Stefaans BrUmmer
A WEEK after Major Pierre Buyoya seized power in Burundi, South Africa is still wondering what to do about it. While Buyoya has been told his government will not be recognised, there is no clear path for South Africa’s policy-makers.
Western powers have put considerable pressure on President Nelson Mandela — most recently during his trip to Britain and France, and during German Foreign Minister Hans Kinkel’s visit to South Africa — to take an assertive lead in African peace- keeping initiatives.
But this week former African National Congress MP Jan van Eck, speaking from Burundi, said the coup was a “blessing in disguise” and warned that forceful foreign intervention could “terminate” Burundi. Van Eck has been involved in the Burundi peace effort since last year, and is now a consultant to the Cape Town-based Centre for Conflict Resolution.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Pieter Swanepoel this week said that while an “escalation” of thought had taken place on the military option immediately after the coup, the urgency had dissipated. He said the situation in Burundi — where at least 150 000 people, mostly civilians, have died in three years of civil conflict — was reasonably stable. South Africa’s position remained the same as before the coup, when Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo said “the stationing of military units is not possible at this time”.
Significantly, a meeting of East African regional leaders in Arusha, Tanzania, on Wednesday shied away from resurrecting plans for military intervention – — deciding rather to impose economic sanctions. While Foreign Affairs has said repeatedly South Africa would take its lead from the Organisation of African Unity and regional groups, Swanepoel said on Wednesday South Africa had yet to formulate a response to that decision.
Signs are, however, that South Africa is to get more closely involved in the East African initiative, which is led by Tanzania’s elder statesman Julius Nyerere. Last week Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa wrote to Mandela asking for a South African envoy to that initiative.
Van Eck said South Africa had a duty to get involved, but warned against the use of force. “Of all the countries in Africa, South Africa would be most welcomed by Burundians. The majority [Hutus] and minority [Tutsis] see the solution we found in South Africa as something they would like to emulate …
“If you want to resolve conflict in a country, you have to work with those who are in authority. It doesn’t matter how much Buyoya’s takeover is attacked, he is in charge. South Africa must find a way to engage him to ensure his commitment to eventual full democracy is adhered to.
“Without me wanting to justify the coup, Buyoya has committed himself to the same path as in 1992 [when Buyoya, a Tutsi and former military ruler, handed power to the first elected Hutu-led government].”
Van Eck said South Africa’s best course was the much-maligned “quiet diplomacy. If you had a foreign force invading Burundi, it would terminate Burundi. There would be total resistance from the minority. The [Tutsi-dominated] army, if it felt threatened to the extent that it felt it will be defeated, would probably leave the country and return as new militias or a new rebel movement.”
Van Eck said Buyoya, whom he met a year ago in Burundi, and whom he introduced to leaders in South Africa late last year, had committed himself to restoring security, disciplining his army and starting all-inclusive talks leading to a new Constitution and elections.