memorandum of understanding with CPAFFC

On March 26, 2013,

, the President of SACPFA, and Li Xiaolin, the President of the Chinese People's Association for friendship with foreign countries ( CPAFFC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the

Union Buildings The Union Buildings () form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjeskop at the northern end of Arcadia, close ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. The signing of this MOU was the first of its kind as it was witnessed by the

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence F ...

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

and the

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

, who is in South Africa on a State visit for the

5th BRICS summit The 2013 BRICS summit was the fifth annual BRICS summit, an international relations conference attended by the head of states or heads of government of the five member states Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The summit was held in ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Launch of the Cape Town Branch

On July 16, 2013, SACPFA Cape Town Branch was launched. The first President of the Cape Town Branch is Allie Baderoen.

NGO exchanges

Since its launch, SACPFA has established good and cooperative relations with friendship associations from both China and South Africa. * On March 26, 2013,

, the President of SACPFA, and Li Xiaolin, the President of the CPAFFC, signed a MOU at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. * On May 15, 2013,

, the President of SACPFA and Eddy Maloka, the Secretary General had a meeting with the

China Association for International Friendly Contact The China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC) is a united front organization subordinate to the Liaison Bureau of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. CAIFC was founded in 1984 and is active in ove ...

(CAIFC) delegation in Johannesburg."Vice-Chairman Lu Yongxiang Heads a Delegation of CAIFC to Africa"
''China Association for International Friendly Contact'', May 24, 2013. Retrieved 2013-7-29.