Media
Advisory Note
Introduction
|| Accreditation
|| Media
facilities
Accommodation
|| Arrival
|| Passports
and visas
Health
requirements
|| Customs
clearance ||
Prohibited
items
INTRODUCTION
The Thirty-eighth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of
Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity and the
Inaugural Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the
African Union is scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa from 8 –
10 July 2002. The Summit venue will be the International Convention Centre (ICC).
The Session will be preceded by the following events: The Seventy-sixth
Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers from 4 – 6 July 2002; the
Special Session of the Council of Ministers on the African Union from 1 –
2 July 2002 and the Fifteenth Session of the Committee of Ambassadors and
other Plenipotentiaries from 28 – 29 June 2002.
A Media Centre, with facilities for print and electronic
media will be located next to the ICC, with access from Walnut Road.
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ACCREDITATION
Media Accreditation
Form
Access to media facilities will be available only to
accredited media representatives. Accreditation is open to bona fide journalists,
broadcasters, photographers, film and television camera crew and
technicians. Applications for accreditation should be made on the attached
form or on photocopies made from it.
Applications must be accompanied by a letter on a
letterhead from your organisation indicating your function, signed by a
senior executive confirming that the applicant has been assigned to cover
the OAU Summit and supported by a copy of a National Press Card or
equivalent identification.
The application form together with 2 photographs and the
original letter should be sent to:
The Department of Foreign Affairs
The Director: Media OAU/AU Summit
For attention: Ms A Lombaard
Private Bag X152
Pretoria, 0001
Or delivered to:
The Department of Foreign Affairs
The Director: Media OAU/AU Summit
For attention: Ms A Lombaard
Room 298 Union Buildings
Pretoria
Enquiries may be directed to:
Ms Basetsana Thokoane +27 (0) 83 443 7740
Mr Martin Malan +27 (0) 82 370 1222
Ms Rolene Nel +27 (0) 082 858 3523
Applications should reach the Department of Foreign
Affairs by 12h00 on Thursday 20 June 2002
Accreditation applications received after this date will be
treated as late applications. Late applications and those received at the
Accreditation Centre in Durban will be subject to a 24-hour delay in the
issuance of accreditation passes.
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MEDIA FACILITIES
PRESS WORK AREA
A general work area will be provided in the Media Centre.
The work area will be equipped with work desks, which will each have
standard South African power points (3 round-pin, 240 volts, 50Hz)
where laptops and printers can be plugged in. Fifty PCs with Microsoft
Windows packages plus printers (not Apple-Mac compatible) will also be
available. The PC’s will provide free Internet access and email and will
share printers.
Telecommunications facilities (telephone, fax) will be
provided on a commercial basis. Telephones provided in the general work area
will have South African Telkom standard modem points. (The jacks used by
Telkom are RJ-11 telephone jacks).
A chargecard/PIN system for the payment of all telephone,
modem and fax calls will be installed. Mobile/cellular telephones will also
be available for hire at airports and in Durban.
MEDIA CENTRE HOURS OF
OPERATION
12h00 – 20h00 28 – 29 June 2002
08h00 – 21h00 30 June – 12 July 2002
TELEVISION AND RADIO
The Host Broadcaster will provide
television coverage of certain sessions of the Summit and
media conferences as a free live pool service at plug-in
points in the media centre for both radio and television
to accredited media. Other services such as
packaging/editing, ISDN feed facilities for radio and
editing and satellite feed facilities for television will
be available on a bookable basis. All of these
transactions will be on a strictly cash basis for those
who do not have accounts with the SABC.
Facilities can be booked in advance by
contacting Lucia Fourie, Co-ordinator: Satellite
and Facilities (TV and Radio), SABC
Tel: +27-11-714-6811
Fax: +27-11-714-6500 / 714-6487
Mobile: +27-83-413-6811
e-mail: fouriel@sabc.co.za
BROADCAST VILLAGE
The Host Broadcaster facilities will be fully operational
from 7 July 2002 to 11 July 2002.
PRESS COVERAGE AND PHOTO POOLS
Sessions at the Summit are closed to the Press. There are
some opportunities for still photographers and TV cameras (with no sound) to
photograph inside the Conference room before the start of each session. This
will be on a limited pool basis.
GENERAL
An Information Desk, Briefing Room and cafeteria
facilities will be in operation throughout the Summit period.
Scheduled daily briefings by the Conference Spokesperson
and press conferences will take place in the Media Centre.
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ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation establishments are listed in
Addendum A (hotels)
and Addendum B (other).
For additional information on
accommodation, please visit the following web site:
www.durbanexperience.co.za
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ARRIVAL
Most international flights to South Africa arrive at
Johannesburg International Airport. Regular air services operate to Durban,
with flight times of approximately one hour, from 07h00 – 20h00.
A transport shuttle service, provided by the host
government, will operate between the airport and the Accreditation Centre on
the following days:
Thursday, 27 June
Saturday, 29 June and Sunday, 30 June
Saturday, 6 July and Sunday, 7 July
Wednesday 10 July and Thursday, 11 July
Bus services from Durban International Airport to the
Durban City centre run approximately every 30 minutes. Taxis to the city
centre are also available.
Help desks will be open at key times in Johannesburg and
Durban International Airports to assist you to find your way to the city
centre, hotels or the Accreditation Centre.
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PASSPORTS AND VISAS
Members of the media from those countries exempted from
visa requirements need not apply for visas. All other applicants must comply
with South African visa requirements.
For information on visas consult the web site of the Department
of Home Affairs.
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HEALTH REQUIREMENTS
Yellow Fever certificates are required by persons who
travel from or through yellow fever areas as designated by the World Health
Organisation.
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CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
Accredited media bringing technical equipment with them
to South Africa will be subject to full Customs Control unless they obtain
an ATA Carnet.
If they are unable to obtain an ATA Carnet, they should
provide evidence that they are travelling to South Africa to cover the OAU/AU
Summit and also be able to supply South African Customs Authorities with a
detailed inventory of their equipment, including serial numbers and value.
This requirement does not apply to journalists carrying laptop computers or
similar small equipment.
Important
Visitors to South Africa may bring in goods for their
personal use. The following consumable goods may be imported without payment
of customs duty or Value Added Tax:
-
400 cigarettes, 50 cigars, 250 grams
tobacco
-
2 litres wine, 1 litre spirits
-
250ml eau de toilette, 50 ml perfume
-
Any additional consumable goods of the
same type are fully dutiable
Any equipment or other item brought into South Africa,
which has a value of more than
R 1250.00, must be declared to Customs at your point of arrival.
For further details, contact your nearest South
African Diplomatic or Consular Mission.
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PROHIBITED ITEMS
Certain goods are prohibited or restricted to protect
health and the environment. We have listed some of the items below:
Unlicensed drugs; offensive weapons; obscene material;
counterfeit and copied goods; firearms, explosives and ammunition; animals;
live birds; endangered species; meat, poultry; certain plants.
The list is not comprehensive. For full
details of current South African requirements, please
contact your nearest South African diplomatic mission.
Media
Accreditation Form
Send to: Department of Foreign Affairs
Deliver to: Department of Foreign Affairs
The Director: Media OAU/AU Summit, The
Director: Media OAU/AU Summit
For attention: Ms A Lombaard For
attention: Ms A Lombaard
Private Bag X152, Pretoria, 0001 Room 298
Union Buildings, Pretoria
Hotel
Accommodation
Other
Accommodation
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