Former ANC chief whip Stone Sizani’s pending ambassadorial posting to Germany is clouded in uncertainty as he has still not received his top-security clearance.
The South African government has also not yet asked for diplomatic approval from the German government to have Sizani as ambassador.
While the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) would not be drawn into discussing postings, a well-placed official confirmed that Sizani has still not received security clearance, about seven weeks after he resigned from parliament and was announced as the next ambassador.
The ambassadorial post in Berlin, Europe’s biggest economy and one of South Africa’s biggest trading partners, has been vacant since December when Makhenkesi Stofile retired.
“The vetting process is not complete. In other words, he has not received his security clearance. Now you can read what you want into that,” the official said.
“All foreign ambassadors are accredited. You have to accredit these nominees before they can be called an ambassador. You cannot be announced because it’s possible that the vetting process may throw you out. This is why, when asked about any particular individual, we never confirm such things,” he said.
The official said the idea of announcing anyone as a nominee to a country is poor diplomatic protocol anyway, because it robs both countries of an opportunity to vet the nominee.
Reiner Breul, spokesman for the German embassy in South Africa, said whenever a country decided to nominate someone, they ask for an “agrément” (approval of a diplomatic representative).
This is then considered by the host government, which will study whether a person “maybe in the past has been unfriendly to our country”.
“But so far we have not been asked for the agrément. That’s more of a formal process. It’s very unusual for someone not to get the agrément,” he said.
“Security clearance is by the South African government. That does not involve us.
“Once we have been asked to give agrément there’s an internal process for our government to look at the candidate. I cannot disclose what that involves. But I can tell you it is very rare that agrément is not given.”
Tom Wheeler, former SA Institute for International Affairs research associate and former ambassador to Turkey, said the outgoing ambassador would normally present the name of the newly nominated ambassador to the host government.
“They would go through the processes and make inquiries about the person.”
Dirco spokesman Clayson Monyela would not be drawn into comment.
“In fact, we don’t have a culture of confirming the nomination of any nominee before they complete training, present their credentials and go through a vetting process,” Monyela said.
Sizani declined to comment.
“I don’t speak to the newspapers anymore because I’m not in a position to comment on any of these things,” he said.
Sizani’s new post in Berlin hangs in limbo
The South African government has also not yet asked for diplomatic approval from the German government to have Sizani as ambassador.
While the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) would not be drawn into discussing postings, a well-placed official confirmed that Sizani has still not received security clearance, about seven weeks after he resigned from parliament and was announced as the next ambassador.
The ambassadorial post in Berlin, Europe’s biggest economy and one of South Africa’s biggest trading partners, has been vacant since December when Makhenkesi Stofile retired.
“The vetting process is not complete. In other words, he has not received his security clearance. Now you can read what you want into that,” the official said.
“All foreign ambassadors are accredited. You have to accredit these nominees before they can be called an ambassador. You cannot be announced because it’s possible that the vetting process may throw you out. This is why, when asked about any particular individual, we never confirm such things,” he said.
The official said the idea of announcing anyone as a nominee to a country is poor diplomatic protocol anyway, because it robs both countries of an opportunity to vet the nominee.
Reiner Breul, spokesman for the German embassy in South Africa, said whenever a country decided to nominate someone, they ask for an “agrément” (approval of a diplomatic representative).
This is then considered by the host government, which will study whether a person “maybe in the past has been unfriendly to our country”.
“But so far we have not been asked for the agrément. That’s more of a formal process. It’s very unusual for someone not to get the agrément,” he said.
“Security clearance is by the South African government. That does not involve us.
“Once we have been asked to give agrément there’s an internal process for our government to look at the candidate. I cannot disclose what that involves. But I can tell you it is very rare that agrément is not given.”
Tom Wheeler, former SA Institute for International Affairs research associate and former ambassador to Turkey, said the outgoing ambassador would normally present the name of the newly nominated ambassador to the host government.
“They would go through the processes and make inquiries about the person.”
Dirco spokesman Clayson Monyela would not be drawn into comment.
“In fact, we don’t have a culture of confirming the nomination of any nominee before they complete training, present their credentials and go through a vetting process,” Monyela said.
Sizani declined to comment.
“I don’t speak to the newspapers anymore because I’m not in a position to comment on any of these things,” he said.
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