JOHANNESBURG, Dec 14 (AFP) - The US provided more than 350 million rand (45 million dollars/51 million euro) in development aid to South Africa in 2000, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said Thursday.
It granted 200 million rand in direct support to the government and 150 million rand to non-government organisations, USAID said in a statement.
The statement was released after US ambassador to South Africa Delano Lewis and South African deputy finance minister Mandisi Mpahlwa signed a "declaration of development co-operation."
"(The declaration) cements the partnership that has been developed between South Africa and the American government," USAID deputy director Eilene Olwine told AFP.
The agency's aid allocation to South Africa in 2001 would be voted on by the US Congress early next year.
Total government-to-government assistance since 1994 amounted to more than 1.6 billion rand, the statement said.
"South Africa has a pivotal relationship on the continent. It has one of the largest economies and as South Africa develops, so will other countries prosper and develop," Olwine said.
"It is a privilege to help (South Africa) with its transformation process," she said.
USAID said top priorities in the country included sustainable job development, strengthening the criminal justice system, HIV/AIDS prevention, education and small agricultural development.
Democracy and governance, education, health, economic policy capacity, market-driven employment and housing are among the collaborative activities that have been undertaken by South Africa and the US.
More than seven billion rand in US development grant assistance has been invested in South Africa since the mid-1980s.
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