The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said that it is in the process of rationalising the country’s foreign missions.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Sibusiso Moyo, revealed that some sections where there is no trade will be closed and new ones will be opened.
He added that ambassadors will also be ranked so that those who are more important will receive bigger salaries.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade on Monday, Minister Moyo said:
The ministry is in the process of rationalising its foreign missions to correctly reflect the realities in the international community and most importantly the Second Republic’s thrust of engagement with everyone.
The rationalisation process includes but is not limited to closing down some sections where there is hardly any trade, opening new diplomatic missions and increasing staff at missions with multiple accreditations.
The Government is in the process of opening three new diplomatic missions in Rwanda, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
… We have decided to have what we call a rank of ambassadors. Instead of saying all ambassadors are the same, we rank them so that we can reduce the salaries of those who are ranked lower and that will create a saving in that regard and we believe it is a way to cut cost.