POLITICS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Room for Improvement in SADC, Say Activists

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 2005 (IPS) - Southern African leaders came under pressure from civil society this week to tackle a host of issues ranging from drought and poor governance to gender inequalities and AIDS.

These calls for action were made as heads of state and government from the 13-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) gathered in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, for their annual summit. The two-day meeting, which kicked off Aug. 17, also marked SADC’s 25th anniversary.

“We need speedy integration driven by economic development. If not, it will be very difficult to tackle the problems facing the region,” Prince Mashele, a researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told IPS. SADC hopes to achieve a common market by 2016 and monetary union by 2020.

Concerning economic development, South African Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad told a news conference in Gaborone Monday that Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo were currently the region’s fastest growing economies. These three countries have registered annual growth rates of 11 percent, 7.8 percent and 6.3 percent respectively.

“Botswana and Malawi were also above Africa’s and SADC average growth rates with gross domestic product of 4.8 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively,” Pahad said. “In 2004, economic growth accelerated in the SADC region as GDP grew by 4.1 percent against the growth rate of 3.2 percent achieved in 2003.”

Despite this progress, acute food shortages remain of great concern to Southern Africa.

“This summit is taking place at a time when most of the region is facing a devastating drought, which has resulted in low crop yields and a deficit of cereals,” said Botswana’s president, Festus Mogae, Wednesday.

“This is a harsh reality that we have to collectively confront. Otherwise we shall be caught in a never-ending vicious cycle,” he added. Mogae took over as head of SADC this week from Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the newly-elected prime minister of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Last month the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said 10 million people in Southern Africa would require food aid by the end of the year.

SADC’s Council of Ministers decided Tuesday that South Africa and Tanzania, which are not experiencing shortages, should take a greater part in easing the food crisis. (The council, which comprises ministers from each SADC member state, is responsible for ensuring that the organisation’s polices are implemented.)

“It’s important…that (the) process is driven by the countries in the region. But the help of the international community is crucial. South Africa and Tanzania can’t meet the food aid (need) alone. The international community should intervene,” said Mashele.

In certain instances, the food shortages have resulted from bad governance, Zimbabwe being a case in point: the WFP estimates that 4.3 million people in this country of about 13 million are in need of relief aid. A controversial round of farm seizures that began in 2000 is widely believed to have contributed to Zimbabwe’s food shortages.

Gabriel Shumba, chairman of the Pretoria-based Zimbabwe Exile Forum, claims SADC has failed to confront the problems in Zimbabwe, which has also held three elections since 2000 that were marred by human rights abuses and allegations of irregularities.

“To be honest, Zimbabweans have not only lost faith in SADC’s ability to regulate people, but also to democratise the region,” he told IPS. Shumba says he was detained and tortured in Zimbabwe in 2003, after which he fled to South Africa.

Zimbabwe was not on the agenda of this week’s SADC meeting – something Mashele believes is short-sighted.

“Economic meltdown in Zimbabwe will have a ripple effect in the region, especially in South Africa…(and) an economic threat also translates into a security threat,” he said.

While SADC leaders may not have given developments in Zimbabwe prominence this week, the consequences of political and economic difficulties in the country are already beginning to make themselves felt in neighbouring states – principally through a flood of migrants.

Botswana hosts an estimated 800,000 to one million Zimbabweans, says Shumba, who visited that country last week. South Africa is believed to host about 2.5 million Zimbabweans.

However, Mashele also has praise for Zimbabwe on the matter of a recent, high-profile cabinet appointment.

“I know this may sound out of place to some people, but I think Zimbabwe must also be commended: for the first time in its history, Zimbabwe has a woman vice president,” he said in reference to Joyce Majuru, who was named to the post in December 2004.

In 1997, SADC set 2005 as the deadline for having 30 percent of parliamentary seats and other government decision-making posts in member states occupied by women. To date, only Mozambique and South Africa have reached this target.

Women occupy 33 percent of the relevant positions in Mozambique – and 32.75 percent in South Africa.