Briefing on Angola and Drc

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
25 September 2002
BRIEFING ON ANGOLA AND DRC

Chairperson: Adv J H De Lange (ANC)

Relevant documents:
ISS power-point presentation on the DRC
Deputy Minister's briefing notes

Other documents
Angola: Prospects for Peace and Prosperity SA Institute for International Affairs

SUMMARY
Deputy Minister, Aziz Pahad, and the Institute for Security Studies briefed the Committee on the situation in Angola and the DRC. South Africa fully supported the peace process in Angola and would be working with Angola in helping to rebuild and reconstruct its economy and infrastructure. Mr Pahad emphasised the need for civil society to play a role in the process. South Africa would also be sending in troops to the DRC, as part of a UN Security Council request, to facilitate the implementation of the Pretoria agreement. A four-member third party verification team was currently in the DRC to verify the implementation of the Pretoria agreement as part of a joint UN/South Africa initiative.

MINUTES
The Chair introduced the Deputy Minister, Mr Aziz Pahad, who would brief the Committee on Angola and the DRC, and a delegation from the Institute for Security Studies who would speak on the DRC.

Deputy Minister's Briefing
The Deputy Minister said that it was a pleasure to discuss these two issues. The developments in Angola and the DRC were something that one could only be happy with. The topic of Angola was timely because in a few days there would be a SADC meeting in Angola during which Angola would become the new SADC chair, and in two years would become the new chair of the African Union. It was clear that with peace in Angola, the country would be able to start playing a new role.

Following the death of Savimbi, the Angolan government had proposed a new agenda for peace and national reconciliation. Twenty-seven years of war had devastated the Angolan economy and infrastructure. The reconciliation process that has been instituted is aimed at reconciliation and development. Civil society is still very new and not as strong as some people would want to believe.

South Africa intends to strengthen economic ties with Angola and to intensify support of the peace process in Angola. A preparatory meeting had been held in Angola in August during which a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of both countries had been decided on during which a wide range of issues would be discussed, amongst others, trade, crime, migration, minerals and energy, agriculture and tourism. There was clearly commitment from both sides to intensify the interaction between the two peoples.

Angola is still ranked as the 13^th poorest country, despite the fact that it is the second largest oil producer in Africa and the 4^th largest diamond producer in the world. He fully agreed with the Arch-bishop of Luanda that social justice must be made a priority. Most of the country's infrastructure, outside of oil, has been practically destroyed. Given this humanitarian disaster, Cabinet decided that a committee must be established, to be chaired by Minister of Social Development to see how South Africa can contribute towards this effort.

Foreign Affairs have made some contributions through the UN but there was a need to include society as a whole. Warehouses had been set up in two cities in South Africa, including Durban, to which contributions could be made by the public that would then be sent to Angola. The Department of Agriculture will donate 6000kg of seeds to Angola. He was happy to get a sense that South African civil society and the private sector was making an effort to contribute to this.

There were certain challenges. As the South African government, there was a need to intensify efforts to make sure that it was part of the peace process. All sectors of government, the legislature and civil society must be mobilised to interact with their counterparts and ensure wide participation in the process. The international community would continue to be urged to see how they can more actively participate in the process.

In Africa, Angola is the second powerhouse after South Africa. This provides the private sector with an opportunity to get more closely involved in terms of trade, investments and energy. Angola's energy sector was controlled by the US and France, but there was an indication that they would be willing to look at South Africa being involved in a creative way. Angola was a producer of 10% of the US's oil and it was important to note that Africa was increasingly becoming a producer of oil for the US.

He strongly believed that despite their differences, the Angolan government and UNITA were totally committed to the peace process. It was now time to start fighting political battles. After 27 years it was still a difficult process.

On the DRC he said that South Africa had played a major role in the peace process, which now had world acknowledgement. It was now accepted by the parties in the DRC that there would not be parallel programmes but would try to implement the Lusaka and Pretoria Agreements. There were still many differences but the break-through had been made.

South Africa, together with the UN, is now regarded as a third party verification team to verify commitments entered into by the two governments, and was a major role to play. The South African verification team consisted of a four-member team and has been set up in Kinshasa to implement decisions of the Pretoria Agreement. The challenge was to now start preparing for a major involvement of the SANDF. He hastened to add that it was significant that there had been a lot of scepticism about South African involvement in the process and what has been achieved. The government's view was that it was not founded. What had been achieved has been quite fundamental. .

Rwanda and other countries have started withdrawing from the area. The difficulty is that unless the interhamwe militias are disarmed and withdraw, the vacuum that is created will allow others who are against peace to enter into it. South Africa needs to react quickly to the UN request to increase its presence in the DRC. The UN has been informed that South Africa will send in 1500 people. The UN has issued a specific list, which South Africa was now preparing to implement. It was assumed that this would be an extension of the mandate that Parliament had already given. The UN was very keen for South Africa to move into the area before December. It was expected by the international community that South Africa act decisively with the SANDF. Cabinet has approved the move. He was happy that everybody has now accepted the South African position.

Discussion
A member felt that it was good that the government was getting involved in the Angolan situation, but felt that an attempt should also be made to involve the people as well, in terms of churches etc., as there was a need to rehabilitate the social structures in Angola.

Mr Geldenhuys (NNP) asked what the South Africa position was on the US buying more oil in Angola and if South Africa was also considering doing the same.

Ms Magazi (ANC) asked what the costs would be in terms of deploying the SANDF and if the Security Council would provide money for some of the costs.

A member asked if the seeds being sent to Angola by the Department of Agriculture were organic, and if the issue of ethnicity would be a challenge.

Mr Sithole (ANC) reflected that by the time the SANDF moved into the area, other groups may have already established themselves, meaning that there might be some degree of engagement with them. He suggested that it might be in the interests of the process to look at the withdrawal of the Rwandan forces and see how that gap would be filled. He questioned what the long-term objectives were and what the new state in the DRC was anticipated to be.

Ms Hajaij (ANC) questioned what the political involvement of the US and France was in Angola, and if there were any other forces aside from South Africa, moving into the area.

The Deputy Minister replied that the role of civil society was vital in Angola and churches were previously actively involved in the situation, and thought that it should be increased in other ways, e.g. parliament and private sector involvement. Reconstruction especially would require the private sector as well as help from trade unions in South Africa. Government would have to help Angola as very little exists after 27 years of being at war. Clearly civil society must compliment the role of government.

The Angolan oil industry was virtually controlled by the US and France. Government was trying to see if it were possible to get oil from Angola, as well as Nigeria, but most of the oil was already sold in advance, for an estimated period of ten years, to other markets.

The cost of deployment would have to be met by the Security Council, and President Bush had also committed himself fully. The international community, short of sending in their own troops, were willing to lend financial support. The experience in Burundi has shown that the EU is willing to lend support.

He did not know what kinds of seeds were being sent.

The ethnicity issue was not only a problem for Angola but other countries as well and should not be a problem if handled correctly. Ethnicity has the potential to be exploited for the wrong reasons, but should be handled for the right reasons.

Regarding engagement, South Africa was in discussion as a third party verification team and would be looking at the issue in detail. The reality is that the first option is to get a voluntary disarmament in terms of the Pretoria agreement. The last option was to "track and disarm". However the situation might not need massive disarmament. It would depend on Rwanda and what happens to the genocidists. His own wish was that it should be a voluntary disarmament and encampment. France and the US have offered their cooperation. Other forces that have previously indicated their co-operation are Nigeria, Ghana and Bangladesh amongst others. The Security Council have asked for more troops from Africa and elsewhere. Others would be encouraged to cooperate - India, for example, has a very big peacekeeping experience.

ISS Briefing
Mr H J Boshoff and Mr R Cornwell briefed the Committee on the situation in the DRC.
(For the full briefing see PowerPoint presentation)

Discussion
Mr Sithole (ANC) referred to his earlier question and asked what State was it that was wanted to be seen evolving. He thought that the ISS were correct in thinking that the bulk of the forces of the Rwandan army were those that needing disarming. If those forces were not dealt with correctly, it had the ability to lead to lead to disruption. He questioned how the ISS conceptualised voluntary disarmament. He asked how the ISS saw the state evolving, as he was not sure that Kabile had the unquestionable support of his own people.

Ms Hajaij (ANC) asked if, with the deployment of troops, there were any parallel programmes in place to rebuild the institutional structures of the DRC.

Ms Mahomed (ANC) asked for an opinion with regard to multi-lateral organisations, and whether or not they played a fundamental role.

Mr Cornwell replied that the question would rather be whether Kabile would rather be the unchallenged leader of the Congo or share power. The other question was whether the unarmed part of Congolese politics could make its voice heard. One has to remember that the Congolese state has been a fiction for the past thirty years, and is a system that can only be described as feudal. There are too many other players on the ground that are ready to contest power. There was also a question of foreign support. Kabile has gained support - recently from the World Bank - but whether the international community buy into that support will depend on how much funding will come in. one must now wait to see if Kabile fulfils his part of the deal.

Mr Boshoff added that Monuc put a lot of emphasis on building support in all areas.

Ms Hajaij remarked that there were a lot of armaments floating around the DRC and questioned where they came from.

Mr Boshoff replied that Tanzania was one of the roots for the arms but that they come from different areas. It was disturbing to see the weapons that people are carrying.

A member asked to what extent can co-operation and commitment in the region, lead to peace.

Mr Cornwell responded that it was a factor but not the deciding one as there are role-players in the area, such as the Mai-Mai, who have never been a part of the negotiating process.

The Chair thanked the ISS whom he said, the Committee would like to exploit again to keep themselves informed of developments on the continent. However, we lived in a global village so there would be instances were their expertise would be required on issues beyond the continent.

Meeting adjourned.