Exiled movements are setting up in South Africa, reports Justin Pearce
Willie Nwiido’s family thought he had died on the gallows along with Ken Saro-Wiwa — until they got word he was in South Africa. Wanted in Nigeria for his political activities, the 30- year-old Ogoni doctor went into hiding, only to re-emerge in Johannesburg, promoting the cause for which Saro-Wiwa died.
South Africa, whose exiles once fought apartheid from offices in Zambia, Tanzania and the United Kingdom, has now become the first choice of home for exiles struggling against repressive regimes elsewhere in Africa.
At least four major Nigerian liberation groups have set up shop in South Africa in the last three months, and more are on the way. Zairean pro-democracy activists, among others, also operate in South Africa.
Nwiido is here to represent the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), which Saro-Wiwa founded. The Nigerian Human Rights Committee and the Nigerian organisation Democratic Alternative are represented in South Africa by Emma Edigheji, a lecturer at the University of Durban-Westville. The Campaign for Democracy in Nigeria, currently based in London, is to set up a South African office shortly.
Zaire’s main opposition party, Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social (UDPS), has established a branch among the large Zairean community in Johannesburg. The lobby group Freedom Flag for Congo-Zaire operates from Cape Town.
Nigerian and Zairean activists see South Africa, and President Nelson Mandela in particular, as potentially invaluable allies in bringing about change in their own countries.
“Nelson Mandela makes us proud to be African by the stand he has taken,” Edighedi says. “He is regarded as the moral conscience of the world. We need to be close to his ears and get our message across.”
Jean Kalinga of Freedom Flag, sees South Africa as “a model of democracy in Africa”, and believes that other countries have much to learn from South Africa’s transformation.
The Nigerians are encouraged by the fact that South Africa has no history of military coups — the fact that many West African countries closely resemble Nigeria in their political make-up has made pro-democracy activists hesitant to base themselves in neighbouring
But for all the goodwill which the exiles attribute to South Africa, it is clear that it took the hanging of Nigerian writer Ken Saro- Wiwa and eight others to spur the South African government into action.
“Before the hangings, foreigners would look at Nigeria and say ‘these things can’t be happening,'” Nwiido recalls. “Since the hangings everything has changed.”
The Zairean resistance, by contrast, has been frustrated by South Africa’s lack of commitment to opposing the Mobutu Sese-Seko regime. Kabundi Mutombo of the South African branch of UDPS insists it was the Nigerian hangings that “have shaken the South African giant from its long sleep”, and accuses the South African government of keeping quiet about human rights abuses by Zaire, including murders, forced removals, and involvement in the Rwandan
Kalinga says his requests to Parliament to take a stand against Mobutu have been politely turned down, and he is equally frustrated by the apathy of most of the Zaireans who live in South Africa: “In Johannesburg there are thousands of Zaireans living a happy-go-lucky life — only here can they afford that standard of living.” He warns that the Zairean community might be forced to face reality if a worsening of the situation in Zaire precipitated a mass influx of Zaireans into South Africa, which could prompt a clampdown by the South African government.
The Nigerian community in South Africa is smaller, but more politicised. According to one Nigerian journalist now based in Johannesburg, “almost everyone is involved in some way or another — though obviously with different degrees of seriousness.” As the regime has intensified its repression of political activity in recent months, so the number of Nigerian exiles in South Africa has grown.
“Our secretary general is in solitary confinement,” Edighedi says. “To organise and travel is dangerous. Our houses are occupied by the military. In Ogoniland, in particular, imprisonment and the constant harassment of the population by soldiers has made effective organisation impossible.”
The Nigerian activists are troubled by charges — made, among others, by South African government members — that their opposition is fragmented. They point out that a proliferation of groups is inevitable in a country of some 100-million people of diverse ethnic heritage.
And they are united by “a common understanding that the military regime needs to be terminated immediately”, as Edighedi puts it.
All agree that an oil embargo against Nigeria would be the most effective way to isolate the regime, as this would deprive the country of over 80 percent of its foreign exchange earnings. The exiles are unanimous in rejecting General Sani Abacha’s promise of a three-year transition to democracy, saying the dictator is not to be trusted.
Mutombo argues for sanctions against Zaire, particularly the freezing of diamond imports which earn the country $30-million each month. Another concern of activists from both countries is the choice of South Africa as a safe haven by their rulers. Zairean president Mobutu Sese-Seko and members of his family own property in some of South Africa’s most expensive locations. Members of the Nigerian junta, regarded as personae non grata by European countries, are said to be salting away embezzled money in South Africa. The exiles agree that South Africa should order banks to freeze the accounts of such people, and think twice before granting them rights of residence.
In a country where, until recently, Nigerians were stereotyped as drug dealers and crooks, Nwiido is encouraged by the growing public awareness of Nigeria’s plight. Yet he is disappointed that the Southern African Development Community decided against imposing immediate sanctions on Nigeria, and remains worried that the recent attempts by Abacha to curry favour with Mandela will not be backed by real change unless international pressure is
“In January, another 19 activists are facing the same tribunal that condemned Ken Saro-Wiwa. We fear they are going to go the same way that Saro-Wiwa and the others went.”