The recent decision to task the presidents of Namibia, South Africa and Malawi with resolving the dispute over the role of the Southern African Development Community’s security committee – the Organ for Politics, Defence and Security – bodes well for the organisation and the region. Discussions on the role of the Organ within SADC have been stalled over a dispute on whether the Organ should operate on a level equal to that of SADC or be a subcommittee of the organisation, reporting to the SADC chairperson.

It was during the post-election euphoria in South Africa that closer co-operation between countries in Southern Africa was anticipated as one of the benefits of the demise of apartheid. Expectations ran high for closer security relationships among neighbours, the promotion of good governance practices and the enhanced operation of SADC. Four years on, the process has become bogged down in political debates and over divisions of labour.

In the past year, much has happened in Southern Africa which questions whether the region has moved or is ready to move into an era of integration: the military campaign that forced Mobutu Sese Seko into exile and saw the rise of Laurent Kabila, the ongoing conflict in Angola of which the continuation or resolution will have an impact on the region, and the abortive coup in Zambia in November, the repercussions of which still reverberate throughout the country, especially the arrest of former President Kenneth Kaunda. Each of these countries is a member of the newly expanded SADC (with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Seychelles joining late last year) and the continued development of the organisation must be seen within the context of the internal turmoil of some of its members.

The expansion of SADC’s mandate in 1996 to include political and security-related matters through the establishment of the Organ signalled the will of SADC members to broaden the organisation’s activities beyond economic development and integration and begin to address issues related to security and defence. Other regional organisations that began as economic groupings have also moved in this direction, and it has not been an easy transition for any. The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) in South America and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) were both created as forums for enhancing economic growth among members. Along the way, as with SADC, the need for a forum to discuss security issues emerged. Finding the addition of military and defence issues to its functions to be an uncomfortable fit, ASEAN chose to develop the ASEAN Regional Forum for the discussion of security matters, while MERCOSUR continues to hold discussions on security issues in an ad hoc manner. As the last six months of stalemate seem to have shown, Southern Africa is also finding the inclusion of security matters into the SADC operations awkward. The Organ, created for this purpose, has yet to fulfil its functions and countries in the region have internal preoccupations to resolve before work for the greater good of the region can advance. However, at the same time, it is the obligation of those both outside and inside the process to continue to push for the further development of SADC and its Organ, which makes the current initiative of the three presidents so important. In this way, by the time SADC members are in a position to discuss security issues within the Organ (a time that will eventually come), there will be concrete proposals for the effective functioning of that venue.