POLITICS-AFRICA:
Dogs of War to Nip at Heels of Continental Parliament
Moyiga Nduru
When the new Pan-African Parliament is
inaugurated in Ethiopia next week, it will confront a host of challenging
issues - not least the role of mercenaries in Africa.
JOHANNESBURG, Mar 13 (IPS) - "Mercenaries are now topical. They are in the news," Frene Ginwala, the
Speaker of South Africa's National Assembly, told journalists in
Johannesburg on Friday (Mar. 12).
Ginwala was referring to the 79 suspected mercenaries who were arrested
in Zimbabwe and the oil-rich West African nation of Equatorial Guinea this
week. Along with four of her colleagues in the legislature, the speaker will
represent South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), which is to hold
its first session from Mar. 15 to 20 in Addis Ababa.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea said the 15 suspects
detained in his country were "an advance team" seeking to topple the
government. He claimed they were linked to the other 64 suspects who were
arrested in Zimbabwe after the ageing U.S.-registered Boeing 727-L100 they
were traveling on was impounded at Harare International Airport on Mar. 7.
On Wednesday, Zimbabwe's Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi, claimed
that Equatorial Guinea's opposition leader - Severo Moto - had offered the
mercenaries around 1.9 million dollars and oil rights for toppling Nguema.
The country is currently the third largest oil producer in sub-Saharan
Africa, yielding 350,000 barrels of oil per day.
Moto, who is based in Spain, has denied the allegations.
Mohadi also said the plane was believed to have been hired by South
African mercenaries and western security agents. The Zimbabwean government,
which is at odds with the United States and the European Union, is
threatening to execute the alleged mercenaries.
The detainees say they are security guards who were hired to protect
mining firms in the strife-torn central African countries of Burundi and the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
South Africa's Foreign Affairs Ministry has confirmed that 20 of its
nationals are amongst those arrested in Zimbabwe. The others come from
Angola, Namibia, the DRC and Zimbabwe.
Ginwala said there were instruments in place to curb the activities of
mercenaries in Africa. "Already the African Union does not recognise
takeovers or coups, including those made by mercenaries. We operate within
that parameter. Also there are international instruments that forbid
forceful removal of governments," she told reporters.
Barend Geldenhuys, another South African member of the PAP, said "It's
our responsibility to influence the Pan-African Parliament to address the
issue."
His colleague Mninwa Mahlangu added that South Africa had committed
itself to restoring peace on the continent.
Various factors have conspired to undermine these good intentions,
however.
Since the demise of apartheid, South Africa has played an active role in
bringing peace to a number of African countries - including the DRC,
Burundi, Liberia, Mozambique and Angola.
But the end of segregation also led to the retrenchment of troops by the
new government. Overnight, many found themselves on the street, with little
prospect of employment elsewhere.
"These are people who are well trained...(but) under the new dispensation
their services are not required. They found themselves without jobs. And it
(military work) is the only job they can do," Geldenhuys told IPS on Friday.
Local security firms estimate that about 1,000 of those former soldiers
are now working in Iraq - "protecting ministers and other senior government
officials," according to Geldenhuys.
The PAP member said he had no qualms about South African soldiers
guarding oil fields overseas. "What's not acceptable is for them to
overthrow a foreign government. That gives a bad name to South Africa," he
added.
In a bid to address this situation, South Africa has introduced tough
laws to deal with mercenaries - often referred to as "dogs of war".
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad says that if the South
Africans detained in Zimbabwe are involved in mercenary activities, then
they will be contravening the Foreign Military Assistance Act. This forbids
the involvement of South African nationals in military activities outside
the country without authorisation from the National Conventional Arms
Control Committee.
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which was replaced by the African
Union (AU) in 2002, also took a tough stance on mercenaries. Rolf Stainer, a
German mercenary, was extradited from Uganda to Sudan for supporting Anyanya
rebels in south Sudan in the early 1970s.
The OAU condemned the legendary French mercenary Bob Denard, who was
involved in several coups in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoro. It
also put pressure on Executive Outcomes, a now defunct mercenary firm, to
pull out of Sierra Leone and Angola.
At least two of the alleged mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe have been
linked to Executive Outcomes, which was previously based in South Africa's
capital - Pretoria. The company folded in 1999 amidst bad publicity and
scrutiny by the national parliament.
Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister Joan Miranda was quoted by state-owned
radio as saying he believed the mercenaries had belonged to the feared 32
Battalion (also referred to as the "Buffalo Battalion") which spearheaded
South Africa's clandestine offensive in Namibia and Angola during the 1970s
and 80s. Angolan refugees made up a large component of the battalion, which
was disbanded at the demand of the African National Congress - now South
Africa's ruling party.
It is likely that South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma will raise the issue of mercenaries when she leads her
country's delegation to the inaugural session of the PAP.
(END/2004)
