Hope As a New Country Is Born

views and analyses from the african continent

Issue 14 • 2011 the african.orgwww.the-african.org • THE ALTERNATE-MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES Hope as a new country is born

Trouble inside FesTivals brewing angola’s showcasing in burkina shadow aFrica’s Faso sTaTe TalenT

Angola K500 • Botswana P20.00 • Côte D’Ivoire Cfa3 000 • Democratic Republic of the Congo Cfa3 000 • Ethiopia B20.00 Gambia D50.00 • Ghana C4.00 • Kenya Sh300.00 • Malawi K5 000 • Mozambique R29.00 Namibia $29.00 • Nigeria N500.00 • Tanzania Sh7 000 • Uganda Sh7 000 • Zambia K15 000 • Zimbabwe R29.00 South Africa R29.00 (incl VAT) • UK £4.00 • US $6.00 • Europe €6.95 covers African.org 13.indd 2 2011/05/24 12:04 PM Editorial

Nothing like a clean war

Dear Reader… soul-searching of why the Libyan air raids Five months down the line the conflict are taking so long to achieve their goal, oth- is still raging – at a huge cost. ers, more cynical, believe the end will not he official inauguration of an inde- even be in sight before the end of the year. Following the dramatic events in pendent South Sudan was for An argument heard in the Arab world North Africa, two previously relatively many an immensely joyful occa- is that the allies – France, Britain and the stable West African countries, Burkina sion, but for others a traumatic US – are confident that the rebuilding of Faso and Senegal, have also experienced Tevent that signalled the failure of ‘making Libya will be portioned out to their com- popular protests. unity attractive’. panies, financed by Libyan oil, ‘just like in In both countries the president seems Many are asking, what does this mean Iraq’. Delaying the end game will therefore increasingly unpopular and is accused of for other states struggling to accommo- be in their interest. overstaying his welcome. date regional, religious and ethnic differ- This is certainly not the impression one Blaise Compaoré from Burkina Faso ences? And what are the implications for a gets from debates in the European media. has been in power since 1987 and Sene- viable state in South Sudan? The French weekly Le Nouvel Obser- gal’s Abdoulaye Wade (85) is insisting on Over a number of issues the-african.org vateur, for example, recently listed all the being a candidate in elections in 2012. has reported on the unfolding events in possible reasons for the failure of the air People’s frustration with their leaders is what used to be Africa’s largest country, raids to achieve a speedy resolution. compounded by increasing poverty. Even Sudan. those who manage to make a fairly This time we look at the new leaders Five months down the line decent living have to cope with constant taking over Africa’s youngest country – a power cuts, lack of services, bad roads former liberation movement with severe the conflict is still raging – and a general rise in food prices. internal strife and huge challenges ahead. At this stage it isn’t clear where In two separate interviews the ambas- at a huge cost these protests will lead. President sadors to South Africa from South Sudan Wade doesn’t seem willing to let go of and the Republic of Sudan also give their These include internal problems in the idea of having his son Karim Wade views on what this means. NATO, the unwillingness of the US to take over from him and is using all man- Strikingly, both men seem to be offer- fully commit its sophisticated weaponry ners of persuasion – including perks and a ing a hand of friendship to the other, and the weakness of the members of the rise in status for traditional leaders – to realis ing the many commonalities be- Libyan National Transitional Council. pull this off. tween the new neighbours. Added to this of course is the fact that In Burkina Faso senior members of Dark clouds gather, though, due to the the no-fly zone lobby underestimated the army, who started the protests, were intensifying disputes in border regions Gaddafi. dismissed to prevent the possibility of a and over the many outstanding issues still Who, for example, would have guessed full-blown coup. to be resolved through discussions be- that he would buy hundreds of pick-up Yet Compaoré is certainly in trouble. tween the North and South. trucks in Mali and Niger that resemble The example of these two countries, If independence had been a way to those used by the rebels, to confuse the including what we are increasingly seeing end the continuing wars between the two allied pilots? African experts, however, in Malawi, Uganda, Swaziland and else- parts of Sudan, it would be tragic if could have told France about this even be- where, is an indication that anti-govern- conflicts once again broke out across the fore the war had started. ment protests by disgruntled citizens region over land and resources. ‘There is nothing like a quick and could lead to even more dramatic events clean war,’ said South African independ- than what we have seen in North Africa. Meanwhile, as we go to print, the war ent defense expert Mr. Helmoed-Romer I hope you will enjoy this issue and in Libya is continuing to divide the Heitman at a conference held at the ISS in continue to send your own views and African Union and stir strong emotions Pretoria on 24 March, when the ink on analysis of events unfolding in Africa. across the continent. UN Security Council Resolution 1973 While the NATO countries, especially permitting a no-fly zone over Libya was Liesl Louw-Vaudran France, are increasingly engaged in a somber barely dry. [email protected]

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 1 Contents

August | September 2011

Newswatch 5 Liberia, In this issue Senegal, SA

Upcoming 7 events SADC, Zambia, Cameroon

Cover Feature 8 South Sudan Independence: Can the leaders hold it together? 11 South 11 Sudan Independence: Joy and celebrations

South 8 14 Sudan Independence Interviews: Envoys from the North and South

2 Credits

angola Inside the 18 32 .FEJB-JNJUFE

VIEWS AND ANALYSES FROM THE AFRICAN CONTINENT Shadow State ISSUE 14 • 2011 the african.orgwww.the-african.org • THE ALTERNATE-MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES Hope as a new country is born

TROUBLE INSIDE FESTIVALS BREWING ANGOLA’S SHOWCASING IN BURKINA SHADOW AFRICA’S economy FASO STATE TALENT cover: Angola K500 • Botswana P20.00 • Côte D’Ivoire Cfa3 000 • Democratic Republic of the Congo Cfa3 000 • Ethiopia B20.00 Gambia D50.00 • Ghana C4.00 • Kenya Sh300.00 • Malawi K5 000 • Mozambique R29.00 Namibia $29.00 • Nigeria N500.00 • Tanzania Sh7 000 • Uganda Sh7 000 • Zambia K15 000 • Zimbabwe R29.00 Comment South Africa R29.00 (incl VAT) • UK £4.00 • US $6.00 • Europe €6.95 photo composition 36 PUbLISherS Mail & Guardian Media Grosvenor Corner Development as 195 Jan Smuts Avenue, Rosebank Johannesburg 2193, South Africa Tel: +27 11 250 7300 an afterthought Fax: +27 11 250 7502

edItor Liesl Louw-Vaudran business North edItorIaL board How to Paul-Simon Handy africa 38 Hennie van Vuuren 18 Issaka Souare free trade from Cheryl Hendriks Morocco’s King Andrews Atta-Assamoah Cape to Cairo David Zounmenou pre-empting Sandra Adong Oder Lansana Gberie revolution? CoPy edItor Culture Sasha Evans

S A’s ProoFreader North 40 Iolandi Pool Grahams town africa ProdUCtIoN MaNager 20 Festival Trudy-Lee Rutkowski A chance for deSIgN Pilgrim Communications

g ender equality PhotograPhy Culture Paul Botes PUbLISher For M&g MedIa burkina 43Continental Anastacia Martin round-up CoVer IMage 22Faso Lauren Hutton Blaise Compaoré in trouble book 44 reviews Institute for Security Studies: Block C, Brooklyn Court african Veale Street New Muckleneuk Sign Pretoria/Tshwane 0181 Union Tel: +27 12 346 9500/2 25 off The AU setting 48 Copyright M&G Media Ltd and the-african.org. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written itself up to fail consent of the publishers.

DisClaimer The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and not those 33 of The Institute of Security Studies, its UN Council, Trustees, any funder or sponsor of the ISS or M&G Media Ltd. 28 Security subsCriptions anD Council No D istribution Helen Chanda more backdoor Tel: +27 12 346 9500 diplomacy email: [email protected]

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 3 Contributors

illiam mervin gumeDe is a WSouth African author and commentator. He is the author of the acclaimed Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC and co-editor of The Poverty of Ideas. He is currently Honorary Associate, Graduate School of Public and Development Management French, the other (P&DM), Johannesburg.

AFricAn lAnguAge! aula Cristina roque is a researcher specialising in Angola French is already spoken by half the popula tion of P Africa. Trade with francophone African countries is and Sudan. She previously held the fast developing, there by increasing the need to speak post of Senior Researcher in the French in commercial, medical, engineering, educa- African Conflict Prevention tio nal, tourist and other sectors. Programme at the ISS and is ➢ We are the largest and oldest French-language currently completing her PhD at learning centre in South Africa. Teaching French Oxford University on post-conflict is our main business. nation and state building. ➢ Our teachers are trained, experienced and mostly native-French speakers. We offer the heryl henDriCks is a senior widest variety of courses at all levels at highly- research fellow at the ISS. She competitive rates for adults and children. Classes, C scheduled at various times during the day, never specialises in African politics on consist of more than 15 students to ensure a issues related to governance, personalised, student-centred experience getting democratisation, SADC peace and you to communicate in no time. security, women and peace-building, ➢ As a cultural centre, we truly are a gateway to the post-conflict reconstruction, human French language and culture. security, identity politics and broader gender issues. She holds a PhD in Government and Interna- tional Relations from the University of South Carolina, USA.

nDrews attah-asamoah is a Aresearcher in the Peace Missions Programme in the Nairobi office of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). He holds an MA in Inter- national Affairs from the Legon The General Delegation of Alliance Française in Southern Africa Centre for International Affairs www.alliance.org.za | [email protected] | +27 (0)11 646 1169 17 Lower Park Dr – Cnr Kerry Rd, Parkview 2122, Johannesburg (LECIA) at the University of Ghana. He was previously a research Cape town • durban • johannesburg associate at the Kofi Annan Inter- port elizabeth • pretoria • soweto national Peacekeeping Training stellenbosCh • gaborone • maseru mbabane • lusaka • bosmont • bulawayo Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra, Ghana. harare • potChefstroom • vaal triangle pietermaritzburg • mitChell’s plain BLOEMFONTEIN Newswatch

Snippets

Johnson-sirleaf aims for re-election

Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC) has given the go-ahead for cam- paigning to begin for the 2011 presidential and legislative elections, scheduled to take place on 11 October. A run-off election is scheduled for 8 November. The contest is likely to pit the incumbent president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf against Winston Tubman, the flag bearer for the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), and Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party (LP). The CDC is currently the largest opposition party, having come second in the elections in 2005, when it won 18 legislative seats. In 2010, Johnson-Sirleaf reneged on her promise not to stand for two terms, arguing that the ongoing post-conflict reconstruction, development and reconciliation process requires stability and continuity. Although she enjoys widespread international sup- temporary victory for port, particularly from the US, Johnson-Sirleaf faces mixed domestic popularity. protestors in senegal Firstly, many Liberians express frustration at the pace of progress. An estimated 80% of Liberians still live in poverty and many complain about the lack of meaningful Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade has transformation. decided to withdraw controversial consti- Secondly, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf faces credibility problems. Allegations of corrup- tutional proposals after they were met tion have raised concerns, and the truth and reconciliation report has recommended with significant protests. These protests that she step down, hinting that she funded and provided support for the devastating signify the growing unpopularity of war that ravaged Liberia between 1989 and 1998. The commission also recommend- Wade’s presidency, especially over the past ed that 50 other political actors be prevented from holding public office for the next few years, in which he is perceived as pre- 30 years. siding over deteriorating socioeconomic conditions whilst attempting to further his stay in power and pass on the presi- sa police under threat guilty of murdering police officials and dency to his son in the future. urged members of the SAPS to defend People reacted angrily to Wade’s pro- The killing of police officials in South themselves using the ‘maximum force’ posal to alter the electoral system from the Africa continues to be a serious problem. allowe d by law. two-round majority system (requiring ab- Last year, the South African Police Service While all those outraged by the killing solute majority in order to win) to a first- (SAPS) annual report gave the names of of police officers will support these meas- past-the-post (FPTP) system with a mini- 107 police officers killed on duty. Between ures, they are unlikely to lead a reduction mum threshold of 25% in the first round. 2001 and 2010, 1,130 police officers were in the numbers killed. Simply threatening Another contentious issue is his candi- killed. Between January and the end of harsh sanctions and encouraging police to dature in the 2012 presidential elections. It June 2011, 39 more were killed. use more force in their interaction with should be noted that there was no term In response, national police commis- suspects is unlikely to improve officer limit in the Senegalese constitution when sioner General Bheki Cele has called for safety. Rather, it will play into systemic Wade came to power in March 2000, mandatory life sentences for those found police brutality, which is more likely to though in 2001 a new constitution reduced cause civilians to become fearful and less presidential term lengths from seven to five co-operative with police. years and instituted a two-term limit. Criminals will not stop committing Wade served his first term under the crimes but will arm themselves more accords of the old constitution, leaving heavily and shoot at police more quickly if him in a position to argue that his re-elec- they believe they are more likely to be tion in 2007 was the commencement of killed than arrested. Instead, the police the first of two potential terms according leadership should focus urgently on im- to the new constitution. proving the strategic, management and Wade has stated his intention to run internal accountability capacity that will in 2012, which would amount to a third support professional policing. Wide-scale term, according to critics, while he argues organisational changes are required if the it would only be his second one under the en.wikipedia.org problems of police brutality, corruption, south afriCan police memorial, new constitution. The constitutional court lack of accountability and poor commu- union buildings, pretoria is reviewing the matter. nity relations are to be solved.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 5 Join us for the second annual international conference of the Crime and Justice Programme of the Institute for Security Studies.

In the seventeen years that have passed since South Africa’s Submit an abstract or register to attend first democractic elections the country has experienced high levels of violent crime and mixed results in efforts to transform If you wish you present a paper at this event please and improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. submit and abstract no later than 15 August 2011. The problems faced by South Africa are not unique, and it is unlikely that effective solutions will be specific to South Africa. Download the abstract application form and submit your This conference provides a forum for academics, research- abstract on-line, or register on-line for this event at www. ers and practitioners to share research findings from South issafrica.org and follow the link to ‘events’. Africa, the African continent and the rest of the world about crime, the functioning of the criminal justice system and innovative approaches to reduce crime. Direct any queries to: The conference will explore the following themes: • Innovative approaches to improving criminal justice Chandre Gould ([email protected]) or • Crime and crime trends Millicent Mlaba ([email protected]) • Social crime prevention

The conference will take place at the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg on 1 and 2 December 2011. News round-up

Upcoming events

16-17 august: ted to serve two terms in office. saDC summit, A total of 150 members of the natio nal assembly will be elect- l uanda, a ngola ed, with the president appointing a further eight. The 31st Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Govern- oCtober: ment of SADC will take place in Luanda, Angola. At the presidential elections Extra ordinary Summit in in Cameroon Sandton, Johannesburg on 12 June, two issues that were hotly President Paul Biya is at pre- debated were political reform sent the longest serving head of

in the run-up to elections in andrew Burton state in sub-Saharan Africa Zimbabwe and a possible road- Zimbabwe will again be on the agenda when after he became president of map for Madagascar. These is- saDC member states meet in angola Cameroon on 6 November sues are also expected to top 1982. Biya changed the consti- the agenda in Luanda. was largely anti- Semitic. It was Zambia held a hotly contested tution in 2008 to permit him- Join us for the second annual international conference of the Crime and Justice also notable for the discussions election that saw present incum- self to run for a third term in Programme of the Institute for Security Studies. 21 september: of reparations to the descend- bent President Rupiah Banda office, a move that helped trig- ants of those affected by the narrowly defeat opposition can- ger a series of violent protests 10th anniversary Afri can slave trade. The US, didate Michael Sata. Banda has amidst socioeconomic discon- of the Durban Canada and Israel have an- since served the remainder of tent over high living costs. In the seventeen years that have passed since South Africa’s Submit an abstract or register to attend Declaration and nounced they do not intend to the term that Mwanawasa won A recent change in the first democractic elections the country has experienced high programme of action participate in the 2011 com- in 2006 and, according to a re- electoral law permits expatri- levels of violent crime and mixed results in efforts to transform If you wish you present a paper at this event please memoration. cent Economic Intelligence Unit ates to vote, which could prove and improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. submit and abstract no later than 15 August 2011. A parallel NGO Human report, is predicted to emerge to have a great impact on the The problems faced by South Africa are not unique, and it is The UN has scheduled a high- Rights Summit, organised by victorious once again. The Zam- elections as the government level meeting to commemorate UN Watch, will take place at bian president is elected by a esti mates that around five mil- unlikely that effective solutions will be specific to South Africa. Download the abstract application form and submit your the adoption of the Durban the same time. plurality vote and only permit- lion Cameroonians live abroad. This conference provides a forum for academics, research- abstract on-line, or register on-line for this event at www. Declaration and Programme of ers and practitioners to share research findings from South issafrica.org and follow the link to ‘events’. Action. The document was a oCtober: Africa, the African continent and the rest of the world about product of the 2001 World Con- other important dates crime, the functioning of the criminal justice system and in- ference Against Racism held in presidential and novative approaches to reduce crime. Direct any queries to: Durban, South Africa from 31 legislative elections The conference will explore the following themes: August to 8 September 2001. in Zambia 9 August: International Day of the World’s Indigenous The conference proved to People Innovative approaches to improving criminal justice • Chandre Gould ([email protected]) or be controversial, with the 12 August: International Youth Day • Crime and crime trends Millicent Mlaba ([email protected]) United States and Israel with- Following the death of President 19 August: World Humanitarian Day • Social crime prevention drawing after claiming that it Levy Mwanawasa in 2008,

views and analyses from the african continent

The conference will take place at the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg Issue 13 • 2011 the african.orgwww.the-african.org • THE ALTERNATE-MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES on 1 and 2 December 2011. the-african.org is distributed throughout africa. to advertise contact racquel oliphant from m&g media the price of protest from Kampala to mbabane on tel +27 (0)11 250 7564 | Fax +27 (0)11 250 7502

The Can we The myTh of TaLk To ChaLLenGe or email [email protected] Bin Laden Gaddafi? of BuiLdinG BRiCS

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 7 South Sudan

Leadership

A new independent South Sudan will inevitably be led by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). andrews atta asamoah looks at the challenges in keeping the Movement and the South together. A hopEful StAtE Can its leaders hold it together?

s South Sudan emerges as the after the 2010 gubernatorial elections and world’s newest state, it does so as the January 2011 referendum. the world’s most inexperienced The third relates to North-South state, and one of the most under- relations and contentions over border Adeveloped regions of the globe. issues, status of ex-combatants and the vis-à-vis the international goodwill, status of Abyei. natural resource endowment, and enthu- In post-referendum South Sudan, siasm of its citizens, it is undoubtedly one trends of intra-South insecurity started South Sudan (GoSS) prior to the referen- of the most hopeful states in the world. with General George Athor Deng. Days dum. It also highlighted the existence of Its oil endowment and agricultural before the official declaration of the re- unfinished business in the attainment of a prospects make it a probable breadbasket sults of the referendum, militias loyal to unified South and in making peace and for the millions of hungry people on the him clashed with the Sudan People’s Lib- security a public good for southerners. African continent. However, the leader- Since this incident, a number ship of South Sudan have the daunting of other SPLA generals have task of dealing with the challenge of exist- against a backdrop of scepticism, revolted and separately de- ing and emerging insecurities, which are the deteriorating trends have had clared their intentions to top- capable of negatively impacting investor ple the Juba-based South confidence, human security, defence implications on investor confidence government. Overall, apart spending and the overall pace of develop- from General Athor, Bapiny ment of the new state. Monituel, Gabriel Tanginye, Currently, South Sudan grapples with eration Army (SPLA) in Fangak country Peter Gatdet Yak, Gatluak Gai, Abdel Bagi insecurity at three different levels. The on 9 February. Agyii, David Yau Yau and Uluak Oliny have first is a result of age-old cultural practic- The clashes claimed more than one all set themselves against the government. es, particularly inter-community cattle hundred lives and displaced several thou- raiding and child kidnapping, which have sands of people. Despite the fact that his LoNgStaNdINg dIVISIoNS been exacerbated by the influx of small revolt is traceable to the 2010 elections and Despite a shared history of struggle arms and light weapons. therefore was not new, his February attacks against the North, the people of South The second relates to intra-South were worrying because it registered the de Sudan didn’t at any time in their history divisions from politically motivated griev- facto breakdown of intra-South dialogue cohesively rally around a single front in ances, the majority of which occurred efforts initiated by the Government of pursuit of their shared interests.

8 South Sudan

Leadership

MILItarISatIoN oF SoUtherN PoLItICS South Sudan is one of the geographical spaces in Africa that has known no peace since the 1950s. The central role of armed groups during this period has entrenched combat participation and military exploits as critical factors in defining Southern Sudan nationalism. In present day Southern Sudan, it is therefore not un- common to be asked about one’s contribution to the attainment of freedom with questions such as ‘What did you do during the days we were in the bush? and ‘Do you have any scars to show for it?’. As a consequence, the politics of the South has been heavily militarized. Army generals remain the dominant actors in politics and the ruling Movement. Of the ten state governors, for example, eight were once SPLA generals. The implication of this is that militarism sometimes dictates solutions to political crises, as was the case of General Athor who took up arms instead of seeking legal redress for his political grievances. Related to the militarization is the

ap photo/pete muller apparent perception of power and limit- less access to resources once given politi- south suDan’s newly inaugurated president salva kiir mayardit has a cal office. Losing political office has thus huge task ahead amid the numerous security challenges facing the country meant loss of influence, power and resources for some generals who think it is time to benefit from their years of sweat in Throughout the period of splits and dissociate from personalities, leadership the bush. This introduces a dimension of splintering of armed groups in the South, and their choices of political alliances in conflict over access to power, resources many leaders and warlords made multiple South Sudan. This is true of the past and and influence. defections between different factions and present. There are therefore clear inter- armed groups, thereby taking away any tribal tensions traceable to wartime allian- PoLItICaL MeddLINg by the SPLM sense of attachment to any particular ces, age-old grievances over cattle rustling Political grievances in South Sudan group or course. and child abduction, and fear of Dinka emerged in considerably worrisome di- These occurrences and characteristics dominance. Of these, the most critical since mensions after the 2010 April elections. in the history of the South have conspired the dawn of peace relates to the fear of This is as consequence of political inter- against the realisation of cohesion in the Dinka dominance in an independent South. ferences by the Political Bureau of SPLM South and in the SPLM/A. It is therefore Owing to the dominance of Dinka during the 2010 gubernatorial elections. not surprising that post-referendum secu- and Nuer in the liberation struggle, it is a The Bureau’s role appears to have been rity realities and revolts are emerging natural consequence for them to domi- born out of the desire of the ruling party along the lines of some of the elements nate the resultant government of the to position loyal members to take charge who were integrated into the SPLA after South led by the SPLM/A. This is raising a of processes preceding the referendum. the signing of the Comprehensive Peace great deal of suspicion and fomenting However, it fuelled grievances within the Agreement (CPA). grievances among the remaining tribes, party and is a principal factor in under- Like other parts of Africa, the question especially those who are perceived to have standing the rise of tension since the last of ethnic identity has become impossible to aligned with the North during the war. elections. ››

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 9 South Sudan

Leadership

NortherN INterFereNCeS it is not strange to be asked, on important initiatives aimed at Despite the CPA’s success in ending hos- promoting intra-South peace. One tilities between the North and South, the ‘what did you do during the days of these is the regularisation of agreement failed in dealing with suspi- we were in the bush? do you South-South Dialogue Fora under cions and mistrusts between them. Their the auspices of President Kiir, Riek post-2005 relationship can thus, at best, have any scars to show for it?’ Machar and the Chairman of the be described as ‘co-habitation,’ or ‘manag- SPLM. In addition, President Kiir ing an enemy you know.’ It is therefore not issued an Executive Order in 2010 rare for some Southerners to sometimes of the region’s insecurity following its dis- pardoning SPLA army officers who had refer to the North as ‘the enemy’, a engagement with the North. revolted. The order was aimed at fostering description that is a vivid indication of the It is giving credence to the expecta- unity among Southerners in the run-up to ‘we-versus-them’ perceptions between the tions of sceptics who predicted an implo- the referendum. two sides. In post-referendum South, this sion and the inability of Southerners to Symbolically, it spelt out the South’s perception of the North as ‘an enemy’ nurture and sustain a stable state. Against recognition of existing tensions and the appears to be a favourite rubric within a backdrop of such scepticism, the deteri- need for dialogue. However, General which all the (in)security dynamics are orating trends have had implications on Athor effectively reneged on his commit- explained. investor confidence and the rapid return ment to the provisions of the amnesty of South Sudanese in the diaspora with following the resumption of military eFFortS to Make PeaCe many adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude. activity by his forces in February. The trend of emerging intra-South inse- Mindful of the negative effects of the Perhaps one of the most symbolic curity is particularly disturbing, as it trend of insecurity and the need for the moves indicative of the Southern commit- threatens to dash the hopes of peace for South to foster unity, the GoSS has since ment to intra-South peace was the estab- the South and to redefine the parameters the start of these major issues embarked lishment and subsequent elevation of the South Sudan Peace Commission (SSPC) into the Ministry of Peace and CPA Im- plementation. The move has effectively lEAdErShIp StrugglES institutionalised the quest for peace in the South and given it the requisite profile for n 1991, elements in the SPLM resource mobilisation and visibility. Since Iled by Riek Machar, Lam Akol the institutionalisation of the resolve, a and Gordon Koang Chol at- number of grassroot peace initiatives have tempted to remove Dr. John been spearheaded by the Ministry of Garang as the leader of the Peace and CPA Implementation to resolve SPLM. This move was blamed on inter-tribal fighting. the lack of democracy in the With all these trends of insecurity, the leadership of Dr. Garang. realisation of the full potential of the new In reality, however, a cocktail state is inextricably linked to its ability to of issues, particularly leadership manage the different sources of insecurity struggle, tribal competition and, now staring the people in the face. most importantly, differences on With independence, it is time for the the strategic direction of the new state to embrace a broad-based struggle, were the primary government representative of the diverse underlying factors. The latter SPLM-United (led by Riek political elements in the South who factor was prime. There was a Machar and Lam Akol) and contri buted in different ways towards the fierce contest between Garang’s SPLM-mainstream (led by Dr. achievement of independence. ‘New Sudan’ vision and propo- Garang). The former group later South Sudan is in the process of build- nents of ‘self-determination’ of aligned with the North against ing state institutions. At this crucial stage, the South. Rather than remove the latter. The subsequent the requisite sacrifices that have got to be Garang as the leader, the move struggle between the two made by the political elite towards eliciting by Riek Machar and Lam Akol groups became the most violent zero-tolerance for corruption, eliminating resulted in a split of the SPLM in the history of the Second negative ethnicity and operationalising the into two distinct movements – Sudan Civil War. institutional culture of the state cannot be over-emphasised.

10 South Sudan

Independence Republic of South Sudan, Oyee!

Lauren hutton country emerging from the scourge of the new state was born. It was a privilege war and into an era of investment oppor- to share this moment with our African t was fitting that the day ended with tunity, economic growth and develop- brothers and sisters. rain. Rain is always great in Juba: power- ment. Currently sitting at the bottom end The list of needs is long, the time to ful rumbling thunder storms, with dark, of most development indices, independ- meet South Sudanese expectations for de- heavy clouds massing on the horizon ence brings with it the glow of opportu- velopment is short and the threats to the Iand then the sheer relief as the drops begin nity, the possibility for South Sudan to survival of the state are very real. This is to fall. From anticipation to emancipation; transition from the periphery and to stand not a question about the feasibility of a that is the feeling of rain in Juba. as an equal on the global stage of sover- new state, but rather a moral and ethical The air itself seems to come alive again, eign states. The transition has accelerated demand for the people of South Sudan to clean and refreshed. On 9 July, the late af- in the past few weeks. From infrastructure be able to determine their own future. It is ternoon rain was the baptism of Africa’s a future in which their newest state; part of the rebirth of a people. northern neighbour will The rain provided a reprieve from the heat the list of needs is long, the time to still have a major influ- of the day allowing people to rest aching ence. But it is a future in muscles and refresh tired bodies. It rained meet south sudanese expectations for which South Sudan has for just long enough for people to catch development is short and the threats to broken free of years of their breath and then be overwhelmed as violence and subjugation an awesome fireworks display lit up the the survival of the state are very real and emerged with the night sky. Independence is here and chants oppor tunity to make bet- of ‘South Sudan Oyee’ echo around Juba ter choices for its people. into the early hours of the morning. development to security operations, there This is the gauntlet being laid by the The build-up to Independence Day have been concerted efforts to guarantee a people before their leaders: we have won celebrations started many weeks before 9 memorable independence celebration. the right to be here, now show us that it July. Sometime in May, Juba became Although Juba has few tar roads, even was worth our sacrifices. abuzz with building, cleaning, tree and these were given a new life with freshly But for a time, the scale of the chal- flower planting and even recycling – this painted lines. lenge ahead was eclipsed by something was truly a capital transformed. Juba laid But none of this mattered on the day. fantastic: a moment full of hope and out her fanfare. There was no talk about how much the oppor tunity. Maybe this feeling will last Gone was the dust-and-litter-filled city event cost to host, no worry about devel- beyond the party and be the dawn of a known to all for its heat and dirt. A new opment needs, donor interests or oil rev- new era. Maybe it will not dull as fast as airport building was constructed in weeks enue. Even during the official ceremony, the sheen of other African states that (and nearly even finished on time); lights once the proclamation had been read and emerged from unjust rule. Maybe South were put on the runway, the apron was the constitution signed by President Salva Sudan will be the exception. extended to accommodate more planes, Kiir, the main focus of the majority of the In all this uncertainty, there is only the capital waited with bated breath for the crowd was on singing, dancing and cele- one thing that will always ring true: for influx of celebrities and political heavy- brating. one day in July 2011, South Sudan was weights to witness the birth of a state. There is little that can describe the truly exceptional. There has been massive investment by feeling of being amongst the people of Republic of South Sudan, Oyee, Oyee, the government to portray an image of a South Sudan when the flag was raised and Oyee!

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 11 South Sudan

Independence tEArS ANd lAughtEr AS A NEw NAtIoN IS borN

On 9 July South Sudan became Africa’s 54th independent state. Lauren hutton was there to witness the event.

12 tEArS ANd lAughtEr AS A NEw NAtIoN IS borN

south suDan celebrated its independence with a display of diversity in colourful and creative costumes and dancing lauren hutton

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 13 South Sudan

Interview | North The North is not Liesl Louw-Vaudran your enemy speaks to Dr Ali Alsharif, ambassador of Sudan to South Africa.

how do yoU PerCeIVe the tries, including Sudan, are divided inter- QINde PeNdeNCe oF SoUth nally in a very superficial way – into tribes SUdaN? and ethnic and cultural groups – if you As all my friends from both North and have a general overview of Africa, you will South know, I’m a unionist: I believe in see that one day Africa will unite. the unity of Sudan. That is based on my conviction that there is no really strong IS a UNIted SUdaN StILL reason that the Sudan should be divided. QPo SSIbLe? It all depends on how we configure the SoMe Say that IF JohN relation ship between the North and the Qg araNg (ForMer Leader South in the next few months and years. If oF the SPLM) were StILL aLIVe, we work together and with the interna- thINgS MIght haVe beeN tional community to build two viable dIFFereNt? states and make sure the two countries The CPA’s intention was to bring peace cooperate, the borders can become soft and make unity attractive. It is true that borders where people can walk around because of the security arrangements and with their animals for water or for grazing the sharing of power and wealth we man- without thinking they have violated inter- aged to have peace between the North and national borders or international law and Dr. ali alsharif the South [following the signing of the order. CPA in 2005], but we failed to make unity If we cooperate in various fields, such attractive. as oil, trade and joint projects like roads The day Dr Garang died, 21 days after and railroads, and if we have peace, I taking up the position of vice-president, think that after 5 or 10 years, unity will the countdown started for the fallback come automatically. position of the CPA, which is self- Meanwhile we will be part of interna- determination. tional organisations working for integra- With his passing away, we lost a tion. We will be part of the African Union, visionary leader. He wanted a united of Comesa (Common Market for Eastern Sudan and he would have worked for it. and Southern Africa), probably of the EAC (East African Community). Sudan CaN oNe StILL taLk already applied for EAC membership and QoF UNIty? we know the South will definitely be a This is my basic position as an African. I member of the EAC. have a very strong belief in pan-African- Good neighbourly relations will be ism, that as Africa we are destined one day the new basis of equal partnership and to become a United States of Africa. equal relationships. For many years the The unity of Africa of course depends people of the South thought they were on the unity of its component states and seen as second-class citizens. But if they despite the fact that many African coun- come from an independent country they

14 South Sudan

Interview | North

will feel stronger, with a stronger sense of identity. Then it will be like what we see in Europe , which is an economic union that has also dissolved the political barriers. The issue of sovereignty was rendered meaningless because of the peaceful environment.

eVeN thoUgh thIS Q MUtUaL CooPeratIoN IS Not haPPeNINg? This is a difficult and sensitive time. It is a time when one country is divided into two, when one people is divided into two. It is emotionally difficult. It is like amputating a part of your body. But if we pass this difficult sensitive period and slowly come back to the reality of the situation, and if there is a new basis for our relationship and we allow people to move freely, in a very short time we will come back to a situation as it was before independence – because the South was autonomous. The only difference is that Southerners are no longer part of the North. taking up arms and getting a better share a Lot oF aId IS StreaMINg of the wealth and resources and thought QIN to the SoUth. what do wILL the SItUatIoN Need they should do it as well. yoU thINk the PrIorItIeS Q reForM IN khartoUM? ShoULd be? It will need reform not only in Khartoum ISN’t It aLSo aboUt I will say to my brothers and sisters in the but in Juba as well. You have to move QethNIC aNd reLIgIoUS South: avoid an arms race. Don’t waste the towards a democratic and free society, dIFFereNCeS? money of your people on fighting which- with greater representation. This is not the case. Because I don’t think ever enemy. Work not to have an enemy. the war was about Northern Arabs trying The North is not your enemy; we are your what aboUt other areaS, to kill black Southerners or Muslims trying brothers and sisters. We belong to the Q SUCh aS darFUr? to kill Christians. We have so many Chris- same country. There is what is called the theory of mar- tians in the North. The war wasn’t between Now you want to live in your own ginalisation. People are talking about are- the North and the South, because many house next to us. You can’t move us away, as like Blue Nile or southern Kordofan Southerners lived in the North. It was not a let’s be good neighbours. and Darfur as marginalised. The truth is civil war. In the Sudan it was a war between Do not buy aeroplanes and arms. You that most parts of the Sudan are in a way the central government and rebels from will then be indebted to the international marginalised, in the sense that the coun- the South. There were two or three million community. try has always been torn apart by this war. Southerners living in the north. If it was a This is a trick we have fallen for for Most of the country’s resources were civil war they would have been killed. many years as African countries. Please devoted to the war in the South. That’s Personally, if it were my decision, I don’t fall into that trap. Use the money for why now you see people saying we are wouldn’t force Southerners to leave; I’d the people, for development. The people marginalised. Unfortunately the succes- make it voluntary. Introducing dual citi- need a lot of services. Beware of sive governments in the North didn’t take zenship for North and South would have corruption. Let the international commu- this seriously. Why do we have war in allowed people to stay. In 10 or 20 years nity help the development according to Darfur? There was not enough develop- time this would have helped reunite the your needs and not according to their ment. Then they saw people in the South country. agenda.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 15 South Sudan

Interview | South Too many aid workers makes us look poor

Liesl Louw-Vaudran what aboUt the Q beLLIgereNt StateMeNtS speaks to John Yoh, South oF PreSIdeNt oMar aL baShIr Sudan’s new ambassador a Few weekS beFore IN dePeNdeNCe? to South Africa. Well, the president spoke just after the Abyei compromise was signed, so the news would come out the next day, and the SPLM woN the what could he say to people? He said ei- QIN dePeNdeNCe oF SoUth ther we divide the oil 50-50 or South Su- SUdaN, bUt Now It haS to dan pays for the pipeline or they will cut rULe the CoUNt ry. are the our oil supplies. They want $10-15 for New rULerS ready For that? each barrel of oil that passes through the The SPLM/A as a liberation movement pipeline, but we know that between Chad has over the years come up with a clear and Cameroon it is 41 cents so why should mandate. It is not a political party, it is a we pay $15? We are brothers and sisters, mass movement, and the people judge it Dr John Joh so we say, ‘Come on, guys….’ according to its manifesto and agenda. alet pretorius The Sudan, as we understood it, was what are the PrIorItIeS never a country that was well built – the North has been provoking us, taking over QoF the New State? there nation building was not complete – Abyei and so on, but for us these are not SeeMS to be a dISCoNNeCt throughout its history. The decisional really serious political decisions. We know betweeN what the doNorS framework of the Republic of Sudan was them. We know them better than anybody. waNt aNd what the built on a centralised government with the When someone is in crisis, when goVerNMeNt waNtS. majority at the peripheries. To be an Arab someone is losing something precious, If you know what your priorities are and culturally, to be a Muslim, was regarded as they become so desperate that they try to then someone else thinks that he knows the basis to become part of the governing. restructure or derail the process. But we your priorities better, there is an inten- Finally there was economic marginal- know the North cannot do without the tional misunderstanding. isation, where the centre and only some South. We also know we share over 2,000 pockets of the North saw some develop- km of border, so we can’t say North Sudan oN the ISSUe oF ment. This is what led to the war and then is not important. Q deMobILISatIoN For to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement For the short and medium term our exaMPLe, the INterNatIoNaL (CPA). economies are interlinked, so we will have CoMMUNIty IS PUShINg For the The challenge for the SPLM is whether to work it out. arMy to de MobILISe aNd the it will be able to create a new Sudan, a goVerNMeNt doeSN’t See It aS democratic Sudan in the South. wILL the reFereNdUM a PrIorIty. QhaPP eN IN abyeI? We are in an interim period; we are not a what wILL be ItS reLatIoN- It will happen in an easy way, in a very normal government. Now we are moving QSh IP wIth North SUdaN? peaceful way. Nobody thought the refer- to a transitional period of four years. From a geopolitical perspective, we realise endum for the South would take place. These people [aid donors] are more inter- we can’t do without the North and the We knew it would, we told them it would, ested, because we have oil and money, in North can’t do without us. You will have and it did. The Abyei referendum will also doing things we know are a priority – but noticed that in the last six months, the take place. we also know that if we demobilise today,

16 South Sudan

Interview | South

our soldiers will join the militia in the North. Even if they don’t have good intel- A tINdErbox oN thE bordEr ligence in the South, I expect them to know this. The failure to implement the planned referendum in the oil-rich are yoU Not hoStage to Abyei district has fuelled anxieties Qthe Se aId orgaNISatIoNS? on both sides of the North-South The partnership between our develop- divide, especially since the North’s ment partners and us is that all the agen- occupation of Abyei in May this cies in South Sudan – there are over 380 year that resulted in massive NGOs, whether local or international – displacement of people. must transform themselves from relief- When the civil war ended with oriented and short-term oriented organi- the Comprehensive Peace Agree- sations into developmental organisations. ment (CPA), Abyei was accorded a ern territory) into Kordofan. While Then we can talk as equals. special status. The Abyei Protocol the Ngok Dinka communities are The ministry of finance, for example to the CPA stipulates that residents regarded as permanent inhabitants has 60 advisers – young kids, undergradu- were supposed to hold their own of the area, other communities, ates; they’re interns and we call them ex- separate referendum at the same particularly the mainly Arab perts. Their priorities must shift. They time as the referendum in the Misseriya, have established must listen to us. But the way it is going, it South, to decide whether Abyei overlapping rights in Abyei. won’t work. would join the South or the North. The 1972 Addis Ababa Agree- However, the Protocol on ment defined the Southern are yoU oPtIMIStIC that Abyei left the definition of ‘resi- Province as including ‘other areas Qyo U CaN Create a VIabLe, dents’, that is, those eligible to (in addition to Bahr Al Ghazal, INdePeNdeNt, SeLF-SUFFICIeNt vote in the referendum, to the Equatoria and Upper Nile) that State? Abyei referendum commission. were culturally and geographi- The difference between us and others is In December 2009, the Abyei cally a part of the Southern the human capacity we have. If you look at Referendum Act was passed by the complex as may be decided by a those in the parliaments, the state and the National Assembly and signed by referendum.’ This referendum, regions, they all are from the diaspora. Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir. which could have determined the As for South Sudan being a viable The Act, in line with the CPA, status of Abyei, never took place. state, that’s not up for discussion. The re- gave the referendum commission Together with the attacks ality is that South Sudan is far more ad- the sole authority to decide on inflicted on the Ngok Dinka in the vanced than some other African countries who was a resident and had the late 1970s, these factors pushed that have become independent. right to vote in the Abyei referen- members of the Ngok to be People are only saying this because dum, which was supposed to be among the first to join the South there are thousands of NGO workers held on 9 January 2011. But due to in the second civil war, which hanging around, so people say: ah, you disagreement over the nominees began in 1983. don’t have capacity. put forward by the SPLM, the A number of key leading figures commission was never formed, within the SPLM come from Abyei, how wILL yoU bUILd the leading to the indefinite postpone- making the movement’s attach- QeCoNoM y? ment of the Abyei referendum. ment to the region unflinching. Our first priority is agriculture. We are go- At the centre of the disagree- On the part of the North, it can ing to spend all our money on agriculture; ment are the Missiriya nomads, be argued that the ruling National growing cereals, producing food. The sec- who seasonally pass through and Congress Party (NCP) is using ond priority is our livestock. We have 12 graze their livestock in Abyei from Abyei as a tactical manoeuvre million cattle and 11 million goats. We the Muglad-Babanusa region and designed either to delay the border also have one of the biggest water reserves who claim that they should vote demarcation or to deal with its in the world. Only lastly come oil and in the referendum. own internal problems by divert- minerals. We exploit these in that order, to It should be remembered that ing public attention in the North the point that we don’t even explore for in 1905 Abyei was transferred from to threats occurring away from more oil but give concessions on our min- northern Bahir Al Ghazal (a south- the centre. – Solomon A Dersso erals, oil and diamonds.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 17 North Africa

Morocco Window dressing to prevent a revolution?

On 1 July Moroccans ith revolution spreading Although members of the 20 February across North Africa, King movement remained sceptical, many were called to vote for a mohamed vi – or m6, as observers, including several of Morocco’s new constitution, a move some people call him – on 9 foreign partners, particularly the US and WMarch this year made a speech to the France, praised the initiative. largely seen as an effort nation in which he promised ‘profound’ But while some members of the politi- by King Mohamed VI reforms. cal elite in Morocco claim that this initia- This was clearly in response to the tive was not a response to the ‘Arab Spring’ to pre-empt a popular demands of Moroccan citizens who had and that it was planned well before the revolt in his country. also begun popular protests across the ongoing uprisings began, at least some of country. the credit goes to the popular pressure Issaka k Souaré asks Morocco’s monarchy is still widely spearheaded by 20 February movement. whether the reforms respected by the population, so the pro- After weeks of consultation, the new tests have focused mainly on demanding constitution was put to popular vote on go far enough. that the king devolve more powers to the 1 July and, according to official results, elected prime minister, make the judiciary some 98% voted in its favour with a 70% more independent and attend to the electoral turnout. However, there were socio economic needs of the people. many protests in the build-up to the refer- The protesters, spearheaded by the 20 endum, with citizens calling for a boycott February movement (as with the 25 Janu- of the new constitution on the grounds ary movement in Egypt, this is a reference that it did not respond to their demands. to the date of the first major protest march- Some of the protesters have subsequently es), have been calling for the king to with- dismissed the high turnout reported by draw from the day-to-day management of the authorities, saying that in reality very the country’s political affairs and to allow few people voted. them greater freedom of expression. It should be noted that the new constitution provides some incremental changes compared to the last constitutional many observers, including several of amendment made in October 1996, but it falls largely short of meeting the major morocco’s foreign partners, particularly demands of the protesters. the us and France, praised this initiative More Power to the PrIMe MINISter Given that all these issues are dealt On the reform side, the new constitution with in the constitution, the king set up a increases the powers of the prime minis- constitutional review committee to come ter, who must now be the leader of the up with concrete suggestions on ways in majority party following legislative elec- which to reform the country’s political tions. In the 1996 amendment, there was system. no obligation for the king to appoint the various political parties were also re- prime minister from the majority party. quested to submit proposals to the com- Also, the prime minister becomes mittee, led by a former law professor of head of government, he appoints to major the king during his studies in Rabat. civil-service positions as well as state

18 North Africa

Morocco

enterprises, and his signature is required domain, particularly as far as the monarch may be being alongside that of the king on certain royal the monarch’s executive pow- decisions. ers are concerned. cautious and gradualist, but he A second innovation was to make the would be well advised to seriously Amazigh or Berber language an official geNeraL SUPPort language alongside Arabic, although the In light of this, how can we consider increasing both the pace latter still holds sway. This was not the then account for the apparent and scope of the reforms case before, despite the Berbers being the overwhelming ‘yes’ vote for the original inhabitants of Morocco and country’s new constitution? much of the Maghreb (that is, Tunisia, One explanation could be that the turnout need for reforms deserves their support, Libya and Algeria) before its ‘Arabisation’ rate proclaimed by the authorities, or the regardless of the extent to which the re- following the introduction of Islam from percentage of the ‘yes’ vote, might not forms have yet gone. Arabia in the 7th century. have been as high as declared. But this is a It is also important to recognise their Another novelty of the new constitu- fruitless line to follow, as it can only ever awareness of M6’s apparent reformist tion is the fact that Moroccans abroad may now vote and be candidates in various elections back home, depending on certain regulations. Furthermore, a constitutional court has been established, formed of 12 judges, with the aim of strengthening the independence of the judiciary. The king, meanwhile, is no longer described as ‘sacred’, but he remains worthy of respect and inviolability of person, and he is still the Leader of the Faithful, even though Article 41 of the new constitution seems to restrict this to the religious sphere.

No SIgNIFICaNt reForMS While these are commendable reforms, it ought to be pointed out that the king pre- serves many of his executive powers. For example, he remains the ‘Head of State, its supreme representative, symbol of national unity… and the supreme arbiter be- © str new / reuters tween its institutions’. thousanDs of people gather as they take part in a rally to support the Also, and even though it is the prime government’s project for constitutional reform during a peaceful protest minister who proposes their names, it is in Casablanca June 26. although the reforms don’t go far enough, many the king who appoints cabinet ministers moroccans believe in the king’s ‘gradualist approach’ and can revoke them, only needing to consult with the prime minister. He chairs the Council of Ministers, be a matter of speculation for those who orien tation since he succeeded his de- the prime minister having the prerogative were not part of the process. ceased father in 1999. to do so with a pre-determined agenda. Another possible explanation is that In conclusion, therefore, the reforms The King can also dissolve either or both the majority of Moroccans were indeed may seem scant vis-à-vis the demands of houses of parliament, while the head of satisfied with and approved the new the protesters, but they are still important if government may only dissolve the House amendments. Fathoming this would re- compared to the status quo ante. However, of Representatives. quire a comparison of the new constitu- although the monarch may be being cau- This summary reading of the new tion with the old one, as well as recogni- tious and gradualist, he would be well ad- constitution suggests that there have not tion of the Moroccans’ feeling that the vised to seriously consider increasing both been significant reforms in the political very fact their monarch acknowledged the the pace and scope of the reforms.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 19 North Africa

Women

for change Cheryl hendricks and emily kinama ask whether Tripoli hotel and claimed that she had been gang-raped by fifteen of Muammar there is hope for gender equality in the aftermath of Gaddafi’s men. She was later dragged out North Africa’s revolutions. of the hotel by troops who labelled her a prostitute. In a CNN interview she indi- cated that she had been beaten, raped and mages of men and women protesting women in these pro-democracy move- tortured: ‘I was brutally tortured, to the together for more democratic regimes ments, we know very little about gender point of them inserting weapons inside in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have been relations in the Arab Spring countries, why me. They would also pour alcohol in my beamed into living rooms across the and how women have participated, or their eyes.’ She is now a refugee in Romania. Iworld. Banners carried by Tunisian women hopes and the changes that new political The United Nations Special Represen- were emblazoned with the words: ‘No dispensations have brought for them. tative on sexual violence, margot wall- democracy without equality!’ Although a few reports detailed ström, stated that Eman’s case was not an In fact the first spate of protests of the gender-based violence during the upris- isolated incident and that there is a need to ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in the Tunisian town ings, media coverage of these events has prevent sexual violence as fighting esca- of Sidi Bouzid were brought to us through been, at best, gender blind. lates in Misrata and other Libyan towns social media, with 23-year-old Tunisian In Libya, the international media and cities. Sexual violence has become a Maha Issaoui, leader of the Karama (‘dig- fraternity was shocked when a Libyan common tactic in civil wars across the nity’) group, posting videos of the events woman, Eman Al Obeidy, stormed into a world, and allegations that Gaddafi’s forces on Facebook. In Egypt, 25-year-old Mona Seif and the makeup of the transitional government is an 24-year-old Gigi Ibrahim’s tweets on the events unfolding in Tahrir Square were fol- indication that the women’s struggle is far from over. lowed globally, and in Libya, Salwa Bugaighis of the 27 ministers in egyptian prime minister essam became one of the icons of the movement. Despite the large-scale presence of sharaf’s government, there is only one woman

20 North Africa

Women

in the commission. Women are in a contra- Achievement of the Objectives of the Rev- egyptian women, as these seen at a dictory position. On the one hand, we have olution, for Political Reform and Demo- vigil for protesters who died in tahrir a clear role to play in society, but on the cratic Transition, and there are only two square in february 9 this year, play a other hand, when it comes to political deci- women ministers in the provisional tran- key role in the arab spring sion-making, it seems there is a deliberate sitional government (8,6%): the Minister policy of excluding w om e n .’ of Women’s Affairs and the Minister of To counter this tendency towards Health. However, women still constitute were given male enhancement drugs with exclu sion, Egyptian women organised a 25% of the members of the new parlia- the aim of committing mass rapes are not protest in Tahrir Square to mark Interna- ment. Encouragingly, Tunisia has adopted that far-fetched. As stories unfold, it is tional Women’s Day. The protest turned a new electoral code, to be applied in the evident that sexual violence is part of the violent when it was confronted by a group anticipated July constituent assembly repertoire of violence in Libya’s civil war. of men denouncing women’s rights. elections, that introduces the principle of Although mass rapes do not appear to Although in 1956 Egypt was one of the gender parity in the electoral process. be a hallmark of the protests in Egypt, first Arab countries to extend the vote to As for Libya, the GenderIndex reveals there have been incidences of the violation women, they still struggle to occupy their that although ‘most national legislation in of women’s bodily integrity. A Human rightful place in the country’s polity. The the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya supports equal Rights Watch report of May 2011 asserted makeup of the transitional government is rights for men and women,’ it is not effec- that four women detained in a military an indication that the struggle is far from tively enforced. Women remain at a disad- base in Egypt had been forced to undergo over. Of the 27 ministers in Egyptian Prime vantage in family matters, and domestic virginity testing. Minister Essam Sharaf’s government, there vio lence is rife but underreported. The Inter is only one woman. There are no women -Agency Standing Committee on Gender woMeN are aCtorS, Not VICtIMS governors, and no women experts in the noted that 7,7% of Libya’s parliament is asmaa waguih / reuters asmaa waguih These incidents speak to the prevalence of Constitutional drafting committee. made up of women. However, opposition gender-based violence and gender in- The prime minister has been widely political parties are banned and women are equities in these countries, but belie the criticised for failing to equitably include not allowed to form independent organisa- partici pation of women in the liberation movements. Women are actors, not just victims. They are fight- there are currently only two ing for a more demo cratic order, women (5%) on the t ransitional but their particular concerns and interests are either not voiced or be- national council in Benghazi ing drowned out by louder nation- alist or patriarchal voices. If not addressed , this will lead to another lost women in his new government. The re- opportunity to ensure gender equality in moval of the envisaged quota for women’s tions. It is hoped that the Transitional all spheres, including decision-making on representation in the electoral process also National Council (TNC) in Benghazi will the future of these societies. does not bode well for women’s future par- be more gender inclusive, but there are cur- In an interview on Euronews, Nehad ticipation in political decision-making. rently only two women (5%) on the TNC. Abu Alkomsan of the Egyptian Centre for Women have clearly held a place at the Women’s Rights remarked: ‘After President tUNISIa the MoSt ProgreSSIVe forefront of the Arab uprisings. The time [Hosni] Mubarak step ped down, we felt Tunisia has been the most progressive for them to move beyond equality-on- that there was a deliberate attempt to ex- North African state in relation to women’s paper is now. Many studies have shown clude women from the process of political rights. In the New York Times, Fatma Bou- that the most advantageous time to pur- transition. Women were among the thou- vet de la Maisonneuve, a Tunisian psychi- sue change in gender relations is at a time sands who took to the streets to protest, but atrist, noted: ‘It’s no coincidence that the of transition and the fashioning of new when it came to the formation of commit- revolution first started in Tunisia, where norms to guide a society. tees, like the constitution drafting commit- we have a high level of education, a sizea- Women need to ensure that the rights tee, they were conspicuous by their ab- ble middle class and a greater degree of they have already achieved are protected sence. We are concerned about the gender equality.’ in the realisation of the Arab dawn. This influence of orthodox Muslims in the tran- In 2004, 25% of parliamentary seats could either be a time for marked progress sition process. Organi sations like the Mus- were reserved for women, but in the post- in gender relations or a turn in the oppo- lim Brotherhood are reluctant to allow revolution period, women only constitute site direction, where what they have women or Coptic Christians to participate 18% of the High Commission for the gained so far is also under threat.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 21 burkina faso

Army revolt

tough tImES for blAISE CompAoré

Sporadic mutinies by the army in Burkina Faso have left many perplexed as to where this will lead. david Zounmenou believes that change is coming to the country – sooner or later.

erious concerns are being raised army and, more broadly, in the country about the future of Burkina itself, should not be underestimated. Faso’s long-term President Blaise Furthermore, the series of disputes, Compaoré, with riots against his popular protests and army mutinies in Sgovernment ongoing since February this Burkina cannot be explained without a year. critical look at the precarious national po- The protests, which started with stu- litical situation and the ongoing deteriora- dent demonstrations, gained momentum tion of citizens’ living conditions under the when the army joined in, raising serious 24-year rule of Compaoré. concerns over the survival of the regime. Fearing for his life, Compaoré’s early Interestingly, they began in the after- reaction to the unrest was to seek refuge math of Côte d’Ivoire’s post-electoral crisis, in his hometown Ziniaré before returning in which Compaoré played a key role as a to Ouagadougou to reassess the situation. peace broker, while some observers saw in If the mutinies of the presidential guard the unrest the contagious effects of North were to result in a coup d’état, it was not Africa’s ongoing revolutions. clear whether the instigators would spare If in the past the Compaoré regime has him or some close allies of the regime or treated protest movements with contempt whether there would be a unity within the and repression, calling protesters imma- military on that initiative. ture and accusing them of being manipu- Compaoré has established for himself lated by political opposition leaders, this a reputation as a peace broker and en- tone changed when the elite presidential joyed a range of diplomatic successes, to guard and other army units mutinied. the extent that many have almost forgot- Officers within the army claimed that ten that Burkina Faso was cited in some of the army hierarchy was corrupt and pre- the violent civil wars that West Africa has venting them from earning a decent liv- experienced in the post-Cold War era. ing. Tensions rose high with the return of Until recently, he could still rely on his soldiers who had been sent on AU/UN traditional regional and extra-regional peace missions in Sudan and elsewhere partners such as Libya and France. How- and were not paid their allowances. ever, Paris’ stance on the current situation burkina faso’s president blaise The regime in Burkina Faso undenia- in Burkina Faso seems very cautious, while Compaore – seen here waiting to bly relies on the military for its survival. Muammar Gaddafi is facing a civil war that address the un general assembly – Beyond the conflict over unpaid and might end his 42-year rule in Libya. relies on the army to stay in power squandered salaries, the problems in the Regardless of the support that he might

22 burkina faso

Army revolt

get, Compaoré seems to have momentarily Guard. He also dis- the regime in Burkina Faso undeniably regained control over the situation using solved the government the two approaches at his disposal. of Prime Minister Titus relies on the military for its survival First he responded to the demands of Zongo and appointed a the Presidential Guard by sacking senior new prime minister, army officers, including the Army Chief Luc Adolphe Tiao, for- of Staff and the Head of the Presidential mer Ambassador of Burkina Faso to in office beyond 2015. It would not be the France and former member of the ruling first time that the constitution has been party, to form a new cabinet. amended to keep him in power on the fal- Second, he moved quickly to address lacious grounds that his departure would the financial claims of the members of the lead to instability, but any attempt to hang Presidential Guard that provided incen- on to power beyond 2015 could also be a tive for other units of the army to revolt. trigger for detrimental political unrest. Neither of these measures, however, has succeeded in quelling the dissent, and oppo sition leaders are openly calling for how It All bEgAN his departure. The new prime minister was only able he crisis started when to renew half of the cabinet, with key tstudents accused security strategic positions remaining under the forces of assassinating control of the ruling party. Compaoré student leader Justin Zongo himself took up the Defence Ministry and went on the rampage over while deploying his Special Security the government’s alleged Forces to repress fresh mutinies in Bobo- militarisation of campuses. Dioulasso, the second major city in Lawyers joined in to Burkina Faso. At least seven people, protest against the lack of including a young girl, have been killed in independence in the judiciary exchanges of fire between pro-govern- and the security forces’ ment forces and the dissidents. recurrent interference with The key questions that remain unan- judicial processes. The swered are whether a robust military re- movement then spread to sponse will end the precarious situation, merchants opposing the and whether Compaoré will be able to army’s ruthless assaults on work out a short- to medium-term exit their properties and denounc- strategy for himself and spare Burkina ing excessively high taxation. Faso from falling into social disorder as a Political opposition parties result of failed political transition. lent their support to the In appointing himself as the new de- protests, hoping to provoke fence minister, Compaoré made it clear the downfall of Blaise that his foremost priority is to regain con- Compaoré’s regime and make trol over the military. The extent to which Burkina Faso the first sub- the army determines political outcomes in Saharan country affected by Burkina Faso is quite well known, and its the revolutions sweeping support remains vital for the regime’s sur- North Africa. vival. A major concern is that it could suc- cessfully undermine any political transition that sought to curtail its privileges or In the shadow of the president is his ignore its grievances. special army chief of staff, General Gilbert There is ongoing debate over the con- Diendere, one of the close military allies stitutional amendment, mainly on Article of the regime and essential pillar of the 37, which limits presidential mandates. personal security arrangements of Blaise However, there is no guarantee that Com- Compaoré. ›› mike segar / reuters paoré will not attempt to extend his term Historical evidence in West Africa

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 23 burkina faso

Army revolt

and across the continent demonstrates The myth of chaos after Compaoré ular revolt and provide a platform for an that the most successful coups d’état have should not cloud the legitimate need for orderly transfer of power according to do- always been staged by the personal secu- change in Burkina Faso, and concrete mestic laws and regional norms on demo- rity officers or close allies of the president. steps should be taken to anticipate a pop- cratic governance.

NEvEr ANy rEAl dEmoCrACy

he current challenges are the unemployed urban youth. tmost serious that President To make matters even more © luc gnago / reuters Blaise Compaoré had to face since complicated, the global financial the 1987 military coup that claimed crisis and resulting job losses have the life of Thomas Sankara and also had a negative impact on the saw Compaoré rise to power. country’s socioeconomic struc- After the coup, Compaoré was tures. The immediate manifestation accused of masterminding the of this is the recurrent riots over assassination of his revolutionary increased food prices that have companion, the youthful and threatened the stability of Burkina charismatic Sankara, who dreamed Faso and many other African presiDent blaise Compaoré of transforming the country into a countries. congratulates Côte d’ivoire’s allasane land of decent people. It is a paradox that the ruling ouattara at his inauguration. the Since then, efforts to democra- party, the Congrès pour la Dé- crisis in Côte d’ivoire had a severe tise Burkina Faso have been at best mocratie et le Progrès (CDP), which impact on burkina faso cosmetic, and its socioeconomic has managed to win almost all progress, although praised by electoral contests since the 1990s, that prompted army officers and international financial institutions, now find itself under pressure the presidential guard to launch is very limited. Burkina remains from social forces. Compaoré’s the violent protests that nearly one of the poorest countries on the regime has become increasingly ended Compaoré’s rule. planet. unpopular for failing to bring Closely related to the consoli- The decade of crisis in neigh- about meaningful socioeconomic dated patronage network is the bouring Côte d’Ivoire has had a and political change. absence of an impartial justice double impact on the economy in At the same time, the opposi- system. Citizens are used to the Burkina Faso. On one hand, it has tion is virtually non-existent, culture of impunity that has negatively affected bilateral trade dashing any hope for a credible become one of the major character- between the two countries and political alternative. For most istics of post-Sankara Burkina Faso. therefore national revenues have observers, the main reason for the Furthermore, several high-pro- shrunk. Even though goods, government’s inability to deliver is file activists have been killed in services and remittances continue not necessarily the shortage of suspicious circumstances, with no to flow in from Burkinabe living in resources, but rather the extensive conclusive investigations conduct- Côte d’Ivoire, they are sometimes patronage system of the ruling ed. The assassination in 1998 of rerouted through other countries elite and its control over the state Norbert Zongo – a newspaper in the region, such as Togo, Ghana apparatus and available resources. editor who challenged Compaoré’s and Benin, resulting in significant Compaoré’s brother and authority over a corruption inci- losses for the regime. economic adviser, François dent involving his brother François On the other hand, the return to Compaoré, is widely perceived as Compaoré – remains one of the Burkina Faso of citizens fearing for a ‘little president’ and a key figure most pernicious cases of impunity. their lives might also have placed in maintaining the status quo while After seven years of unconvincing added pressure on the state’s the regime’s allies enrich them- investigation, the court declared resources and its capacity to selves unopposed. It was frustra- itself unqualified to deliver a respond to increasing social tion at the lack of transparency in verdict and the main suspect – demands, mainly among the the management of their resources François Compaoré – walked free.

24 opinion

African Union Is the AU setting itself up to fail like the OAU?

The way in which the African Union (AU) has he AU has been widely criticised (UNSC) Resolution 1973 (2011) on the responded to conflicts for its handling of the recent upris- one hand and those of the ad hoc High ings in North Africa (Libya), as Panel (Congo Brazzaville, Mauritania, since its inception a well in Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan Mali, South Africa and Uganda) on the T(South Kordofan and Abyei). other. Additionally the Arab League, decade ago has exposed In Sudan it would appear that greater which includes AU members (Algeria, deep conceptual and responsibility for the implementation of Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) structural inconsistencies the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accord of the dysfunctional Arab Maghreb Union (CPA) and the relevant Protocols on (AMU), voted for Libya’s suspension, pro- that raise severe doubts Abyei was relegated to the UN and the viding diplomatic cover to the subsequent over whether it can inter national community. NATO operation. In spite of the Arab One may rightly ask why the AU did League’s AMU subsidiarity position, the achieve its own stated not consider it expedient to pre-emptively AU has continued to pursue a policy track goals, believes deploy an African force to the North- of negotiation and dialogue that appears South Sudan border in the run-up to out of step with the mainstream senti- Festus b aboagye. inde pendence in the South. ment of popular protests for freedom. On the Northern African conflict, the The AU High Panel’s position also AU system appeared dysfunctional, pre- runs counter to broader consensus within senting conflicting positions between its the international community, including three member states (Gabon, Nigeria and the UNSC referral of the situation in Lib- South Africa) on UN Security Council ya to the ICC, which subsequently issued an arrest warrant for the Libyan leader, as well as the declaration of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights on massive human rights violations by the Gaddafi regime. The AU adopted the same dysfunctional approach towards the Ivorian crisis in which its numerous principal mediators (Thabo Mbeki, Raila Odinga, Bingu wa Mutharika, Teodoro Nguema and Blaise Compaoré) presented a conflicting array of democratic credentials and leverage as well as divergent negotiating positions. To compound matters Nigeria’s position to co-sponsor UNSC Resolution 1975 (2011) for an UN-French mandate on the protec- tion of civilians in Côte d’Ivoire may be the au has been much criticized for lauded by some, but it does underscore the appointing guinea bissau’s president lack of consensus within the Economic theodoro obiang nguema as chair of Community of West African States (ECO- the organisation for 2011 ›› reBecca Blackwell WAS) and between different actors in

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 25 opinion

African Union

Africa – most prominently between heavy weights Nigeria and South Africa. In its response to the contrasting positions of its various members, the AU itself was predictably silent and tardy even in prescribing its impotent remedy of mediation, mediation and more mediation irre- spective of the extent of human rights abuses by parties to the conflict. While the UNSC was proactive in paying a visit to the war-torn countries of eastern Africa (Sudan and Somalia), the AU PSC remained stuck in Addis Ababa and looked on silently in the face of the emerging genocide and fratricide in the South Kor- dofan and Abyei regions of Sudan. How could the AU be so blatantly ignorant of the timing of these new conflicts just prior to the independence of the Republic of South Sudan, made possible in the first Darfur and Somalia, the AU and its much show that the AU remains largely irrele- place by the failure of the OAU system to vaunted African Peace and Security vant and indifferent to destabilising con- manage more than 20 years of the North- Archi tecture are sliding down the path of flicts, preferring crisis management and South Sudan conflict? failure in their responses to the ‘new con- damage limitation over more proactive In summary, with the mixed results flicts’ in Libya, Côte d’Ivoire and South efforts to tackle the root causes of conflict achieved in the interventions in Burundi, Sudan. The responses to these conflicts within the continent, often bad govern-

from oAu to Au: Spot thE dIffErENCE

n 2002, after a one-year transi- years of existence, blindly held to This failure was attributed to the Itional period, the OAU was some principles – sovereign Central Organ, which was founded transformed into the AU, with a equality, non-interference in the in 1993 within the framework of the formal inauguration in Durban, affairs of member states and Cairo Declaration and charged with South Africa, in July 2003. The birth pacific settlement of disputes – anticipating or preventing conflicts. of the AU received mixed reac- based on a Charter sacrosanctly in Where conflicts had occurred, the tions. To some, it was just a cos- service of sovereignty. Armed with Central Organ was to undertake metic removal of the letter ‘O’. For such a political philosophy, the peacemaking and peace-building others, it was a momentous, OAU set itself up to fail through its functions in order to facilitate their long-overdue transformation dismal performance and inability resolution. informed by a fundamental shift, to prevent, let alone address, the Eventually, the continental not a patch-up, in the principles scourge of conflicts on the leadership is on record for admit- and purposes of the new Union. To continent. The OAU’s failure was ting that the OAU’s Central Organ this school of thought, the AU’s made more apparent by the was unable to prevent the 1994 constitutional stipulation on the continent’s marginalisation on the Rwandan genocide or expeditious- right of intervention in grave world stage, especially after the ly manage the 1998 Burundi circumstances was proof of its Cold War. conflict. In the context of the Cairo transformation. More than anything else, the Declaration, the Organ was also Pertinently, a number of issues key factor that informed the OAU’s unable to find closure to the 1991 forced the transformation of an irrelevance was its failure to conflict in Somalia that continued OAU that, throughout its almost 40 prevent and/or manage conflicts. to spiral out of control.

26 opinion

African Union

grEAt E xpECtAtIoNS: thE pEACE ANd SECurIty CouNCIl

ike the United Nations in the lcase of the League of Nations, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) replaced the Central Organ. It entered into force in late 2003 and was launched in 2004 as a key component of the emergent African Peace and Security Council (APSA). Its much-publicised policy stances and rhetoric of non-indif- ference and of ‘finding African

reBecca Blackwell solutions to African problems’ at its summit in malabo in July, the au was divided about the conflict in libya constitute the first set of reasons why the African public especially expects to see the PSC’s marked departure from the same business- ance by the leadership of AU members and consolidation of these ideals, the as-usual approach of the OAU. themselves. AU should craft a new governance Starting with the conflicts that it To ensure that it does not set itself up archi tecture based on adherence to a inherited, the AU PSC was indeed for failure, the AU must pay urgent atten- set of inviolable norms and values and able to undertake a peace operation to broad political philosophy issues, not the club mentality of ‘we the tion in Burundi. including: leaders’ of all states and their notions While AMIB’s presence might n The realisation that the OAU’s policy of state-centred security that are inju- have prevented an escalation of the of accommodation between ideologi- rious to human security within the Burundi conflict, the mission was cal blocs was one of political expedi- continent. hardly able to implement the ency to embark on the path of unity n There is need for better vertical AU-to- essential tasks it was assigned. The towards an eventual union frame- REC (Regional Economic Communi- ensuing peace in Burundi was not work. ty) and horizontal REC-to-REC coor- a result only of the political and n The imperative for an African political dination of policy stances. Africa’s lead military efforts of the AU, but also voice on the world stage was the moti- nations should realise that, no matter of significant political mediation vation that informed the establishment how high the regard of outsiders, they efforts by South Africa, as well as of the OAU without discriminating be- will gain greater legitimacy through of ‘war fatigue’ on the part of the tween democratic, autocratic and dicta- the support of like-minded African Burundian protagonists, and of torial states and governments. Today countries and therefore need to consult external (UK and US) governmen- the aspiration towards civilian demo- with them on issues that affect the well- tal support to underwrite the costs cratic rule should embolden the AU to being of the citizens of Africa. of the peace operation. adopt a ‘fundamentalist’ approach to n At the same time, the desire and need The AU PSC has been lauded democratic accounta bility, in order to for more coherence in AU policies for its intervention in Sudan’s make civilian unconstitutionalism or cannot serve to defend repressive re- Darfur region in 2004. But what did military adventurism things of the past. gimes and mass human rights viola- the PSC do differently from the n The realisation that any form of uncon- tions by particular leaders. OAU’s Central Organ, beyond the stitutionalism, whether civilian or mili- As things stand, the AU appears to be deployment of the AU Mission in tary, is a symptom of underlying socio- setting itself up to fail by its tardy, inco- Sudan-Darfur (AMIS) of about 7 political (and economic) malaise herent policy approaches and refusal to 700 peacekeepers, including the resulting from social injustice and the respond to the root causes of conflict, as historic deployment of about 1 340 absence of democratic accountability. well as the deficit in democratic govern- police monitors? n To add more value to the achievement ance and accountability within Africa.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 27 Analysis

UN Security Council

No morE back-door diplomacy

Following the controversy he shift in global power and influence from the North Atlantic to surrounding the the Asia-Pacific region is clearly UN-sanctioned military the big story for the next 20 years. TWe are looking at a future where intervention in Libya, Western domination of global affairs de- Jakkie Cilliers argues clines quite markedly, leading to the emergence of a much more diffuse and that reforming the UN multipolar world where economic and Security Council is now political weight is distributed very differently. It is also an increasingly unstable more urgent than ever. world; more competitive, less hierarchical but also more connected and less clear

about where authority lies. martinez monsivais paBlo In this future, regional organisations, clubs and issue-based groups will gain importance against formal organisations such as the UN and alliances such as NATO. Today the disproportionate influence Although US military dominance is of the P5 members of the UN Security likely to remain unchecked for at least the Council (the US, China, France, Britain next two decades, the world map is being and Russia) weighs heavily on the focus steadily rebalanced in all other aspects. and effectiveness of Council business, The future is a more complex world of which reflects an increasingly distant era shifting networks, alliances and issue- of post-World War 2 power and privilege. based partners, where new sources of soft For decades there have been few fun- power – economics, culture and informa- damental changes in the operational logic tion – appear to attract as much influence of the Security Council. The secretive, as battleships, aircraft and soldiers. back-door diplomacy means that most This will place extreme demands on agreements are struck between these five staid, unrepresentative institutions such countries before being presented to other as the UN Security Council (UNSC), members – a fact that continues to irk the designed as it was to deal with two main non-permanent members and detracts competitors for global power: Capitalism from the legitimacy of the UN Security and Communism. Council as a whole.

28 Analysis

UN Security Council

presiDent baraCk obama has sought to recast american multilateral engagement within the framework of the us as the ‘indispensible partner’

The signs of global realignment are tries, the developing countries demand becoming increasingly evident, most es- equality between countries and decry the Whereas in the 40 pecially in terms of the growing impor- lack of democracy between countries and years from 1965 to tance attached to the G20 compared to the within purported international organisa- 2004 the original G7 G8, and the competition between these tions such as the UN Security Council, (Canada, Germany, France, the clubs and the UNSC. the IMF and the World Bank. UK, Italy, Japan and the US) In this construct, sub-regional arrange- The voice from the developing world is produced around two-thirds ments such as regional economic commu- one that calls for a more consensual and the global output, by 2010 this nities (RECs) constitute building blocks of measured approach to external interven- had dropped to about 50%. In a continental system through the African tion that is informed by regional dynamics. contrast, the G20, largely as a Union, for example, that includes efforts at Fundamentally, South Africa and othe r result of its inclusion of structural conflict prevention, early warn- non-permanent members of the UNSC countries such as China, India ing, peacekeeping and other instruments at such as Germany agree that the UN should and Brazil, reflects roughly various stages of maturity and readiness. be the key platform for addressing the 88% of the global GDP and While the developed countries focus global governance deficit. India, Brazil and will continue to do so until at their attention on the lack of democracy Nigeria, also currently non-permanent least mid-century. and good governance in developing coun- members of the UNSC, agree on the ››

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 29 Analysis

UN Security Council

need for reform of the UNSC. Without favour of the resolution, European reform, the declining ability of P5 mem- approaches have sought to margin- bers to have an impact on global peace alise the AU’s role in the process. and security matters will translate, ever The lack of African ‘ownership’ more rapidly, into the decline in the in the conflict raises serious importance of the UN itself. questions about decision-making Hence, the current composition of the supremacy and division of labour in UNSC presents an important window of the evolving strategic partnership opportunity to push for reform. Unfortu- between the UN and the AU on nately it looks set to become a source of peace and security. There is a gen- iner tia, where would-be permanent eral understanding that the partner- members compete for the lowest common ship is based on Chapter viii of the denominator, although the German UN Charter, but there seem to be abstentio n and South Africa’s vote in afriCan union head of peace and less agreement on the interpretation favour of UNSC Resolution 1973 on Libya security ramtane lamamra has and application thereof. would indicate that there is little likeli- complained that africa is being For example, with regard to the mat- hood of this happening. sidelined on the libyan crisis ter of decision-making supremacy, Chap- More effective and legitimate global ter viii accords regional organisations governance involves much more than the the mandate of being the first source of enlargement of the UNSC and the current and conflict management. reference in their own regional conflicts competition over potential seats. It is also – How will Africa be represented? It is based on the principles of subsidiarity, among other things – about streamlining quite probable that once Africa secures complementarity and comparative advan- decision-making procedures (which must two permanent or semi-permanent seats tage. However, the Charter also empha- eventually do away with the category of on an expanded UNSC, the common Af- sises the UNSC’s decision-making su- permanent members as well as the veto rican posi tion on UN reform will be premacy in Article 53(1), which states right) and enhancing the UN’s capacity and amended to allow for rotation between that all regional actions require the au- efficiency in addressing global challenges. key countries to serve on the Council, ide- thorisation of the UNSC. Quite possibly UNSC reform will ally on an elected basis. In this sense, the The AU explicitly acknowledges that come down to a ‘package proposal’, such road to a permanent seat for South Africa, the UNSC ‘has the primary responsibility as the G4 proposal by Germany, Japan, Nigeria and even Egypt does not start in for the maintenance of international peace India and Brazil. In other words, South New York but rather in Addis Ababa. This and security’ and does not expect the Africa has a good chance of gaining a seat will be through engagement on the all- UNSC to be bound by the decisions of the on the UNSC as part of a larger deal, some important Ezulwini Consensus, which in- AU’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) on African issues. Nonetheless, as a ‘everyone in the security council, not only south africa, is having minimum the AU ex- second thoughts about the resolution.’ – leslie gumbi, chief d irector in pects the UNSC to consult with it and take its south africa’s department of international relations and cooperation requests under consid- on south africa voting in favour of resolution 1973 on libya eration on decisions regarding its member states, given its proxim- elements of which may not be completely sists on two permanent seats for Africa ity and familiarity with African conflict palatable to either party. Almost half of with veto rights. dynamics – thereby recog nising the the 17 UN peacekeeping missions cur- principle of comparative advantage. This rently being conducted are in Africa, and LIbya a tUrNINg PoINt is not currently the case, most evidently in over two-thirds of the UN’s peacekeepers As recently demonstrated with the UN- Somalia where the UNSC has studiously (or ‘blue helmets’) are stationed here. As SC’s Resolution 1973 on Libya, the rela- avoided responding to AU calls for speedy was vividly demonstrated by the unfold- tionship between regional and global gov- imposition of a naval blockade and a no- ing events in North Africa and especially ernance is not straight forward. Although fly zone. in Libya, Africa remains a region with all three of the African countries that are The PSC’s expectation of a non-hier- severe security challenges that demands currently non-permanent members of the archical relationship with the UNSC often supply of both global conflict prevention UNSC (SA, Nigeria and Gabon) voted in clashes with the view of the permanent

30 Analysis

UN Security Council

thE uS StIll ClINgINg to powEr ‘mission determines the alliance’. Recent examples of issue- would describe relations in a The US does not, of course, based US global partnerships Ifuture interpolar world as being believe in any of this. However, would include the US Nuclear characterised by ‘multiple multi- rather than the unilateral and Security Summit that, in April lateralism’ – in other words, it hegemonic approach of the Bush 2010, saw 46 countries sign up to would have multiple sources of administration, President Barack a voluntary plan to safeguard power and legitimacy spread Obama has sought to recast nuclear material used in bombs, across a number of organisations, American multilateral engagement civilian nuclear reactors and institutions and networks. within the framework of the US as power plants, and to strengthen It would no longer be a the ‘indispensible partner’. This, in associated international efforts. Western-dominated world, but the words of Secretary of State The Summit and the Global one where norms such as rule of Hilary Clinton, is tilting the US away Counter-Terrorism Forum that law, democracy and generally, from multipolarity to a multi- Obama plans to launch in Septem- free trade, predominate, having partner world. This is not the same ber this year would, possibly, be effectively become global values as a belief in standard multi- another example of the same but managed in a complex and lateralism, but an amended version trend as would initiatives such as slightly chaotic manner. of the Bush doctrine that the the Community of Democracies that was launched in Warsaw in 2000. In both instances US efforts aim to complement or supplant global efforts where US national interests are at odds with the emerging global consensus. This phase will prove tran- sitionary as US policy makers struggle to come to terms with the relative decline in power and privilege. At some point the US, as did the UK and others before, will rediscover multilateralism and

© mike segar / reuters see the national benefits of a the uniteD nations security Council meets at the u.n. headquarters in new rules-based global system – but york, July 13, 2011, where they unanimously recommended admitting the newly we are some decades away from formed nation of south sudan into the united nations this development. – Jakkie Cilliers

members and a fundamentally unequal tations, joint field the voice from the developing world calls relationship that is derived from their visits and, more gen- respective mandates and the universal erally, increased syn- for a more consensual and measured character of the UN. chronisation in the approach to external inter vention, This clash hinges upon the interpreta- respective decisions tion of the principle of complementarity of the two structures. informed by regional dynamics between regional and global governance The AU has also and demonstrates how the evolving part- initiated a process nership between the UNSC and the PSC is intended to help it develop a stronger and result has been a selective and inconsist- still in need of clearer guidelines and more more structured relationship with the ent approach by the UNSC on which con- political coherence to make the two or- UNSC. flicts to engage with, thereby undermin- gans, in fact, complementary. The rapid expansion of UN peace- ing its own legitimacy. It also makes a Against this background, SA is cham- keeping and the resulting overstretched more clear and flexible interpretation of pioning the relationship between the PSC conflict-management system is perhaps Chapter viii on the relationship between and the UNSC, which has led to tangible the most obvious example of the current global and regional governance all the improvements including regular consul- deficit in supply of global governance. The more necessary.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 31 Country focus

Angola

IN thE ShAdow With a new constitution that gives the president of the even more power, Paula Cristina roque examines the way forward for Angola’s fragile informal government and its parallel structures. state

he central government in Luanda economic growth and the expansion of a has not only survived a potent in- centralised patronage network that fur- surgency, external intervention, ther contributes to the stability of the ex- international isolation, sanctions isting political order. Tand economic collapse, but it has also The structures of this hybrid resilience managed to emerge victorious from a are the most difficult to reform because highly destructive and divisive civil war, they have been moulded to advance the achieving double-digit economic growth interests of a few individuals. Dismantling less than a decade after the cessation of them will present great difficulty for the hostilities. leadership of future governments in Lu- Hence the state in Angola may be re- anda – which may attempt to rule through garded as resilient and even effective. these institutions, but will eventually have However, closer examination of the to reform them. Angolan political order reveals a very dis- This will be difficult, as the regime in tinct reality of two parallel ruling struc- Luanda mimics not only democracy, but tures: the formal, fragile government also a functioning state – in which a care- ruled by the Movimento Popular de Lib- fully orchestrated social engineering pro- ertação de Angola (MPLA), and the more cess creates the illusion of a modern and resilient ‘shadow’ government, controlled rehabilitated society – with its own mid- and manipulated by the presidency with dle class and rising entrepreneurs. Sonangol, the national oil company, as its chief economic motor. a CeNtraLISed State While these structures are mutually On 21 January 2010, the Legislative As- several more years will dependent, their internal functions are sembly in Luanda passed a new constitu- pass before the population sometimes at odds with each other. Re- tion formalising the unlimited power of cent changes to these structures reveal the the presidency. The new constitution offi- is able to participate in fault lines that the ruling elite has tried to cially names the president head of state, reshaping local and conceal, as well as new opportunities for head of the executive, and commander- engagement with the ruling structures of in-chief of the armed forces. He can also regional organs and hold Angola by African and international poli- appoint judges to the constitutional and the governors accountable cymakers. supreme courts. The parallel governments have indeed It abolishes the post of prime minister for their mis management managed to maintain a political order and and also the direct election of the presi- post-war stability, which have allowed for dent; instead the leader of the party with of assets

32 Country focus

Angola

the most parliamentary seats automati- can pass laws by decree. Several elements governors accountable for their misman- cally becomes head of state. This effective- of the MPLA are reported to have strongly agement of assets. Governors will contin- ly means that Dos Santos could remain in opposed the new legislation and proposed ue to be appointed by and serve at the dis- power until 2022, since the two-term instead that the president be elected by di- cretion of the president. Allowing the limit begins only with the next legislative rect polls. population in the provinces to elect its lo- elections in 2012. This change will also result in the fur- cal government representatives would be The president can be removed from ther delay of local and municipal elec- too risky for the government. office by parliament, but only with the ap- tions, which were originally scheduled to proval of the Supreme Court, whose judg- take place in September 2009, after the goVerNMeNt reShUFFLe es are appointed by the president. The presidential polls. The new Constitution In October 2010, the government under- pyramid of power has now been formal- promises the staging of some form of local went a significant reshuffle with the inte- ised in the country’s legislation and has elections (Articles 217-22), but with no rior and foreign ministers being substi- effectively unleashed the flow of unlimit- mention of the type of institutions to be tuted, along with the chief of staff and all ed power in Futungo (the presidency). elected. key elements of the provincial govern- The president has been given wide Several more years will pass before the ments, including the governors of Luanda powers in appointing and exonerating all population is able to participate in reshap- and Cabinda (the remaining 16 of the 18 key positions in the state apparatus, and ing local and regional organs and hold the governors retained their positions). ››

luanDa: angola’s capital luanda is the theatre of high political drama as two parallel ruling structures operate, often at odds with one another mike hutchings / reuters

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 33 Country focus

Angola

The architect of these changes is the his tenure, feeling unable to rely on the doS SANtoS minister of state for political and economic previous group of officials in the shadow All powErful affairs and head of the civilian office of the and formal governments. presidency – the technocrat Carlos Feijó, Changes have, therefore, occurred at he presidency today is the who has already created several independ- the formal government level to make it tmost powerful institution in ent bodies within the MPLA by promoting more dependent on the shadow govern- Angola. Dos Santos is not only these legislative changes, and has extended ment – the weakening of the economy the head of state, but also the his influence without being subservient to and finance ministries, whilst at the same president of the party, the the political bureau of the MPLA. time strengthening the interior ministry, commander-in-chief of the The greatest threat for the Angolan ensured that the latter’s first line of report armed forces, and the principal ruling elite is domestic. Within the MPLA, and loyalty is the presidency. ‘adviser’ to all other actors there is a general disapproval of the kind This strategy could backfire, however, involved in running the country. of uncontrolled corruption that is cur- and actually cause the party to unite rently rampant. The MPLA congress held against him. Angola could be heading to- at the end of April was expected to select a wards an era of political contestation as party candidate for the 2012 elections as the formula for governing this hybrid well as the leading members of the next state evolves. With all these alterations to administration. the centre of power, will the president and There was speculation that Dos Santos his ‘shadow’ government be able to main- may not run and the party could be head- tain control over coercion, administrative ed by Carlos feijó, manuel vicente or an- authority and party allegiance? Even after tonio Pitra Neto. There would then be a the April congress, these questions re- possibility that Dos Santos would seek to main unanswered.

claudia daut / reuters retain control of the party from the position of head of the MPLA, but allowing the eMergINg hegeMoNy Over the past 32 years, Dos someone else (lacking a popular base and If Angola’s domestic politics and power Santos has kept the MPLA and constituency) to take the presidency in a architecture have long remained opaque the government in check by Putin-like move. However, by choosing to and difficult to read for the outside world, expanding a highly efficient leave this issue open, Dos Santos is biding even less is known about the country’s system of patronage that time for his next move in power. foreign policy in general. This is particu- rewards a loyal elite of politi- By distancing himself from the party larly true for the post-war period and for cians, family members and the and surrounding himself with ‘outsiders’, Angola’s role in Africa. military. Dos Santos is either sowing the seeds for Luanda does not succumb to external Many, including General further fragmentation within the MPLA pressures, given that it is not a major re- Helder Vieira Dias Kopelipa, also and the armed forces, or attempting to cipient of foreign aid and has the diplo- previously held important realign the apex of state power to secure matic clout of its mineral wealth. portfolios, such as the Office for National Reconstruction (GRN), thE four mplA fACtIoNS which supervises the China Investment Fund. Public Works ➊ Silva mateus ➋ vice-p resident ➌ Carlos feijó ➍ Kopelipa Minister General Higino Car- • ‘27 May’ faction Nando • Technocrats • Controls neiro controls the holding • From the Nito • Controls • Criticises the need various Caduta Organizacoes with Alves group paramilitary for a political networks of interests in banking, insurance, that attempted group of 10 000 bureau, even informers in tourism and agro-industry. a coup in 1977 rapid response though he was a separate Angola’s largest mobile phone but was brutally units (‘Ninjas’) recently nomina- reporting company, Unitel, is partly owned squashed by • Controls police ted as member structure by the president’s daughter Isabel the mainstream • Considered • Feijó’s increasing (like Nando and by the head of communi- MPLA untainted by boldness may faction) cations in the presidency, corruption threaten interest Brigadier General Leopoldino groups within Fragoso do Nascimento. MPLA

34 Country focus

Angola

ANgolA’S ShAdow StAtE – ‘All thE prESIdENt’S mEN’

president dos Santos the PreSIdeNt’S UNeLeCted adVISerS: • Key generals and civilian loyalists, including heads of security services and counter-information services • Information services are more powerful than the cabinet and provincial government, given that the former have proven more effective in extending state administration and controlling the population FUNCtIoNS: • To serve the president • To manage all necessary resources needed to guarantee operational success

SoNaNgoL • Chief motor of the two co-ordinating CIVILIaN MILItary and shadow government structures of the state hoUSe hoUSe • Enables the president to operate a vast patronage network (run by carlos Feijó) (run by general kopelipa)

state seCurity anD serviCe for military external intelligenCe Intelligence services information serviCes (sinfo) intelligenCe (sim) serviCe (sie) run until recently by previously run by general run by general José maria sebastião martins miala, currently headed principal functions: principal functions: by andré sango • Determining the political • Collects intelligence principal functions: configuration of the region • Serves as ‘political police force’ • To guard the individual (in particular the • Co-ordinates provinces, the and collective loyalty of two congos) private sector and the civil service the military and the • Protecting the interests of • Creates a wide network of different units the president abroad informers

It does not react well to impositions of in key policy matters on the continent, AU and the international community de- any sort and its pragmatism allows it to en- albeit cautiously. clared support for Ouatarra, Dos Santos gage with divergent global powers, even Although Angola’s foreign policy in had to quickly reconsider his diplomatic the US and China that previously support- the past led the government to extend position and try and save face by appeared the ruling party’s arch-enemy UNITA. support for other neighbouring regimes ing to act as a solution to the crisis and not The tendency to operate in isolation is to isolate UNITA, as in the case of the an obstacle. also a characteristic of its ‘exceptionalism’, support given to President Sassou-Ngues- A task force had already been created where Luanda prefers to take a ‘statist’ ap- so in Congo-Brazzaville and Laurent within the shadow government, with proach rather than a multilateral consensual Kabila in the DRC, this tendency will Kopelipa and Chicoty, to deal with the approach. The sense of ‘exceptional’ derives continue even though UNITA no longer Côte d’Ivoire situation, although, given from an internal ruling perception of not poses a military threat. Luanda will shift Gbabgbo’s capture, it may become redun- ‘serving any master’, having the military and its focus to projecting force to prevent in- dant. This crisis may have provided Luanda political might to influence policy continen- stability from the Great Lakes region with the opportunity to further reconfigure tally, and being able to engage with the West threatening its national security. its regional policy – a step that had already on an equal negotiating basis. been taken with the recent support by the Furthermore, the need to be ‘a big fish SUPPort to gbagbo Angolan armed forces to Guinea Bissau to in a small pond’, to determine the rules of eMbarraSSINg begin a far-reaching programme of securi- engagement, in having impenetrable However, the current impasse and inter- ty sector reform. Angola will not want to be influence in certain capitals, and not plac- national embarrassment that Angola now caught in an embarrassing and politically ing itself in a position of weakness politi- faces after pledging its full support to Côte compromising situation again (as it was in cally, economically or militarily, are d’Ivoire’s former president, Laurent Gbag- the Côte d’Ivoire) and this recent experi- additional elements of Luanda’s petro- bo, who declared himself the winner of ence may provide the necessary impetus to capitalist power. the 2010 elections in spite of the official stimulate internal debate. However, it must Luanda, therefore, aims to play a larg- results that gave Alassane Ouatarra the be noted that the key imperatives of Luan- er role in defining the political, economic presidency, will probably persuade Luan- da’s foreign policy, driven by the presiden- and security landscape of southern Afri- da to reconsider its regional approach. cy and the information services, will con- ca, in a direct bid to secure its interests The first reaction was to send arms tinue to be security, influence and and as an alternative to South Africa’s he- and a military contingent of 300 men to domination, and economically advanta- gemony, while also wanting to be involved protect Gbabgo. However, given that the geous cooperation.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 35 business

African development

ECoNomIC trANSformAtIoN as an afterthought william gumede looks at the past 50 years of independence and asks why Africa hasn’t lived up to expectations when it comes to economic development.

n their struggle for freedom, most interest, and to understand that there can African independence and liberation be no economic development unless the movements focused on capturing largest possible number of citizens are political power first, while economic lifted out of poverty. Since independence Itransformation was an afterthought or, in and liberation, the pattern of economic some cases, simply left to chance. development in most African countries is In fact, the one cardinal mistake made that only the elite, whether of a particular by many of these movements was failing ethnic group, region, political party or to find relevant economic strategies for class, have had sufficient opportunities for their newly inherited countries. development. Even more devastatingly, more than Second, African governments must 50 years after independence, the econo- bring meritocracy to the public sector and mies of most African countries are still appoint only the best talent to jobs in the cast in the pattern left by colonial powers public administration, rather than make and apartheid governments. appointments based on ethnic, regional, Unless African countries move political or other affiliations. No country beyond the rigid inherited colonial and has prospered economically without a apartheid economic architecture, pros- professional public service staffed with perity will remain a distant dream. the best talent available. Many independence and liberation Third, they must build their economic movements were inflexibly ideological transformation around infrastructure de- and often nationalised, mostly for ideo- velopment, that is, using infrastructure as logical purposes. a tool of long-term economic develop- The reality is that African economies ment, rather than an end in itself, as has liesl louw-vaudran are not going to be developed through been the case in most African countries. a woman trying to sell her dried solidarity with old industrial or former Infrastructure development must be chillies in Diffa, in eastern niger. colonial powers, through aid, or by the done smartly, as it was in post-war East the writer says post-colonial new emerging markets. Neither will those Asia and Western Europe – to stagnant governments neglected economic powers benevolently put Africa’s issues areas, developing new markets and cut- development ‘prominently on the global agenda’, as for- ting the high transport costs that are ham- mer South African President Thabo Mbe- pering the development of most African ki has urged them to do. economies. Well-placed infrastructure, The very first thing needed is for Afri- rolled out as part of an integrated system can governments to base their efforts on of national development, can reshape so- the principle of governing in the wider cieties, expand economic opportunities

36 business

African development

and change the patterns of development. African countries should stop the how rECENt rhetoric of economic visions and state- CrISES hurt ments of intent, and actually cobble to- buSINESS gether practical long-term development industrialisation plans integrated into the plans for infrastructure development. he political crisis At the moment it appears that new in- tin Cote d’Ivoire, vestments into Africa, such as those from that started in China, India and Brazil, are leading Afri- December 2010, has former ivorian president laurent gbagbo’s refusal to shaved off 0,2% of leave office plunged the country into economic chaos ca’s infrastructure and economic develop- pelser waldimar ment, which is similar to what happened the overall growth during the Cold War. projections for Africa 5,7% in 2011, but this is the Sahel region. This Instead, it should be left to the coun- made by the African now projected at 5,5%. is due to slowing of tries themselves to decide where and Development Bank Cote d’Ivoire will grow Libyan investment and how development should take place and (ADB), said Professor -7,3% this year, but has the impact on remit- what form it should take. Once these de- Mthuli Ncube, Chief started a massive tances from Libyan by cisions have been made, foreign invest- Economist at the recovery and will grow African migrants. ment can be partnered with home-grown African Development at 6% next year. Niger, for example, targeted development initiatives. Unless Bank during a presen- The Libyan crisis is saw the return of things proceed in this manner, even new tation in Pretoria on 5 also expected to have 200 000 migrants investment from the emerging markets July this year. a severe impact on returning to their will mimic Africa’s colonial Cold War in- It was expected several economies, country from Libya vestments and aid-driven economic pat- Africa would grow at particularly those in following the crisis. terns, which brought economic growth with little industrialisation, broad-based development or new human develop- nical or artisan training, individuals may to that of industrial countries or new emerg- ment opportunities. actually become self-sufficient. ing markets, but they may be useful to trade The bulk of the economic activities in It is no surprise that in China and other with neighbours. African countries will also African countries, whether in urban or successful East Asian developmental states, have to trade smarter with their emerging rural areas, are taking place in the infor- most of the political leadership comes from market friends such as China, as well as with mal sector. It is therefore astonishing that engineering or artisan backgrounds: this the old colonial and industrial powers. most of the economic transformation may be one reason for the success of the In reality, if any African country has efforts are not spent on developing these economic development in that region. the ability to export to China, it will find markets. Innovative thought should be fo- Finally, the focus of regional integra- all sorts of obstacles to getting its products cused on how to bring those in into markets there. the informal sector into the sup- At the heart of the African regional in- ply chains of the private and the best solution for african tegration project must be a continental in- public sector companies. countries would be to develop an dustrialisation plan. Such a plan will iden- Furthermore, African econ- tify viable future industries that different omies must diversify as quickly army of artisans out of the millions African countries can specialise in. If the as possible. Agriculture remains of unemployed, especially the youth new emerging markets are so committed to the largest sector where people our development, surely they will be able to eke out a living in the informal listen to our industrialisation plans and sector in most African countries. These tion efforts must be to encourage African partner with us in such a way that we break countries should put their efforts into mak- countries to trade with each other. Smart out of the colonial and Cold War economic ing sure that people at least produce food regional integration will focus on cluster- patterns of development. If left intact, these and other basic items for themselves with- ing African countries on what they can patterns will only lead us to be colonised out having to import them from abroad. specialise in, with one country providing again, this time by new masters. The best solution for African countries what the other country needs but may not would be to develop an army of artisans be capable of producing. William Gumede is Honorary Associate, Graduate School of Public and Development Management out of the millions of unemployed, espe- Some of Africa’s manufactures and (P&DM), Johannesburg. He is co-editor of The Poverty cially the youth. Through vocational, tech- services may be uncompetitive in relation of Ideas, Jacana Press.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 37 business

Trade How to free trade from Cape to Cairo?

A free trade area stretching across the member states for export – tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco – so they do not trade these commodities be- of SADC and Comesa was mooted at a summit in tween themselves. Countries have become Johannesburg recently. dianna games asks how import dependent because of high local manufacturing costs, and local manufac- practical this plan is. turers find it difficult to build economies of scale in small markets. united Africa stretching from the These include high transport costs, in- The lack of industrialisation across Cape to Cairo was a cherished efficient border crossings, insufficient in- Africa is highlighted by the fact that con- dream of the early liberators of vestment in trade-related infrastructure tainers into African countries usually Africa and it remains on the con- and a weak manufacturing base. These fac- return almost empty, a trend that adds Atinent’s political agenda despite issues tors are constraining the ability of African considerably to exporters’ costs. around sovereignty and national priorities. countries to grow and diversify export But is it realistic economically? This is markets and add value to commodities. a LaCk oF PoLItICaL wILL the question raised in the wake of the re- Poor policy environments and high Many of the problems are soft issues – a cent regional summit in Johannesburg that costs of doing business add to producers’ lack of political will chief among them. marked the beginning of a process of headaches. African governments have become building a Tripartite free trade area (FTA) Currently, intra-African trade accounts reliant on trade taxes and are reluctant from north to south across 26 countries. for just 10% of Africa’s total trade, It is common cause that a bigger mar- compared to about 50% between ket will be more attractive to investors. Asian countries. The proposed FTA comprises more than There are many reasons why 500 million people – 57% of the combined this trade is so low. A number of population of the African Union member countries produce the same crops states – and it will harness 58% of the continent’s GDP. But the question is whether creating an FTA across the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and South- ern Africa (Comesa), the five-member East African Community (EAC) and the 15-member Southern African Develop- ment Community (SADC) will solve the problems of regional trade or entrench existing weaknesses. One of the concerns voiced about the proposed arrangement is that it will require yet another layer of bureaucracy. Existing regional economic communities (RECs) function at different levels of efficiency. But common to all of them are problems that are making African goods uncompetitive in global markets – and in many African markets.

38 business

Trade

to see this revenue stream reduced by not even part of SADC’s countdown to free SADC and Comesa have been in talks deepening integration, failing to see the trade, which is well advanced. SADC coun- for nearly a decade about how to resolve bigger picture of increased economic tries will reach zero tariffs by early 2012. this issue. After the EAC was reconstituted, activity over time, and with it a bigger and Many of the countries in the tripartite it was included in the discussion, which more sustainable tax base. As a result, poli- plan are classified as Least Developed culminated in a heads of state tripartite ticians tend to pay lip service to the bene- Countries (LDCs) struggling to build di- summit in Uganda in 2009 – the precursor fits of free trade while finding ways to versified export-orientated economies. But to the Johannesburg jamboree. boost revenues through non-tariff barriers. on the upside, they have access to preferen- Leaders at the June event in Sandton These include using national policies tial trade benefits in Western markets, were upbeat about the prospects of suc- and standards requirements to prevent which may lure foreign investors to set up cess. But it is precisely good leadership competition with local manufacturers. The manufacturing plans to allow them to take and real political will for free trade that lack of harmonisation across borders on advantage of these preferences. are lacking in attempts to improve region- competition laws, labelling, phytosanitary al trade. standards, recognition of product registra- Agreements are tions, quality standards and other issues african governments have become signed but not properly will have to be tackled by the RECs before reliant on trade taxes and are reluctant implemented and there is an enlarged FTA has any hope of working. little attempt to get Afri- This is a big task and requires devising to see this revenue stream reduced by can officials to buy into regional policies to deal with these issues, the notion of free trade. but it will be welcomed by investors and deepening integration This is evident at border traders who have to tackle a complex web posts, for example, where of paperwork to move goods around the This is already happening ina sia. viet- customs officials have poor attitudes to ser- continent. nam, for example, is investing in Laos and vice and often delay goods unnecessarily. Another big hurdle for the FTA is the Cambodia to benefit from the preferences A key issue in terms of attracting inves- fact that diverse member states are at dif- offered to those countries by the European tors to take advantage of the FTA is that of ferent stages of economic development, Union. ‘rules of origin’, a complex formula that de- which will make the initiative difficult to Efforts will be made over the next three termines which goods qualify as tariff free implement and will preclude considera- years of talks towards the FTA to encour- under trade regimes according to how ‘lo- tion of a common currency. age co-operation on industrial develop- cal’ their manufacture is. As things stand, two of Af- ment among member states. This could Attracting investors from outside the rica’s biggest countries – An- include finding ways to create regional continent will require more liberal rules gola and the DRC – are supply chains, leveraging the competitive of origin, such as those that currently pre- advantages of the countries involved. vail in Comesa, for example, rather than However, these are difficult issues for the stricter regime of SADC, which is de- supranational bodies to deal with as they signed, some say, to protect South Africa raise national sensitivities, despite obvious from external competition. benefits. Doing so will require vision and Analysts predict that South Africa will new-style thinking on trade matters. be one of the winners of the new FTA as it will allow cheaper access to more markets oVerLaPPINg MeMberShIP for its own manufactured exports. It is One of the issues that prompted initial likely to see more competition in its own talks about co-operation between region- markets but its favourable trade balance al economic communities was the ques- with other African countries is likely to tion of overlapping REC memberships, remain, as is Kenya’s in its region, for which place a costly bureaucratic burden e xample. on states to maintain different regimes nd It is not clear how the issue of China’s on companies to keep up with multiple tsunami of cheap goods will fit into the requirements. picture, particularly if it moves its manu- Currently, just a handful of African facturing to Africa. That is another chal- countries belong to just one of the conti- lenge for the experts. nent’s 14-plus regional blocs. Twenty- seven countries are members of two blocs and 18 Dianna Games is vice president of The Africa Advisors, of three. Global Pacific & Partners

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 39 Culture

Festivals

Every year, the sleepy Eastern Cape town of Grahamstown is transformed into a buzz of arts and culture, show casing South Africa’s best. Percy Zvomuya was there.

vErtI gIN ouS lINEup IN grA hAmS towN

hen people ask how the Even when the sun shone, it was National Arts Festival in accom panied by a wintry wind that blew Grahamstown was, I reply furiously through the town’s wide streets, that it was fine and fun, keeping the theatre crowd indoors and W especially the music. deflating the ‘street carnival’ atmosphere. It’s difficult to make sweeping state- The festival is always a platform to ments about the whole festival, which ran showcase the winners of Standard Bank’s from 30 June to 10 July, as I was only there Young Artists in five categories: jazz, won for five days, but most of what I saw didn’t this year by pianist Bokani Dyer; drama, leave me breathless. won by director Neil Coppen; dance, won Grahamstown was very cold; the skies by Mamela Nyamza; music, won by Ben were mostly overcast and the clouds Schoeman; and visual art, won by occasionally burst to spill out copious Nandipha Mntambo. amounts of rain. Unfortunately, as is always the case

40 Culture

Festivals

ago, Mthambo’s oeuvre has involved working with the bovine: cowhide, the bull and bullfights. This exhibition marks her attempts to slightly move away from her kraal and de- flect the idea that she is a one-dimension- al artist. Faena is a show comprising a video installation, sculptures, paintings and drawings. One piece of news that ex- cited the visual arts community was the revelation that a private collector had bought the entire exhibition – without even seeing it. One night at the festival, Mthambo walked into a restaurant where I was having supper and our conversation soon meandered to Ernest Hemingway, perhaps the foremost authority on the bullfight in the English-speaking world. She told me she was reading some of the late writer’s works. I mentioned the first Hemingway novel I read, The Sun Also Rises, and, like the bullfighter she is, Mntambo swung the monumental Death in the Afternoon back at me. It is a medita- tive text and manual about the intricacies of the bullfight as well as a study of aes- thetics. Hopefully, it will help her as she moves away from familiar pastures.

MUSIC aNd rootINg For the UNderdog Dyer is another bright prospect hand- picked by Standard Bank. He was part of the annual grahamstown festival is about music, theatre, the jazz lineup that also included artists the arts and browsing the fleamarket in the town centre such as the British rapper and saxo phonist

paul greenway/3p photography greenway/3p paul Soweto Kinch; Swiss vocalist Andreas Schaerer; Dutch guitarists Anton Goud- smit and jeroen vierdag and Capetonian with the festival, I couldn’t check out the production shows a young director saxophonist and pianist Marc Fransman. every thing I wanted to see, including the with lots of ideas and even more bravery – Drummer Kesivan Naidoo, a previous shows by Schoeman and Nyamza. cojones, I think the Spanish call it. winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist The programme is so packed it leaves Talking about the Spanish brings me Award winner for Jazz, was also there, as one vertiginous and unsure of what day to briefly look at Mthambo’s exhibition, were saxophonist McCoy Mrubata and it is. Faena. Since her emergence a few years several others. Hein van de Geyn, the much-travelled Dutch bass maestro and FaMILy draMa winner of prestigious gongs including the Outstanding from the Standard Bank the programme is so Prins Bernhard Fonds Music Prize, was bunch was Coppen, whose epic work, also present. Abnormal Loads, is a two-century family packed it leaves one The Dutch musician, now also in- drama set in the mountain and valleys of vertiginous and unsure of volved in teaching, is now based in Cape KwaZulu-Natal. Incorporating magical re- Town. One night, by chance, I sat next to alism and re-enactments of battle scenes, what day it is him in a bar to watch Rafael Nadal ››

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 41 Culture

Festivals

send Andy Murray out of Wimbledon. We British connection: The History Boys syncratic, singular vision that would keep were all rooting for Murray, the underdog written by Allan Bennett, and Iris Brunette us [as audiences and a country] moving (how often is a Briton an underdog?). by London-based performer and writer forward. The committee is mindful of I think the most memorable concert Melanie Wilson, a production that only t h at .’ must be the one in which Schaerer, Kinch, allowed twenty people at a time, making There was a lot of easy and accessible naidoo, goudsmit, vierdag and dyer tickets to see it virtually unattainable. work; I didn’t see many productions that played on a particularly cold Saturday The visual arts component of the festi- challenged audiences (Sello Pesa’s ‘dance’ night (the order in which I have listed the val was very strong and featured works by piece, although it had the feel of a work in artists is a random, unscientific one based the late Alan Crump, teacher, curator and progress, was an exception). on their madness and brilliance). artist. The retrospective exhibition, curat- When I first read Austrian poet Georg The dance programme included works ed by Wits University Art History profes- Trakl a few years ago, I almost despaired. I by Nyamza, Standard Bank Young Artist sor Federico Freschi and titled Alan was confronted with unusual symbols and for Dance, Sello Pesa’s Lime Light on Rites, Crump: A Fearless Vision, looks back (in images, slang and a German dialect that a work that examines the dying and death Crump’s own words) at the ‘objects and his translator found challenging and industry (funeral homes); and Thabo residue of [his] thoughts’. virtually untranslatable. I persevered, Rapoo’s Batsumi, a production that exam- There was also People, Prints and cheered on by the helpful blurb by ines hunter-gatherers. Unfortunately I Process, an exhibition by the Caversham Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgen- couldn’t watch Lovaffair, a production stein that declared: ‘I do directed by Ina Wichterich-Mogane that not understand Trakl’s featured disabled dancers (described in poems; but their tone the festival programme as ‘differently- pleases me. It is the tone abled’). of true genius.’ Pather is no hypo- the beSt oF draMa crite; he practises what The theatre programme included works he preaches. There is such as Coppen’s Abnormal Loads, Sylvaine Body of Evidence, his Strike’s The Table, a family saga set around challenging dance piece a revolving table that dealt with history and that was staged at the truth to tell about the family, and Craig festival in 2009. I found Freimond’s Death of a Colonialist, a drama it complex, yet intelli- about an academic gent and well wrought, family that’s falling although some people apart. i found it challenging, intelligent and well shook their heads in bemusement and Clare Stopford’s wrought, although some people shook their consternation. Purgatorio (written In an interview with Artthrob, he by the Chilean- heads in bemusement and consternation helpfully explained: ‘You know, one wishes born playwright that an audience would get everything Ariel Dorfman) you put in. But I also have to accept that I was one of the outstanding productions. Centre, a pedagogic centre nestled in might make a work over six weeks and an Both soulful and soulless, the production is KwaZulu-Natal that was started by Mal- audience encounters it over sixty minutes, set in purgatory, the place that’s set next colm Christian. The show looked back at a so much may get lost. All art requires a door to hell (or is it heaven?) where souls quarter of a century of work produced by certain degree of patience and openness go for temporary punishment before even- artists that have passed through its in order to allow meaning to be made.’ tual redemption. grounds, including William Kentridge, I wish I could respond to those who Then there was Martin Koboekae’s Helen Sebidi and the late Robert Hodgins. ask me about the National Arts Festival Last Pro in Yeoville, a drama about a In an interview with the Mail & thus: ‘Eish, I’m still trying to make sense chance meeting between two lovers, a Guardian’s Niren Tolsi, Jay Pather, chair- of the rich and complex works I watched,’ white prostitute and mediocre black man of the NAF committee and a cele- but I really can’t. painter, and Rob Murray’s Benchmarks, a brated choreographer, observed: ‘I am But let it be noted that I did have drama in mask enacted around a bench finding work of good substance and qual- fun. that explores xenophobia and human ity, but it is interesting that there appears a relationships. lot less risk-taking, less work on the edge Percy Zvomuya reports on the arts for the There were two productions with a or jumping off the edge with an idio- Mail&Guardian.

42 Culture

News

A treat for African audiences oupa; nkosi oupa; thomas mapfumo at the one night in africa concert at Carnival City, Johannesburg

homas Mapfumo, Chimurenga August. Other artists will come from Canada, which was awarded two festival (Shona for ‘revolution’ and ‘strug- Brazil, Croatia and Belgium. prizes (Best Original Score and the Chair- gle’) music maestro, was in Johan- The South African contingent will in- man’s Award). Another notable film was nesburg for a week at the end of clude trumpeter Hugh Masekela; vocalists The Rugged Priest by Bob Nyanja, a Ken- TMay, when he went on stage to collaborate Sibongile Khumalo and Simphiwe Dana; yan filmmaker, winner of the Golden with fellow Zimbabwean musician Oliver saxophonist McCoy Mrubata and pianist Dhow Award. Mtukudzi on a memorable night at the Bokani Dyer, the 2011 Standard Bank Reggae DJ Shaggy was the headline Emperor’s Palace on the East Rand. Young Artist Award winner for Jazz. musical act; other performers included Mapfumo – now based in the United Zimbabwe’s guitarist and vocalist Oliver States – was in South Africa to negotiate CaSabLaNCa CeLebrateS Mtukudzi; Senegal’s master of the djembe with Sheer Music, his new record label. The Casablanca Festival, held in Morocco Seydou Seydou Sissokho; Kenya’s award- The label has already released his latest every July, was this year headlined by winning pop star Nyota Ndogo; and Tan- album, Exile, a sad but defiant meditation American rapper 50 Cent. zanian poet and performer Mrisho Mpoto. on exile and struggle, and African Classics, The festival’s main thrust is dance, a condensed retrospective collection of his drama and music. It takes place through- CaINe PrIZe For LIteratUre early hits from the late 1970s and early ’80s. out the city’s auditoriums, public spaces Hitting Budapest by Zimbabwean writer Mapfumo is also planning to return (including beaches and parks) and streets. noviolet bulawayo is the winner of the with his band, The Blacks Unlimited, for a This year the festival showcased the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing. She regional tour before Christmas. talents of diverse musicians such as Nige- emerged victorious ahead of Butterfly rian muso Ayo; the Brazilian percussion- Dreams by Ugandan writer Beatrice Lam- Joy oF JaZZ ist Carlinhos Brown; South Africa’s very waka; What Molly Knew by South African As South Africa’s jazz community comes own tumi and the volume; soul/funk Tim Keegan; In the spirit of McPhineas to terms with the death of transcendental musician Wayne Beckford; and the trans- Lata by Botswanan short story writer jazz teacher and saxophonist Zim continental collaborative ensemble Afro- Lauri Kubuitsile and The Mistress’s Dog by Ngqawana, we take comfort in the visits Cubism. South African David Medalie. by some of the world’s great jazz artists. This year’s judging panel was chaired Pianist McCoy Tyner was the main act FILMS ShowCaSed IN ZaNZIbar by Libyan novelist Hisham Matar, author at the Cape Town International Jazz Festi- The 14th edition of the Zanzibar Inter- of the Booker-shortlisted novel In the val. In July, top composer and educator national Film Festival, 2-10 July, brought Country of Men. He was assisted by Granta and saxophonist Yusef Lateef played in thousands of visitors to the island, includ- magazine’s deputy editor Ellah Allfrey; Johannesburg. But the signature event for ing celebrated filmmakers such as Nick Georgetown University professor of Eng- South Africa’s jazz enthusiasts must surely Broomfield (director of the documentary lish David Gewanter; publisher, film and be the visit by celebrated and controver- of slain hip-hop icons, Biggie and Tupac). travel writer vicky unwin; and aminatta sial trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who will Some of the films shown at the festival Forna, recent winner of the Common- be the star attraction at the Standard Bank included Making the Band by Xena Banta- wealth Best Book for 2011 for her novel Joy of Jazz festival, scheduled for 25-27 rizah, a Ugandan filmmaker resident in The Memory of Love – Percy Zvomuya.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 43 books

A new way of seeing Africa

tephen Ellis, pro- Stephen ellis, SeaSoN oF fessor of social sci- raINS, africa in the world ences at the Free (Jacana Media, 2011) University of Am- Ssterdam, is an immensely reviewed by Liesl Louw-Vaudran respected scholar and leading theorist on African politics, development and history. His latest book comes in the midst of a range of similar works analysing the huge shifts experienced in Africa in the past decade and looking towards the future. Many of these share two key themes: the huge investment from Asia into Africa that is upsetting the postcolonial relationships between Af- rica, Europe and the US, and the vast potential of Africa’s youth bulge. This kind of analysis of Africa, unfortunately, is always time bound and can easily be overtaken by events. For example, although freshly pub- Much of lished, it is clear that Ellis’ book went to the book is devoted to debunking the notions vehi- culed by development specialists and the development industry tends to pursue NGOs about how to ‘fix’ Africa. an almost messianic quest for a head of He states with regret that ‘it is disturbing to note the degree to which universi- state who will make all things good ties continue to produce graduates schooled in outdated views about development and the contribution of social sci- print just before the start of the North ences hereto’. African revolutions – a dramatic turn of Of the many skewed notions Ellis fate for Africa’s Arab countries that of cites in his book is the moralisti c ‘post- course not even our most renowned ana- colonial’ view that Africa should follow lysts had predicted. the same growth pattern as Western Nevertheless, Ellis’ book is extremely capita list nations. interesting and will arouse the curiosity of For example, agriculture is seen as a those interested in Africa’s future, even step towards industrialisation, and the though they might not agree with every- absence of individual property rights as thing he says. something that needs to be rectified be-

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fore countries will properly develop. Besides colonialism – an all too handy ample, often completely overlook the role However, Chinese models of property scapegoat that has become outdated even of Islamic charities in Muslim countries rights put this in a whole new perspective amongst African commentators – Ellis and the huge political influence they have. and the growth paths of emerging coun- debunks the notion that Africa’s ills are The breakdown of formal, visible, tries such as India call for a rethink of the caused by the failure of its leaders. state bureaucracy has led many Africans classic top-down approach. Seeing everything in terms of the to rely on parallel, informal state struc- ‘A focus on agriculture as the founda- Great/Really Awful head of state is too tures that often operate equally effectively, tion for new prosperity is not a return to simplistic an approach, he believes, which though they are not documented in the the past, but a new step forward in our outsiders are equally guilty of using. same way. socio-economic evolution’, says Ellis, ‘The development industry tends to ‘Even when an efficient state bureau- citing the Organisation for Economic Co- pursue an almost messianic quest for a cracy is absent, power hierarchy and even operation and Development (OECD). head of state that will make all things institutions may still exists,’ he says. In the first part of the book, Ellis good,’ he says. Ellis cites the extreme example of So- explores outdated notions of ‘progress’ in Donor favourites have included Tan- malia – a so-called failed state – and tells quite some detail and com- how Somali pirates have set up a rudimen- ments on the infamous 2007 tary stock exchange in Haradheere, 250km Dakar speech where French africa is experiencing a new era northeast of Mogadishu. In this way the president Nicolas Sarkozy where it is no longer victim of the communities actually get shares in the pi- declared that ‘the African racy activities – quite an astonishing exam- peasant’ has no idea of pro- slave trade, colonialism or the new ple, but something comparable probably gress and prefers to live ‘in scramble for african resources exists in many places that are officially de- harmony with nature’. scribed as being in a state of collapse. According to Ellis, many Ellis analyses the notion of a ‘shadow Western thinkers share Sarkozy’s view that zania’s Julius Nyerere, Uganda’s Yoweri government’, prevalent in a great many Africa must be helped to get onto the right Museveni and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame – African countries where the official gov- path to ‘development’ and join the rest of the latter two, Ellis notes, being popular ernment is actually just a front and the the world in a march towards a better life. amongst former US president Bill Clin- centre of power is elsewhere. Ellis proves Sarkozy wrong by looking ton’s team of Africanists until such time as One thinks of the many countries at history to give the reader an insight into they started fighting each other. where family networks actually make all the warped power relations that defined As soon as one of the favourites disap- the major decisions and take the lion’s the context in which these prejudices were points by making an unpopular move or share of the wealth while the government created. putting his country on the path to eco- remains largely ineffectual. One could argue, though, that some of nomic ruin, the search is on for another Ellis thus calls upon the reader and Ellis’ wider notions about African culture Great Leader. the development community not to be and history are in fact not applicable to all Alternatively, Ellis says, a leader is of- blinded by outdated notions and concepts of Africa but to specific regions and coun- ten a product of society, and people get that have been overtaken by the huge tries. What is needed is a more nuanced the leaders they deserve. changes taking place on the continent. approach. ‘Even the most formidable president Africa is no longer in a ‘postcolonial’ Although Ellis advises international can work only with the material constitut- era but experiencing a new era where it is aid organisations and donors to focus their ed by societies, deriving power from the no longer victim of the slave trade, efforts on country-specific issues and de- fact that large numbers of people subscribe colonia lism or the new scramble for Afri- velop policies best suited for individual Af- to common ideas and activities, whether in can resources. rican countries, much of his book is ex- the guise of formal institutions or simply in While many still entertain the notion tremely general, only noting exceptions to informal networks,’ he argues. of Africa-as-victim, the fact is that many the rule in a very few instances. But when it Instead of focusing on leaders, social governments know very well what they comes to African development issues, the scientists should devote a lot more time are doing and how to reap a benefit from exceptions to the rule are numerous. pondering the unseen, informal and un- the interest in their resources, which in- While a large portion of the book documented drivers of change or stagna- clude raw materials and immensely cov- speaks directly to academics, analysts and tion that determine how societies develop. eted agricultural land, the book argues. aid theorists, Ellis also looks at how many Religion is a major element that is so Africa’s emerging middle class and its of Africa’s elite and intellectuals describe often overlooked and yet so important in increasingly sophisticated financial elite, the failure of Africa’s development in the the lives of most Africans. as described by Ellis, are not victims but last 50 years. Ellis remarks how aid theorists, for ex- actors in a yet uncertain future.

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 45 books

For a more ethical society

his punchy book, written by Daryl by case studies and a chapter on the role of daryl balia, mAKE Balia, is packed with interesting churches and biblical texts in conceptual- CorruptIoN hIStory insights. It correctly situates cor- ising and fighting corruption. (Society for promoting ruption in South Africa as a matter Balia, however, despite his preference Christian Knowledge, 2009) Trooted in the erosion of public morality for a moral approach, urges that we find reviewed by greg ruiters that impacts the ‘civil basis of human co- implementable anti-corruption strategies existence’. Advancing arguments for less that are not too ambitious and are in- market-oriented and more religion-based formed by awareness of the costs attached views of society, the church, and religion to any programme. He is scathing about more generally, argues Balia, can have a the National Anti-Corruption Forum, a constitutive role in fighting corruption. non-statutory body formed in 2001 To a large extent, the book presents a which, he argues, ambitiously tried to get ‘society-centred’ view of corruption, the government and key stakeholders to priori tising ‘moral leadership’ and linking find a consensus view. the anti-corruption struggle to the strug- This was not going to happen and gle for human rights. The only lasting ba- repre sented a signal failure by the Mbeki sis for fighting corruption is building in- admini stration. A well-funded single- dependent civil society, including ethical agency approach, he argues, is more pro- forms of association. Religious organisa- ductive than symbolic actions and poli- tions, Balia suggests, are special, because cies that are underfunded or unfunded. they can play a key role in unifying an But high-handed top-down anti-corrup- otherwise excessively splintered civil soci- tion and accountability strategies often ety focused on narrow interests. The me- fail, since they are essentially punitive and do not mobilise society or provide for ethical leadership. this level of inequality not only erodes any The book is a welcome addition to the kind of social solidarity, cohesion and trust, it literature on corruption. However, although thought provoking, it fails to deal sets the scene for generalised corruption systematically with the issues it raises. It tends to rely on outdated information, it fails to get beyond the ‘perceptions’ of dia too can help build civil society and corruption as ‘endemic’, and it fails to go expose corruption but it is limited and beyond measurements based on public often, as Balia suggests, is part of the beliefs rather than the experience of problem because of concentrated owner- corrup tion. ship of media and its dependence on ad- It is important to ascertain whether vertising. South Africa’s corruption has a top-down The seven chapters of the book in- pattern (initiated from the top) or whether clude chapters for both academic audi- it is a matter of a mass of low-level officials ences and practitioners who might be in- sharing bribes with their superiors (en- terested in theories of corruption, demic). Newspapers play a key role in anti-corruption strategies and the costs of forming public opinion about the ‘en- fighting corruption. These are supported demic’ nature of corruption in SA, but as

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the quasi-racist moral discourse – a dangerous phenomenon in which all african governments are automatically seen as corrupt – could be more effectively treated in the book

Mail&Guardian journalist Sam Sole has any kind of social solidarity, cohesion noted, the imprecise nature of perceptions and trust; it also sets the scene for gen- tends to exaggerate corruption. eralised corruption. The quasi-racist moral discourse – a In addition, our racially divided dangerous phenomenon in which all Afri- society continues to practice can governments are automatically seen morally indefensible exclusions. as corrupt – could be more effectively Still, analysts would need to dis- treated in the book by using a broader tinguish between the petty cor- definition that includes corruption as a ruption of an underpaid civil many-sided process involving the public, servant and the large-scale private and civil society sectors. It is im- criminality of bankers, specu- portant to see the private sector as the ma- lators and brewers. jor initiator of large-scale corruption. Given the ethical per- Like many other texts, Balia’s invokes spective of the book, it a too-narrow view of corruption. It does might be interesting to not raise injustice as an issue in how one argue for a much wider ought to define corruption. It does not understanding of corruption sufficiently situate corruption within the as being more about inequity and injus- political economy of elite domination of tice than about formal breaches of the law anything resources in South Africa. Concentration where public office is used for private one does not of ownership of economy in critical areas gain. A less restrictive definition would approve of is labelled corrupt. such as food, drugs and private health can allow for a more contextual discussion of Those who are nearest to the ‘corruption’, actually kill people. why so many black South Africans con- such as councillors, are presumed guilty Private health is affordable to less than flate injustice with corruption. Many in- and blamed. 20% of the population in South Africa, yet justices are completely legal but most a few private health corporations control black South Africans still label them as Greg Ruiters is professor of Governance 60% of health resources. This level of ine- corruption. The local lexicon of corrup- and Public Policy, University of the quality not only fundamentally erodes tion includes instances where just about Western Cape

views and analyses from the african continent

Issue 12 • 2011 the african.orgwww.the-african.org • THE ALTERNATE-MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES subsCribe now anD win your own speCial reaDing lamp

special edition www.the-african.org revolution in north africa: or contact helen chanda at what’s next? War in nigeria sa’s [email protected] Coˆte votes for diplomatiC d’ivoire president blunders

www.the-african.org August | September 2011 47 Sign off

NAtIoNAlISAtIoN like sweets to a child by Mandy Roussouw hen ANC Youth League presi- party bigwig Enoch Godongwana admitted dent Julius Malema first pro- woefully: ‘If I had done my work, we would posed nationalising the mines not be here now.’ Godongwana is the deputy as the answer to South Africa’s chairperson of the party’s economic trans- Wtwin headaches of poverty and inequality, formation committee, which is where eco- the ruling party hardly paid any attention. nomic policy gets made. Everyone saw the proposal for what it The ruling party has attempted to re- was – the result of a few well-timed whis- focus South Africans on seeing job creation pers in Malema’s ear from his backers who and economic growth as better ways to deal needed their struggling mines to be put out with the pervasive problems facing our of their misery. nation. Mining companies shrugged and claimed Every now and then a senior official to believe the government’s insistence that makes a brave attempt to show up the fail- this was merely an item on the wish list of a ures of nationalisation in other parts of the deluded youngster with too much time on world, especially in Africa. But it is too late his hands. But that was arguably one of the – nationalisation has captured society’s most disastrous political miscalculations of imagi nation. Malema has added a historical the ANC government. Selling the concept of and sentimental dimension to his nationa li- nationalisation to Malema’s constituency is sation campaign by claiming it was written like giving sweets to a child. in the Freedom Charter, which is widely To any unemployed, undereducated seen as the founding document for the gov- youngster who has no hope of getting a job ernment we have now. and who watched Malema’s spectacular rise He also poured salt in an open wound to the ranks of the rich and famous, talk of – the disappointment that people have owning mines sounds like a dream come about better lives only being delivered to true. some, while even the ‘born frees’ (those And you don’t need to be a rocket scien- born post-apartheid) are not guaranteed tist to understand and buy into Malema’s more opportunities than their parents. logic. Take the mines from Anglo-American, South Africa is at a crossroads and, pocket the cash that comes with selling gold, although it may have come too early, this diamonds and platinum and – boom! – live will be President Jacob Zuma’s Rubicon large. It may sound like fairytale to some, but moment. to a hard-up young man in a dusty two-horse To undo the Malema effect on the young town in Limpopo, it might seem the only way and the hopeless of our country will take out of a miserable life. spirited and visionary leadership. Young To make matters worse, those on the people will need to be convinced that hard right side of the fence – those who have the work and education go together to ensure a right education or struggle credentials to successful and secure future. make good money, or who have access to Fairytales only become reality if you are government money – make it seem as if the willing to put in the hours. But the upside is only T-shirts worth wearing are designed by that you can then shape the fairytale any Ed Hardy and the only way to get from A to way you wish. B is in a Range Rover. At the ANC’s midterm National Gener- Mandy Rossouw is the international correspondent for al Council meeting last year in Durban, Media24 newspapers

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