On 2 September 2011, at 17:30 h, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Sofia, The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, together with the Embassy of South Africa in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute and the Bulgarian School of Politics, and with the support of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, organized a public lecture of the Special Adviser of the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Dr. Eddy Maloka, entitled “Facebook Revolutions in Africa”.

As part of his speech, Dr. Eddy Maloka outlined the main weaknesses of South Africa’s foreign policy and emphasized the need to strengthen communication by closing the information gap between South Africa and the rest of the world. By stressing on the synergy between the national priorities and international commitments, Dr. Eddy Maloka outlined the core and goals of South Africa’s foreign policy, namely, to secure, through continuous international partnerships, further development in the fields of education, job creation, improved living standards, agricultural reform and fight against crime. Furthermore, as he added, South Africa’s foreign policy was people-centered, valuing cooperation over competition and collaboration over confrontation, thus committed to establish mutually beneficial and development-orientated international partnerships. Nevertheless, South Africa’s foreign policy remained faithful to its international commitments, like promoting democracy and human rights outside the scope of political freedom, maintaining international peace, valuing the interests of Africa and facilitating the economic development of the region and the world.