.,--, I ~~As~-~o-u--th__ e_n_!_A_f_n~.~c-a--~------ vol. 14 No, 1 llBJ~Ir@lli~ December 1998 Swapo and Dissent • Is GEAR illegal? r- - • South Africa Invades Lesotho ~@lill10Thl®1rdill ~ir1rJi©@1 December 1998 REPORT Vol. 14 No.1 ANGOLA Contents .. .. Editorial: MALAWI . ] NAMIBIA : Of Real Heroes ... and Realpolitik :· ~ . · . .. _.· c)' ; ·.. r/<«-' ·: .' SWAZILAND The Ulenga Moment: ··•.•• · 0-<.,0 ••• Swapo and Dissent 3 c,O .. LESOTHO The Statesman who Brought Honour to Africa (a parable) 9 Southern Africa REPORT Lesotho: Democracy at Gunpoint? 12 is produced quarterly by a collective South Africa Intervenes of TCLSAC, the Toronto Committee for Links between Southern Africa & Canada Update: Current Moment in Maseru 18 427 Bloor St. W est Toronto, Ontario M5S 1X7 Tel. (416) 967-5562 Angola: The War Machines . Again 19 email: [email protected] web site : www.web .n et/~tclsac/ Submissions, suggestions and help in Is GEAR Illegal? 24 production are welcome and invited ISSN 0820-5582 Member: Canadian Magazine Education on Trial: The Poor Speak Out 27 Publishers Association Indexed in: Canadian Index; Canadian Business & Current Affairs Review: All rights reversed The House Gun 32 Subscriptions Southern Africa Report subscription & TCLSAC m embership rates: SAR Collective SUBSCRIPTION: Individual (per year) $18 .00 Margie Adam , Stephen Allen, Carolyn Bassett. Institution (per year) $40.00 Christine Beckermann, Lois Browne. Marlea Clarke, David Cooke, David Galbraith. Marnie Lu cas-Zerbe, Heather Murray, MEMBERSHIP: (includes subscription ) John S. Saul. Marit Stiles. Lauren Swenarchuk , Regular . $35.00 Joe Vi se . Mary Vise Unemployed Student . $18.00 O ur thanks to CVSTUDIO for electroni c image processing Senior Sustainer . over $100.00 Cover photos: " Ben Ulenga" by Jutta Dobler Overseas add $10.00 Cover design by Art Work " Sam Nujo m a" by Ken Oosterbroek - PictureNET Africa Canadian Publications Mail Product Sa les Agreement No. 569607 S'o uth African troops patrol Maseru s·treets on 25 September Of Real Heroes • • • and Realpolitik Nelson Mandela in Canada ! R Pcent em erged both to e m brace hi s j a il ers during its lo ng years of struggle events here had some of the a nd to lead hi s 1w.o pk. He ro of the against apartheid. Still , as veteran resonance of a n aging athl Pte's last centu ry indeed . a nti-a partheid activists craned their tour of the arenas to receive the nec ks to catch a glimpse of lVla ndela kudos of the crowd on t he eve of or course, it. was a bit galling from Llw cheap seats, t.hey t ri ed his retirem ent. Only t his time t he to note just. \\'h O we re sitting there no t. t.o t.ltink such profane thougl1ts, record of accomplishment was a ll preening t hemselves in t.h e fr ont. row preferring to ri de the euphoria of t he t he more real, t he plaudits a ll the at the various events, poli ticians m om ent. (as at Toronto's S kydome, more deserved , the ceremonies all a nd business people who had had wii.h '10.000 school-kids s houting out t he more moving. A man who spent li ttle good t.o say a bout.. a nd their solid a ri ty 1rit.h 1\ladiba.) whi ch. twenty-seven years in prison and even less help Lo give, t.h e AN(' to put it mildly, was considera bl e Southern Africa REPORT december 1998 1 Not that, as !VIandela. prepa res 'vVeep, t hen. hut. weep eve n more for ( '<lllgo t.oget.her to t.a I k t hrough a to st.cp down from office, <'Vl' ryihing t he Congo than for Lesotho, si uce it new and mutually aCC!'pt.ahl!o politi­ is comfortably in plan' back home. is in the Congo that. military esca­ cal allCI consti tu tiona[ d ispeusa t.io11. A prev ious editorial in t.h ese pages lation has reached by ('ar it.s rllost. l'vlore pOW!' l' to him if li e ca u. not. spoke of the wide gamut of chai­ a larming proportions. Current.ly i.lw least. because it. is t.he kind of po­ IPnges that fac1~ Mandel a's pres tll11 p­ f'o rces of five co unt.rit'S (Angola. Na­ liti cal ro le he is perh aps. in .. rd.irc­ t.iVl, successor as Prc>sid ent. of South mibia. Rwanda, Ugauda aud ZinJ­ nt ent.," most suited to play - rather Africa, Tha.bo Mbeki (sc>e ":fvllwki's ha bwc) are deploy!•d t.lt en' a longside like t.he role now assigned hy Africa 13lues," SAH., vol. 1:3, no . 4, hut. a cong1'r ics of Co t1 golese facl.ions Lo hi s nlllch revered Tanzaniau co un­ also, as an example, Salilll \'ally's whil~'. in t his case. Sout.h Africa terpart , .Julius NycrerP (who rm­ article ill the present issue on t.h c seeks in the person o l' i\1 a nd ela t.o n'nt.ly chairs au int.emational efl.'ort deep cracks that have appeared in play the ro le of pea.cc- maker! In ­ t.o bring peacP a11d reconciliation t.o South Africa's post-apartheid edu­ deed. it. is the Deput.y L"oreign Jvliu­ deeply t.rou bl ed 13m unci i). cation policies ). i\ ncl some of these ister of Sout.h Africa, Az:iz Paha.d. !'Jot.P, illcidenta.lly. t.ha.t. Mandcla problems wer<' raised in vari ous lltt'­ who souuds the grimmest waming: follows Nye rere's example in anot. lwt· dia background stories that. surfaced "If this continu es, t lw danger ol' a important respect.: iu his wil linguc>ss during 1\tla.nde la's visit to Canada. lll<lssivc African war is a rea lity. r\ t.o step clown front power even 111 ajor co nflict 0 11 the co nt.in eut. wi ll while ot.hers might. CPde him his Still, the one moment on his se t. us l>ack many years.'' right. t.o continue - the hf'l.tl'l' Canadian visit when Mandela be­ to permit. a ]Wacefu l succession came decidedly testy with media. .'1'.;1 {{ reaciPrs will recall a recent. aud crea.t.e a. positivP democratic questions concerned a much more artirlt' by ( 'arole ( :o llitls that. pro­ prc>cedent !'or his rou11try. 'l'lw immediate issue: his country's mil­ vided essentia l background itJforllla­ co 11tr ast. with n1any ot.licr African itary intervention in neighbouring t.ion for uncl erst.a.ncl in g I'Ve tlf s in thP lea ders could no t. lw mono striking, Lesotho, an intervention that oc­ Congo ("Southern Africa: 1\ Nc>w 0 a. cas1, in point lw in g Sa Ill N uj oum. curred even a.s Mandela was being Congo in a ( W n.~,gion?'' SA a, t.lte ct llT<'nt presid ent. of Nant ibia. wined and dined in this country. val. 1:3. no. ::1). It. is a. topic to No pa.rt.icular hero he (Nujorna is, In fact, a certain defensiveness on wh ich we wi ll have t.o return in fu­ after al l, the foil for Namihian Mandela's part may well have been ture issues. Suf·fice t.o note here that Sam N deik wila's burlwd parabl1, 011 in order - if Roger Southall's au­ t he kn ock-on effects of such con fi ict.s presideutial power in Africa t.hat. we thoritative account in these pages across the region are considnablc. offe r below), N uj oma now st'l~ks a of the "hamhanded" (his word) na­ Thus, even as i.h i' execrable i\ lugalw constitnt.ional amet1dm e11t to permit. ture of South African in tervention mut.t.Prs darkly of carryi11g his mil­ himself a hithert.o unLhillka.blc t.hird in Lesotho is to be believed. Con­ itary Stlpport of the h ahila. n'gimc t.Prm. troversially, SouthaJ\ does give the clirect.ly in to l{wanda. and Uganda elections themselves a qualified pass­ themselves, riots erupt in Jl arare It is just 1.his hid l'or cont.inued ing grade on the "free and fair" in­ prot.cst.ing such expensive ext.ern;d pmr1'r, a11d t.lw 111Ldcm ona tic sensi­ dex, despite the m ore sceptical opin­ adventurism at a tilllc of deep t'co­ bilities characteristic of Swapo fro111 ion on this issue of many Lesothans nomic crisis at. home. EvidPnet' of which it. spri ngs, t.ltat providPs t.lw themselves. But of South Africa's just. how difhcult it. is no1r bl' com­ coutext. for <lno t.lt er st.ory Cl' Jit.ra.l to own blundering arrogance he has no in g to disentangle do111est ic dl' velop­ tlt es1, pages: t he resistance t.o N 11- doubt. Read him and weep. lll ellt-" from regional conflict.;; is also joma's don test ic IHtlpolii'ik o H'erPd. reveall'd in another article iu this is­ a.l co nsidl'rabiP cost. <lncl l'\'!'n risk Even more sobering is the fact. sue. Pi erre 13e;\llclc t.. i11 recountin g to ltitnsell', by NamiiJian politician that t he Lesotho intervention seems t.he dismal st.ory of t.h e react.iYat.ion ami diplomat !Je 11 Lllenga.