Pretoria - The African Union (AU) hopes to raise hundreds of millions of dollars today at the pledging conference for victims of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.
The one-day pledging conference will spotlight Africa's response to the drought threatening millions of lives, most of them in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
The conference is expected to attract several African leaders who will be at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa for Friday's high-level meetings on Libya.
Critics have noted that while several international donors have made generous contributions that are helping to alleviate the suffering, Africa's response has been slow.
The AU has already pledged $500 million, but the UN says that at least another $2 billion is required to help those in need.
At least 12 million people in Somalia and neighbouring countries require emergency assistance, the UN says. Tens of thousands are believed to have died since the crisis began.
South Africa, which has been providing support to the vulnerable communities in Somalia, will be represented at the pledging conference by Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), Marius Fransman.
The South African government has responded to the humanitarian crisis confronting the Horn of Africa by raising R8 million towards the famine relief programme, of which R4 million was donated to the South African NGO, Gift of the Givers, towards transportation and logistical costs of delivering aid to Somalia.
Meanwhile, African leaders will meet on Friday to catch up on the rapidly unfolding events in Libya.
The leaders are expected to seek to insert the AU road map for Libyan peace and democracy into discussions about a future government for the country, where rebels have toppled Muammar Gaddafi and expelled him from his headquarters in the capital, Tripoli.
This as the High-level Ad-Hoc Committee on Libya tried unsuccessfully to persuade Gaddafi and the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) to agree to accept the AU road map, which called for a ceasefire between the adversaries and negotiations on democratic reforms.
The road map seemed to be overtaken by events this week as Tripoli fell to the TNC fighters, backed by Nato aerial bombardments and with possibly other military assistance.
Gaddafi's whereabouts were unknown on Monday as loyal remnants of his forces made a last-ditch stand in the capital.
The challenge facing the AU is how to ensure ownership of a transitional process and a new government by all the countless tribes and other interest groups in a country that had no civil society to speak of and no experience of government as others understood it.
The AU leaders will also have to decide on the contentious question of whether they should recognise the TNC as the government of Libya or not.
South Africa has in the meantime reiterated that the Libyan people must determine their own future through an inclusive process that will ensure a full democratisation of all political institutions.
"This will allow for macro-economic recovery and the restoration of normality in Libyan society," Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Wednesday when responding to questions posed by MPs in the National Assembly.
"The South African government has been clear in all engagements on the matter of Libya that it is against regime change and will continue to raise this issue in an attempt to prevent further loss of civilian lives and in seeking the adoption and implementation of the African Union Roadmap by all parties involved in the Libyan conflict," added Motlanthe.
