SADC – a toothless bulldog protecting colonial masters’ interests

The Southern African Development Council (SADC) is a useless regional body whose sole purpose for existence is to protect the power of despots, who continue serve the interests of their colonial masters.

This was the view of political experts who say only a bold new breed of leaders with no liberation links could completely change SADC to become a true regional body that served the interests of the people of the region.

The regional body is comprised of all Southern African states, including the islands of Madagascar and Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, although there are question marks about the DRC membership of the region.

Political analyst, Dr Somadoda Fikeni Fikeni said the SADC remains an “old boys’ club” with no teeth.

“It appears less powerful, and l unable to flex the muscle against member states that disrespect democracy or practice injustice against their citizens. Any country is as strong as its regional fellow countries. Therefore if South Africa as a regional economic power was firm against others, they would respect it because of its economic power over them. But South African preferred not to play that role and continued on the path of quiet diplomacy.”

Fikeni said SADC countries were restricted by the fact that they belonged to a forum of liberation movements with a solidarity pact compelling them to protect each other. He said they were bound by the unwritten pact among liberation movements such the ANC, Frelimo in Mozambique, Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe, Angola’s MPLA, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) of Tanzania, and Swapo in Nambia, among others, to maintain non-antagonistic relations among one another.

“They say they don’t want to interfere in the internal affairs of another country. But this does not help to hold each other accountable for their undemocratic practices against their own people,” Fikeni said.

Another analyst, Xolani Dube, was even more scathing, describing SADC as an unholy alliance of convenience by members.

“It is a very unholy alliance, it is of the now and they protect each other. SADC is dead. It is one of those monumental failures in Africa, it is a symbol of how we failed post colonialism, where instead of moving forward, we are regressing,” Dube said.

The expert argued that SADC died when former President Thabo Mbeki left office.

“I think SADC was only active during Mbeki’s time, but post Mbeki it had no programme. It became a kind of ceremonial… We don’t see its role and purpose anymore because it is useless,” Dube said.

He said most SADC members were still loyal to their colonial powers. All British Commonwealth and the Portuguese colonies within the community would always serve the interests of those powers.

“SADC is a conglomeration of power hungry leaders who could not define their mission and purpose. They are just mascots who represent the interests of their colonisers,” he said.

The body’s uselessness was demonstrated by its failure to condemn the atrocities that occurred during 2008/9 election and the land grabs in Zimbabwe, as well as the recent crushing of pro-democracy protests in that country. It also kept quiet when the ANC government committed the 2012 Marikana Massacre in South Africa, and there was no word from the regional body during the 1982 Gururahundi massacre in which 20,000 people were killed by the Mugabe regime in Matebeland, Zimbabwe in the early 1980s.

With the continuing ISIS-initiated abductions and killings in parts of Mozambique, SADC remains quiet.

The experts say the failure of SADC and African leaders as a whole to self-reflect proved that they were only there for themselves, instead of the people they led.

“As products of the colonial masters, SADC leaders are caught between their masters and the people. They can’t say to each other ‘you are wrong’, they say we need to be our brother’s keeper. It’s about their power and what affects the people is not their concern,” Dube said.

The analyst echoed Fikeni, saying the SADC leaders still had a melancholy of being the liberation movements which he said was nothing but a convenient move to cover up the atrocities and injustices they meted out by some against innocent people in their respective countries.

“The alliance between them is for convenience to retain hegemony of this club of political elite who want to protect the interests of their colonial masters. They meet and plan how to protect each other for the sins they committed against their own people,” Dube said.

ericn@citizen.co.za

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