The long-established KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board, famous for its expertise in countering shark attacks and its general shark research, signed an agreement in Pretoria on Thursday with the Association for the Shark Risk Resources and Support Centre of Reunion (ACRAR) to help Reunion deal with its shark problem.

The BBC reported in June 2017 that there had been 20 shark attacks over the previous 5 years, nine of which were fatal. Reunion initially banned all swimming and surfing but then allowed it on two beaches where it had installed shark nets.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by South Africa’s International Relations and Co-operation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and her French counterpart Jean-Yves le Drian, who was on his first visit to South Africa.

The two ministers also co-chaired a political dialogue forum between the two countries which took place for the first time at ministerial level.

The French embassy in Pretoria said both shark bodies had agreed to work together to reduce the shark threat in Reunion, which is a French territory.

“This agreement is deeply meaningful in the context of many shark attacks in La Reunion and the well-recognized South African expertise in that field,” the French embassy said.

It added that the protocol covered many fields of co-operation, including an increased scientific partnership to gain new knowledge about sharks in general as well as specific species and also about shark control techniques. The co-operation will include testing of innovative projects for protecting people against the risk of shark attacks and the development of surveillance and alert facilities.

The ministers or their officials also signed agreements in the fields of basic education, higher education, space co-operation, and co-operation in biodiversity, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding providing a line of credit of R1.1-billion and technical co-operation from the French Development Agency (AFD) to South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

The basic education agreement will boost vocational education, school management and leadership, teacher training, expertise on curriculum development, nutrition education and French language teaching in South African schools.

The higher education agreement signed by the two ministers is for both countries to co-fund scholarships for South African students to study for Masters and doctorate degrees in France. The agreement notes that France will continue to provide scholarships to South African students in France until this new co-funded programme has been established.

The agreement notes that one of the aims of the agreement is to boost jobs in South Africa.

On space co-operation, Valanathan Munsami, CEO of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), and Jean-Pascal le Franc, director of programming for France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), signed a framework agreement which will facilitate the exchange of experts and researchers and the development of joint projects in the areas of space operations, space sciences, earth observation, telecommunications satellites, space applications, space research and technology, and coordination of international regulatory issues.

The R1.1-billion MoU between AFD and the IDC will include a R14-million grant and the rest in a credit line to support IDC’s goal of increasing its financing of South African enterprises by 20% a year. The French financing is aimed mainly at promoting gender equality in the workplace and the empowerment of women entrepreneurs.

Le Drian is also meeting some of the almost 400 French companies based in SA, employing more than 37,000 people directly. These will include the Saint-Gobain enterprise in Germiston, which is empowering South African workers in the field of energy-saving technologies, providing jobs, training and skills transfers.

In Cape Town, Le Drian will visit the NGO Waves for Change in Khayelitsha and announce a grant of R1.58-million from the AFD. He will also visit the start-up, Jumo, which provides access to credit and savings in real time via a mobile phone and in which Proparco, AFD’s subsidiary dedicated to private sector financing, has invested $3-million.

Minister Le Drian will also visit Zeitz MOCAA art museum to celebrate contemporary African art and to present the Season Africa 2020 in France.

Le Drian was asked at a press conference in Pretoria whether the air strike by French warplanes against rebel forces in Chad earlier in February was not a violation of his government’s stated policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of African countries.

He essentially answered that the attack on the column of rebel trucks entering Chad from Libya was justified both in terms of international law and because Chadian President Idris Déby had asked France for help.

He declined to answer a question from Daily Maverick on whether he still stood by remarks he had made shortly after the December presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that the official results – which declared Felix Tshisekedi the winner – were not consistent with France’s information. DM