by Virginia Muwanigwa
With political stability having been consolidated in almost all the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and peace prospects good in Angola, there was promise of a good year for the region.
The start of the year, however, was marred by the death of King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho, in a road accident on 15 January. The king was succeeded by his son, King Letsie II.
Elsewhere in the region, the receding political threats made way for a greater focus on socio-economic matters. Thus, the theme for the year’s SADC Annual Consultative Conference (ACC) was Trade and Investment, bringing together representatives of regional governments, private sector, nongovernmental organisations and International Cooperating Partners.
The forum enabled discussion among the different stakeholders on their perceived roles and desired cooperation. The conference ended with a lot of promise for increased cooperation and a conducive environment for both local and foreign investment in southern Africa. Increased information exchange within the region was also encouraged with emphasis on using electronic communication.
This is not to say the conference was without discord. The contentious issue of South Africa’s unfair trading practises within the region, at one point threatened to derail the discussions. This issue has dominated regional debate during the year, with several countries seeking bi-Iateral agreements with South Africa.
During the SADC Summit in August, where South Africa was elected chair, taking over from Botswana, four protocols were signed by all countries except Angola, which asked for time to consult back home.
These protocols were: combatting illicit drug trafficking; energy; transport, communication and meteorology; and the eagerly-awaited trade protocol. These protocols will enable the region to rationalise cooperation and the summit committed itself to speedily ratifying them in order for implementation.
Still to be finalised are protocols on: the free movement of people within the region; human resources development; mining; and tourism. The envisaged protocol on free movement of SADC nationals has been hampered by reservations mainly from Botswana and South Africa, with the latter more concerned about its immediate problem of illegal immigrants from the region and beyond.
This year, the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, chaired by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, was formed in June to address issues relating to political stability, conflict prevention, management and resolution, democracy and human rights as well as issues on general peace in the region.
One of its main functions was carried out in October when SADC leaders met in Angola to discuss the fragile peace process in that country. Despite the fact that chief protagonist, Jonas Savimbi, leader of Unita, boycotted the meeting, the summit made a strong appeal to Unita to fulfil its commitments to the 1994 Lusaka Protocol.
The security discussions also recommended a high level meeting between the two parties as soon as possible as the prevailing situation in that country is the “remaining major obstacle to total regional stability within the SA DC region” and is thus seriously hindering joint economic development.
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos had in June, sacked the prime minister and government for allowing the country to slide to the verge of military and economic collapse. Inflation was estimated at 4,000 percent while the peace process was dragging.
Other internal crises centred around the political situation in Zambia after President Frederick Chiluba’s government amended the constitution to bar former president Kenneth Kaunda, from contesting this year’s elections.
With a requirement that any presidential aspirant should have been born of Zambian parents and should not have served for more than two terms, Kaunda, who was born in Zambia although his parents were Malawian and who ruled Zambia for close to 30 years, was effectively barred.
Despite speculation that the elections would not be held, voting did occur on 18 November, although under tense conditions which saw a boycott by seven parties including Kaunda’s United National Independent Party (UNIP) and participation by half the number of registered voters. Chiluba, however, won the elections and immediately threatened to deal harshly with those disturbing peace. Some donors have either withdrawn aid or cut the amount in reaction to events in the country.
In Swaziland, the only country in southern Africa which is yet to embrace multi-party democracy, a Constitutional Review Commission has been set up. The commission will carry out consultations designed to bring about an “acceptable and sustainable dispensation” through popular participation in politics for the nation.
The constitutional reform was necessitated by among others a general strike which in February crippled the socio-political and economic structures of the country. The strike was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between the monarch and some opposition parties for a democratic political system.
From September 1996, women around the region celebrated the first anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing. A revisit of the Beijing Platform of Action in general and the 12 Critical Areas of Concern in particular, characterised these commemorations which evaluated progress since the meeting.
SADC countries have chosen priority areas of action from the original 12 and initiated mechanisms for action. For example, a meeting of SADC parliamentarians in September recommended that each country define a National Plan of Action (NPA) for women, highlighting its priorities and how they intend to address root causes of gender inequality.
Botswana has adopted a gender policy, Zimbabwe is working on one and South Africa has instituted an Office on the Status of Women and is finalising a Commission on Gender Equality. In Tanzania, the Beijing Platform for Action has been translated into Kiswahili.
Other highlights of the year include world summits on solar energy, trade and investment and food in September and in November. Despite attracting a lower than expected turnout from world leaders, especially from the developed countries, the World Solar Summit launched a programme for related global activities, the World Solar Programme 1996-2005.
The Harare Declaration on Solar Energy and Sustainable Development recognized the need to increase access to energy in developing countries which would reduce environmental degradation. In addition, access would alleviate poverty through improved living conditions, health and education, and promote small-scale enterprises.
The Southern Africa Trade and Investment summit, also held in Harare stressed the need to re channel resources to increase regional trade and investment and achieve sustainable economic development.
Delegates noted that a lot of ground-work had been covered to support intra-regional trade and investment through cooperation in such areas as energy, water, and infrastructure development. Also underscored was the need to utilise comparative advantages in SADC.
The World Food Summit, held recently in Rome, was in response to estimates that 800 million people in the world are malnourished despite there being enough food globally to feed everyone. Equitable distribution of food forms one of the resolutions of the summit in addition to increased investment in rural development.
More than half of southern Africa’s poor and hungry are in the rural areas, and strategies to ensure food security include poverty-reduction, environmental management and empowering women, which latter forms the bulk of people who work the land.
As a global summit, the need to reconcile trade policies to cater for both the developing and developed countries was not left out. It was noted that there is need for macro-economic and trade conditions conducive to food security.
With less focus on political stability in the region, the environment is another previously overlooked sector, that has benefitted from closer scrutiny during the year. Several meetings have been held in southern Africa and internationally to increase awareness. Even meetings not necessarily environment focused highlighted in their resolutions the need to mainstream it in all development programmes.
“Environment protection should be top on the agenda in all our economic endeavours otherwise we are doomed,” warned the director of the SADC Environment and Land Management Sector (SADC ELMS) at the ACC. The forum also heard that clear and sound environmental policies and strategies would certainly make southern Africa a popular destination for investment.
Disaster management, in a region prone to droughts, floods, epidemics, crop diseases and pests, and cyclones, formed yet another target area for action with recommendations for pro-active measures to prevent disasters wreaking havoc on different sectors of southern Africa.
The conflicts in Burundi and Zaire during the year increasingly necessitated political intervention by southern African states. Former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere played a leading role in the Burundi conflict, as chairman of the Mwanza Talks, which explored solutions to the crisis.
Zambia and Tanzania joined other neighbouring countries in imposing sanctions on Burundi after a military coup returned to power a former president, Pierre Buyoya.
Cooperation continued between SADC and other organs such as the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) and the European Union (EU). In October, SADC and EU Ministers met in Windhoek, Namibia and pledged to improve cooperation between the two regions.
Overall, 1996 proved to be a crisis-free year for southern Africa, with more emphasis on dialogue and resolutions to ensure sustainable socio-economic and political development (SARDC)
