SADC Report Writing

SADC: 40 YEARS BUILDING PEACE AND SECURITY, AND PROMOTING  DEVELOPMENT AND 

RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES 

 

The beauty of the SADC region is breathed through its mosaic of cultures as much as its palimpsest countries that write its tales on the pages of the past, without ever really erasing it. More than grassy savannahs and breathtaking coastlines, it is made up of flows of human energy but also of rebellious memories and salutary oblivion. 

Today, constrained by the throes of poverty, famine and low levels of education, a utopian SADC region may appear to be akin to the elusive rainbow. However, The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has proved to be the panacea to its member states’ ongoing difficulties through major contributions ranging from peace and security to agriculture and natural resources. 

" W E M U S T P U L L T O G E T H E R A N D W O R K H A R D I N E N S U R I N G T H AT

S A D C S U C C E E D S I N I T S A G E N D A O F D E V E L O P M E N T , E C O N O M IC 

I N T E G R A T I O N " 

The Key Objectives of SADC 

SADC has been a solid underpinning that has paved the way for the historic transformation of the organization in Windhoek, Namibia in 1992 from a loose alliance to a cohesive Community geared to meet the daunting challenges and potential opportunities presented by both a wider regional social economic space and globalisation. 

These are all clear testimony of the leaders’ dedication to the practical realisation of these ideals and shared vision of a utopian region: 

The key objectives of SADC, as stated in Article 5 of the SADC Treaty (1992) are to:

Achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life and support the socially disadvantaged through Regional Integration; 

Evolve common political values, systems and institutions; Promote and defend peace and security; 

Promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance, and the inter-dependence of Member States; 

Achieve complementarity between national and regional strategies and programmes; 

Promote and maximise productive employment and utilisation of resources of the region; 

Achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment; 

Strengthen and consolidate the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links among the people of the Region 

S O M E I N S T R U M E N T S T H A T W E R E P U T I N P L A C E T O A C H I E V E

T HE S E T  O B J E C T I V E S A N D M A N D A T E

The Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC), established in 1977, played a crucial role in the liberation struggles against colonial and racist regimes and in the maintenance of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Member States. 

The SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) has become an important institution, advising SADC, the Member States and the Organ Troika on critical aspects of conducting democratic elections in the region and assessing the democracy in the region. 

Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ’ (SIPO II) has helped create a peaceful and politically stable environment. It has fortified the political role of SADC in the mediation of conflicts in the region. Member States turn to the regional organisation to initiate mediation measures: SADC has already played an important role during the crisis in Lesotho, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. 

APARTHEID- THE GRIM LEGACY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA 

Segregation was rampant. For white people, it was a cocoon of free healthcare, tennis in the afternoon, and grenadine cocktails in the evening. For the black population, it was a subsistence diet of cassava root that rarely, if ever, included meat. In fact, the apartheid system was no less than a murderous fable, written in gore and bringing home the horrific spralling of humanitarian threats. 

The apartheid system, by blatantly ghettoising ethnic groups has left a legacy of not only colour prejudice, but also prejudice against Africans from outside the country. 

Moreover, most countries of the SADC region experienced periods of European settler colonialism. South Africa, because of its large white population, was a politically autonomous hegemony under the British crown, unlike the UK's other African colonies. 

In 1918, some territories were still regarded as the private property of commercial companies. Whatever the status of territory, the plunder of Africa's wealth – its gold, rubber, tobacco, diamonds, ivory and copper – was unrelenting. 

This vile history has led to various forms of racial segregation and oppression as well as millions of death Even today, there remain profound threats to human and state security, many of them fueled by poverty, marginalisation, and the weakness of states. 

RISING AGAINST A DEHUMANISING SYSTEM 

1956-1980 heralded the tumble of decolonisation Armed independence movements launched rebellions in the early 60s in Portugal's remaining territories – Angola, Mozambique and Guinea – and were met with increasing brutality. 

Portugal definitely learned the hard way through this revolution. The economic and political toll of the conflict helped prompt a coup in 1974 that overthrew the rightwing regime in Lisbon. This stripped Europe’s colonial delusions and dispeled any lingering hopes of them holding on to South African colonies. Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau were freed the following year in a fanfare of independence celebrations. 

Another epic story dates back to 33 years ago, when the small town of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola, became the epicenter of one the fiercest conventional battles of the African history. From November 1987 to March 1988, thousands of combatants from FAPLA supported by PLAN waged a war and defeated the mighty armed forces of the Apartheid regime of South Africa. 

Solidarity among Member States that formed the Frontline States, had led to the independence of Namibia in 1990, and the end of apartheid in South Africa, culminating in free and fair elections that ushered in a majority government in that country in 1994. 

Today, the Frontline States became the vehicle through which the region could coordinate its efforts, resources and strategies to support national liberation movements, and at the same time resist the constant military and economic destabilisation by apartheid. 

Nelson Mandela

EXTERNAL & INTERNAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION 

1. MITIGATING EXTERNAL CONFLICTS 

Diplomacy is an effective scope to persuade parties in conflict to cease hostilities, negotiate a peaceful settlement of their dispute and maintain a sustainable socio-economic fabric. 

Negotiation, enquiry and mediation have proved to be the key to peacemaking and creating a conducive environment for political dialogue and the restoration of democracy 

Indeed, it has helped facilitate various peacemaking initiatives -namely the negotiation and signing of the ceasefire Agreement in Lesotho, DRC, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe. 

2. MITIGATING INTERNAL CONFLICTS 

A better understanding and synergy between human rights and internal conflict resolution should be achieved through peacebuilding practices. 

Increased trading can promote peace through communication and trans national ties that increase understanding within societies and the potential for cooperation. 

When governments use a bottom-up approach, where everyone who is involved, and benefiting from the production of exports, the warring factions within a society will have more incentives to work together in symbiosis. 

The constitutional peace rests upon the liberal argument that peace dwells in democracy and a set of cosmopolitan values that stem from the notion that individuals are the ends in themselves, rather than means to an end. In order to tackle internal conflicts, the afflicted country must portray democratic beliefs and create policies that give its citizens ways to create both economic and political stability. 

SADC WORKING AS A COLLECTIVE TO ENSURE PEACE, STABILITY AND SECURITY 

SADC’s goals of fostering regional cooperation and integration, economic boom, socio-economic development, and durable peace and security among its member states have never been more salient. 

SADC has achieved astounding success promoting regional peace and security and economic development for the welfare of the SADC region’s most important resource — its people. SADC’s enduring support helped Lesotho negotiate crucial government reforms and embark upon a cordial transition of political regime. 

It continues to promote regional peace and security as demonstrated by its salutary role in helping Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo resolve a deep-rooted border dispute. And through its Southern African Power Pool, SADC is mobilising resources to address energy shortages that jeopardise regional development and economic integration.

Debunking the Myth of Child Hunger in the SADC region- al ooming menace to peace, security and stability 

YOU CAN'T BUILD A PEACEFUL WORLD ON EMPTY STOMACHS AND HUMAN MISERY.” 

Dr. Norman Borlaug 

A child dies every three seconds globally due to food deprivation – 10,000 children every day – but although figures show an improvement in child hunger at a global level, it is exacerbating in some parts of Southern Africa. 

Child hunger is driven by extreme poverty, inequitable economic growth, gender inequality and a fractured food system. Child hunger is fundamentally a political problem. It is the offspring of the unholy alliance of political apathy, unaccountable governance, and economic mismanagement. Persistent and naked though the reality is, it remains a silent tragedy, one that remains largely unacknowledged and tolerated, perhaps because it is a poor man’s problem 

However, any progressive society is gauged by its ability to provide access to food as a basic necessity. Today, most African farmers are less productive than a US farmer was 100 years ago. Indeed, buttressing and upskilling small farmers is the idyllic solution to future food security. 

A fusion of financial aid, education in low-tech methods such as better rice planting and irrigation, and the inception of better seeds and fertilizer could undoubtedly spark a green revolution in the SADC region, such as the one that revamped the South Asian landscape in the 20th century. 

Economic growth has long been seen as the quintessence to reducing hunger. More trade, financial liberalisation and open markets can also facilitate the flow of food, of which there's no overall shortage. 

D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 

There's an inner angel in us 

all and finding it is the key to 

fixing a messy Southern 

African landcscape. 

Change is always a leap of 

faith and it takes an iron will 

combined with a heart of 

pure love to do it. 

However, time and again, 

the SADC region has proved 

to be a loving and unyielding  

ecosystem where we all 

thrive together because we 

support one another. 

At every difficulty we were 

thrown upon, our creative 

minds dreamed up new 

possibilities, new futures, 

new technologies. And there 

is no doubt that we will 

continue to dream, and in 

doing so, pave the way 

towards a prosperous 

Southern Africa, vested with 

a democratic paradigm!