The South African government announced on Tuesday that the UK’s decision to end its bilateral Official Development Aid (ODA) programme in the country from 2015 was regrettable.

Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said in a statement that Britain’s “unilateral announcement” would have far-reaching implications on the projects that are currently running and that it was tantamount to “redefining [the countries’] relationship”.

Britain’s International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced earlier today that the bilateral development programme in South Africa, which for more than twenty years had helped the country’s transition from apartheid to a “flourishing, growing democracy”, would come to an end in 2015. She made the announcement at an international conference of business leaders and African Ministers in London.

Monyela, however, said the UK government should have informed the government of South Africa through official diplomatic channels of their intentions and allowed for proper consultations to take place.

“We have an SA/UK Bilateral Forum which is scheduled for some time this year and the review of the SA/UK strategy, which includes the ODA, would take place there and decisions about how to move forward were expected to be discussed in that forum,” said Monyela.

“This unilateral announcement will, no doubt, affect how our bilateral relations going forward will be conducted.”

Greening noted that the UK’s bilateral programme in South Africa, currently worth £19-million per year from a peak of over £40-million in 2003, would focus on finishing projects that were already under way.

“These programmes will help three-million more people start or expand their own businesses and help reduce the number of women dying in childbirth by more than 10%,” she said.

Meanwhile, Greening set out how the change in Britain’s relationship with Africa’s largest economy would help to boost trade across the region and support South Africa’s growing role as a development partner of countries across the continent.

“The two countries will begin a new relationship based on sharing skills and knowledge, not on development funding, in recognition of the progress South Africa has made over the last two decades,” she said in a statement.

South Africa now accounts for over a third of sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product and is a member of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of emerging economies and the G20.

From 2015, the UK’s development role in South Africa will focus on technical assistance, sharing skills and knowledge to accelerate poverty reduction and tackle inequality, as well as providing access to international best practice in areas like health and economic growth, she said.