Politics of Identity and Exclusion in Africa: From Violent Confrontation to Peaceful Cooperation 25–26 July 2001 Senate Hall University of Pretoria Table of Contents Introduction 5 Prof. Hussein Solomon, Head: Unit for African Studies, Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria Welcoming Remarks 7 Dr Michael Lange, Resident Representative, Konrad Adenauer Foundation Opening Address 11 Mr Welile Nhlapo, Deputy Director-General, Department of Foreign Affairs, South Africa Exploring the Concept of Identity in World Politics 13 Prof. Anton du Plessis, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria Reflections on the Roots of War 27 Dr John G. Hund, Senior Researcher, Institute of Foreign and Comparative Law, University of South Africa (Unisa) A Nigerian Case Study 43 Dr Charles Quaker-Dokubo, Research Fellow, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs Theocracy and State Reconstruction in the Civil War–Ravaged Sudan: In Pursuit of 57 an Illusive National Consensus Prof. Korwa G. Adar, International Studies Unit, Rhodes University Towards Finding a Solution for the Problems Created by the Politics of Identity 67 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Designing a Constitutional Framework for Peaceful Cooperation Prof. Jeremy Sarkin, Deputy Dean, Law Faculty, University of the Western Cape Exclusion, Identity and Armed Conflict: A Historical Survey of the Politics of 81 Confrontation in Uganda with Specific Reference to the Independence Era Mr Paul Nantulya, Head, Constitutionalism Project, ACCORD 3 Table of Contents Angola: A Case Study 93 Prof. Gerald J. Bender, School of International Relations, University of Southern California, United States Mozambique: A Case Study 97 Prof. André Thomashausen, Director, Institute of Foreign and Comparative Law, Unisa The Importance of Economic Development in Fostering Human Rights Practice in Africa 113 Mr Zingisile N. Jobodwana, Senior Researcher, Institute of Foreign and Comparative Law, Unisa; Director, Socio-Economic and Human Rights Research Centre The Element of Tolerance in African Custom 127 Prof. Moyisi S. Majeke, PhD (Iowa), Department of Comparative Law, History of Law and Jurisprudence, University of Venda Transforming Ethnic Conflicts 137 Prof. Hussein Solomon, Head, Unit for African Studies, Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria and Sally Matthews, University of Pretoria Summary of Proceedings and Closure 155 Prof. André Thomashausen, Director, Institute of Foreign and Comparative Law, Unisa Programme 159 Participants’ List 161 Seminar Reports 167 Occasional Paper Series 169 4 Introduction “Africa has no need for the criminals who would acquire political power by slaughtering the innocents as do the butchers of the people of Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal. Nor has she need for such as those who, because they did no accept that power is legitimate only because it serves the interests of the people, laid Somalia to waste and deprived its people of a country which gave its citizens a sense of being as well as the being to build themselves into a people. Neither has Africa need for petty gangsters who would be our governors by theft of elective positions, as a result of holding fraudulent elections, or by purchasing positions of authority through bribery and corruption. The thieves and their accomplices, the givers of the bribes and the recipients are as Africa as you and I. We are the corruptor and the harlot who act together to demean our con- tinent and ourselves. The time has come that we say enough and no more, and by acting to ban- ish the shame, remake ourselves as the midwives of the African Renaissance.” (South African President Thabo Mbeki, Gallagher Estate, 13 August 1998) From Angola in the south-west through the Congos to Sudan in the north-west, a conflict zone exists which passes through the heart of Africa. Over the past four decades this has accounted for the death of millions, while contributing to the displacement of millions more. More depressing is the fact that con- tagion has occurred and now affects areas in Southern Africa, North and East Africa and West Africa. Many of these conflicts are intrastate and their roots often lie in contested perceptions of ethno-reli- gious identity. For this reason, the Unit of African Studies at the University of Pretoria and the Institute of Foreign and Comparative Law at the University of South Africa, with the financial support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, decided to hold a conference entitled Politics of Identity and Exclusion in Africa: From Violent Confrontation to Peaceful Cooperation at the University of Pretoria on 25–26 July 2001. The aim of the conference was to understand the root causes of the politics of identity and exclusion, which has so scarred this beloved continent of Africa. The conference was further based on two caveats. First, following on President Mbeki’s statement (quoted above), Africans need to take respon- sibility for conflict prevention and reduction in their respective societies. The fact that many of these conflicts owe much of their origins to poor and ineffective governance, corruption, the ineffective use of the financial resources of the state and the abuse of human rights, underline this point. This was emphasised by the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity when he noted, “[W]e can no longer fold our hands and wait for foreigners to come and resolve our problems.”* Second, and a concomitant of the first point is that there can be no African Renaissance, no New Africa Initiative, no African Union if violence, conflict and war continue to be the bane of the ordinary African. *S.A. Salim. 1994. The Frontline States: a new alliance for peace and development in Southern Africa. Paper present- ed to the Meeting of the Ministers of Defence and Security in the Frontline States. 5 Introduction The papers presented at the conference are contained in this publication. By deepening our understand- ing of the origins and management of identity-based conflicts, it is hoped that they will impact positive- ly on processes of conflict reduction and prevention on the continent. The conference programme was dedicated to a number of case studies (Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC, Angola and Mozambique), as well as analytical and theo- retical papers. The keynote for the theoretical papers was set by South African Deputy Director- General of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Welile Nhlapo, when he revisited the end of history debate put forward by Francis Fukuyama. Ambassador Nhlapo challenged the idea that the triumph of liberal capi- talism represents a historical end-state – arguing that it has many competitors, albeit fragmented ones. In this he includes various forms of religious fundamentalism as well as ethnic nationalism. The resur- gence of these forms of identity – especially in their virulent form – is clearly a cause for concern. It is precisely for this reason, he argues, that such a conference is important in seeking to deepen our under- standing of conflict processes. Hussein Solomon and Sally Matthews stated in the final paper read at the conference that while ethnic identities can serve a useful function in providing people with a sense of security and ethnic identifica- tion, it can also lead to violent conflict and terrible destruction. They examined how ethnic identities can be pushed on to a more peaceful trajectory by a combination of internal conflict management strategies aimed at addressing the question of nationhood and power-sharing, as well as external con- flict management strategies such as early warning and peacekeeping. As pointed out by Prof. André Thomashausen in his Conference Summary, the papers presented de- monstrate that: • identity and ethnicity are not static and are capable of evolving • understanding our genetic propensity for aggressiveness and xenophobia can result in developing our ability to manage our social lives peacefully • in the six great crisis zones on the African continent, first in Nigeria, the quest is for balancing cultur- al and religious and resources diversity; second, in the Sudan, the challenge is to redesign the rules of that nation so as to bring them in line with the actual sense of identity of the majority, with adequate inclusion of minorities; third, in the DRC, the absence of any constitutional model and legitimate procedures is the actual root of the conflict which has been provoked by artificial politics of exclu- sion (“divide and rule”); fourth, that in Uganda the multiplicity of conflict layers requires the defini- tion of a model that encompasses a culture of integration and accommodation; fifth, in Angola, two worlds exist and fight to eliminate the other, in the absence of effective mechanisms that could restore territorial and national unity; and finally, that in Mozambique lasting peace was achieved through shifts in perceived political and ideological identities, encouraged by effective leverages. Professor Hussein Solomon Head: Unit for African Studies, Centre for International Political Studies University of Pretoria 6 Welcoming Remarks Michael Lange INTRODUCTION some of the reasoning behind the involvement On behalf of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation of KAF in Africa. (KAF), I would like to extend a very warm The German political foundations are a welcome to you all. unique feature of today’s democratic culture in This is the first time KAF has participated in Germany. The move behind their creation, the preparation of an international conference which dates back to the 1960s, was the expec- with the University of Pretoria’s Unit of tation that political and adult education would African Studies at the Centre for International help develop and consolidate democracy in Political Studies and the Institute of Foreign post-war Germany. Both in Germany and and Comparative Law of the same university. abroad these foundations seek to further devel- We believe that by continuing our efforts to op and encourage people to engage in political contribute in a meaningful way towards the debate, thereby strengthening democracy and resolution of conflict in Africa, we shall suc- promoting a pluralistic society.