The government doesn't need the ANC's permission to enter into international agreements, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

She was briefing the media in Cape Town on Sunday after a ministerial meeting between India, Brazil and South Africa (Ibsa).

Dlamini-Zuma said there was no need to seek permission from the ANC leadership as the government was pursuing the same policies agreed to at the ANC's national conference in Polokwane.

Asked about the ANC leadership's criticism of the government's handling of several issues, Dlamini-Zuma insisted there was no "contradiction" between the two powers.

She said the Ibsa meeting had touched on global governance, the millennium development goals and regional political issues. - Sapa

• This article was originally published on page 2 of Pretoria News on May 12, 2008