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Nothing new
The 29th Summit of the Southern African Development Community held on 7 and 8 September 2009 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), delivered little in the way of surprises, but certainly offered much in the way of disappointment. If the summit was meant to extend congratulations to one and all, then the latest regional 'talk shop' certainly achieved its goal.
The summit presented no real results and the hopes that the body, as one of the principal guarantors of the failing Zimbabwean unity government, would address the relevant issues to unblock the deadlock, were dashed as SADC leaders once again shied away from any issue that demanded concrete action.
The overriding impression left by the summit was that African leaders would stand together, irrespective of human rights violations, poor governance and failing democracy.
SADC leaders agreed that the region had few problems and none, bar Madagascar (arguably a country that is not considered truly 'African'), was considered important enough to warrant any actual attention.
The summit was officially opened by the SADC chairperson and South African President Jacob Zuma, who passed the baton to President Joseph Kabila Kabange of the DRC as chairperson. President Hifikepunye Pohamba of the Republic of Namibia is the new deputy chairperson.
All the usual subjects were on the menu such as climate change, HIV/Aids, gender equality, food security in the region, promotion of regional integration and trade, the SADC Free Trade Area and the global economic crisis, with discussion delivering no new insights.
President Kabila called on SADC member states to adopt a common position regarding climate change and global warming which protects the specific interests of the African continent with a view to the United Nations climate conference to be held in Copenhagen in December.
In terms of the stability of the region, the summit delivered a favourable report and claimed that it indeed remained peaceful. The “few” political and security challenges were judged to be in the process of being “effectively addressed” in the eastern part of the DRC, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Madagascar and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The only country that received any harsh criticism was Madagascar. The summit made a point of noting that there were attempts to undermine the agreements signed by the Malagasy political movements during August 2009 in Maputo. The summit expressed its “firm rejection” and “strong condemnation” of any unilateral decision that would violate the spirit of the Maputo agreements.
The summit further reiterated its decision regarding the suspension of Madagascar from SADC until the restoration of constitutional order in that country and urged all parties to fully implement the Maputo agreements.
The post-electoral problems in Lesotho after the disputed 2007 elections received scant attention. Notice was taken of the report of former president Sir Ketumile Masire, who was commended for his efforts in the post-electoral political dialogue. All parties were also urged to remain engaged in the process.
The main disappointment of the summit, however, was the failure to place Zimbabwe on the agenda. Disputed elections held in March 2008 led to pressure from SADC, the African Union and South Africa to form a unity government, which incorporated opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai into official structures during February 2009.
The six-month period following the agreement between the opposing parties has seen little progress and evidence has been presented by Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), that President Mugabe has failed to live up to the agreements.
Tsvangirai had high hopes that SADC, as main guarantor of the Global Political Agreement, would pressure President Mugabe to resolve the issues that have brought the process to a virtual standstill.
In the hope that the subject would be considered important enough to warrant discussion at the regional meeting, he travelled to Kinshasa to make his case, only to be informed at a very late stage that the issue would not be discussed and that he would not be allowed to present his appeal.
In his opening address, President Jacob Zuma lauded the progress that the unity government had made and appealed to all parties to resolve the outstanding issues. He also appealed to the West to lift sanctions, which he thought were impeding progress.
The summit followed this line and underlined what it called significant “progress” in the Global Political Agreement and reiterated the call for the removal of all international sanctions against the country, identifying these sanctions as the main barrier to further advancement while completely ignoring the clear evidence of continued human rights violations, harassment of the opposition and the abundant reports of the failure of President Mugabe’s party to adhere to agreed upon conditions.
Dealing with Zimbabwe’s failing unity government is now clearly back in South Africa’s court – a position that the South African government seems to have embraced. In spite of the clear danger that a failing Zimbabwe poses, President Zuma did not appear willing to digress from the official summit line.
More surprising was the presence of Botswanan President Ian Khama, who in 2008 refused to attend the SADC summit personally, instead sending his Foreign minister, as he claimed that his country did not recognise President Mugabe as the legal president of Zimbabwe. A mere year later, he appears to have overcome all his reservations and now claims that he agrees that much progress has been made by the unity government and that sanctions are, in fact, the central problem.
Even the sometimes controversial and often outspoken President Khama appears to have become blind to the fact that humanitarian aid has indeed continued to Zimbabwe, targeted sanctions (asset freezes and a travel ban) are directed at Mugabe, his cronies and the top companies that support his regime and do not affect the economic failure or success of Zimbabwe.
The fact that the European Union has withheld development aid could easily be solved should President Mugabe make the required political changes and respect human rights. Furthermore, SADC also appears to have 'forgotten' that the International Monetary Fund has recently injected a half-billion-dollar loan under a G20 plan to support global liquidity.
This significant loan is yet another bone of contention in the unity government between Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, author of Zimbabwe’s economic demise, and Tendai Biti, opposition member and now minister of Finance.
Small wonder that President Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party have accepted the September SADC summit as an endorsement, as regional leaders have now officially expressed their agreement with his viewpoint – namely that the sanctions are at the heart of Zimbabwe’s failure to find a political solution and to turn around its economy.
No doubt this perceived endorsement will serve to harden his refusal to make any further concessions, and the failure of the SADC summit will effectively prolong the economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe.
When it became clear that Zimbabwe would not be on the agenda, Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai still hoped for an extraordinary summit – yet the SADC summit would not make this concession nor would it even call on President Mugabe to adhere to the stipulations of the agreement or demand that he refrain from anti-democratic behaviour.
As further support for President Mugabe, SADC even failed to mention his flagrant disregard of the decision of the SADC tribunal in favour of a number of white farmers whose farms had been expropriated, leaving President Mugabe triumphant and content that he has the unwavering backing of regional leaders.
The SADC disappointment was followed by some slim hope that the issue may yet receive a degree of attention in a statement made in the South African parliament by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who said that a special summit “might” still be held if the SADC secretariat on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation finds that no solution to the power sharing disagreements could be found.
This organ – a far less influential body than SADC itself – will now be under the leadership of President Armando Emilio Guebuza of the Republic of Mozambique and His Excellency President Rupiah Bwezani Banda of the Republic of Zambia as chairperson and deputy chairperson respectively.
Deputy President Motlanthe told parliament that a special summit could happen to ensure accountability among Zimbabwe’s political protagonists. Motlanthe said: “SADC leadership… has decided that the SADC secretariat should on an ongoing basis… monitor resolution of all these outstanding issues and that if that does not produce the desired results, an extraordinary summit will be convened focusing specifically on ensuring that more fillip is added to the processes of moving Zimbabwe forward."
http://www.sadc.int/index/browse/page/599, SADC Communiqué of the 29th Summit of SADC Head of State and Government, 8 September 2009.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200909090885.html, Inter Press Service, southern Africa: Zimbabweans Rubbish SADC's Sanctions Call, 9 September 2009.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200909100211.html, Business Day, southern Africa: SADC "Will Monitor Progress in Zimbabwe”, 10 September 2009.
http://www.zimbabwemetro.com/headline/motlanthi-sadc-summit-on-zimbabwe-still-an-option, Metro Zimbabwe, Jacob Zuma endorses his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe, 9 September 2009.
