|
When the anticolonial struggle ended and apartheid in South Africa was abolished in the early 1990s, the security and political concerns of the subregion changed. The Declaration and Treaty of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) expressed confidence that recent developments "... will take the region out of an era of conflict and confrontation, to one of co-operation; in a climate of peace, security and stability. These are prerequisites for development ..." It called for "...a framework of co-operation which provides for ... strengthening regional solidarity, peace and security, in order for the people of the region to live and work together in peace and harmony ... The region needs, therefore, to establish a framework and mechanisms to strengthen regional solidarity, and provide for mutual peace and security."
The SADC Workshop on Democracy, Peace and Security (1994) set SADC on a course towards formal involvement in security co-ordination, conflict mediation, and military co-operation at heads of state level. The subsequent SADC Summit in Botswana in 1996 launched the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security and listed its objectives and organisational characteristics. The issue of the chairing of the Organ, the permanency of the position and its status vis-a-vis SADC, however, would become hotly contested, particularly between South Africa and Zimbabwe and would effectively stymie the operationalisation of the Organ.
Recent events have been more promising. At the time of the August 1999 SADC Summit in Maputo, it was apparent that a compromise on the Organ was required, given developments in Lesotho, the Democratic Rep8ublic of Congo and Angola. Although not reflected in the communique, the ongoing operation of the Organ had to occur in consultation with the outgoing, present and incoming chair of SADC, namely South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia.
The August Summit followed shortly after elections in South Africa, and newly appointed Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, soon initiated consultation with his counterparts in Zimbabwe and Namiia. He publicly welcomed the idea of a regional Southern Africa defence pact to protect countries from foreign aggression and stated that it was no longer appropriate for the region to have an ad hoc response to threats to national sovereignty in the region. He added that a regional defence effort could be established before the next SADC heads of state summit in 2000. These developments have led to an Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of SADC Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, State Security and Public Security from 26 to 27 October 1999 in Swaziland to develop a protocol governing SADC's reaction to "...situations that require intervention, peacekeeping or peace enforcement."
The operative paragraph in the communique that followed the Mbabane Ministerial meeting promises progress. "It was agreed that the Organ is part of SADC and should report to the SADC Summit. Consensus was reached on all issues relating to the structures of the Organ, the composition and chairpersonship of these structures, and lines of reporting to the SADC Summit. Consensus was also reached in terms of a process for refining a draft Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security and a draft Defence Pact."
Defence and security co-operation is not new to Southern Africa, predating the start of the decolonisation process in the region. Yet, the disbandment of the Front-Lone States alliance has not been followed by a smooth transition to a co-operative security regime. Events in Mbabane may signal the start of a process long delayed.
|
|
|