Marion Edmunds
Angola’s peace process needs to be extended by two to three months to give Uniaco Nacional para a (Unita) and Movimento Popular de Libertacao de Angola (MPLA) leaders more time to negotiate Jonas Savimbi’s role in the Angolan government, said Freedom Front leader General Constand Viljoen, after a meeting with Savimbi mid- week.
Savimbi met his friend, Viljoen, in Pretoria on Wednesday after three days of talks about the Angolan peace process with President Nelson Mandela and senior Cabinet ministers in Umtata. Viljoen confirmed that he supported Savimbi’s rejection of the role of second vice-president in the Dos Santos government, arguing that he deserved something better.
“He should not rush into a disaster,” said Viljoen, speaking of the target dates over the next month which had been planned by the United Nations to phase in the new Angolan Government, elected in 1992.
Fears are being being raised by analysts that the first meeting of the Angolan National Assembly, scheduled for later this month, will not take place because of the failure of the two sides to define Savimbi’s role, status, powers and salary.
“A month or two of planning and further negotiations would be worthwhile at this stage. Dr Savimbi, however, was upbeat. He recognised the fact that the process is at a critical stage and is serious about finding a solution,” said Viljoen.
Following talks with Savimbi, South African cabinet leaders announced that the government would assist with the process of establishing a functioning government of national unity in Luanda, although actual details of the nature of that assistance have not been disclosed.
Attempts to read Mandela’s intentions have been stymied by a lack of information and a refusal by the government to explain any of the background. In addition, according to the president’s representative Parks Mankahlana, there was a misleading media report that the South African government would be directly mediating in the conflict, assisting and facilitating where possible.
Mandela’s willingness to spend two days with Savimbi is seen as a strategically significant move, given that the African National Congress was traditionally allied to his opponents, the MPLA. The government is insisting it will be even-handed in its assistance.
It is expected that Deputy President Thabo Mbeki will be at the forefront of South Africa’s effort, and may well help to convene a much needed face-to-face meeting between Savimbi and his former foe, Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos for a bout of hard talking.
The critical issue will be to hammer out a role for Savimbi which will satisfy both sides of the political coin, and to institute a process of reconciliation to unite the divided country.
The allocation of resources is one of the key issues as all the major players have a vested interest in them, according to Stephen Ellis, a researcher at the African Studies Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands. Ellis was sceptical about South Africa’s ability to broker a deal over Savimbi where other countries and the UN had failed.
“One of the things that has always caused the breakdown in negotiation before was that the key people on both sides, Unita and MPLA, have so much vested interest in the war. The government can go on forever living off the profits from the oil, and Unita can do the same on the profit from diamond sales. The people in Angola need peace, but their leaders are doing as well out of the war as they would out of peace, and peace is the big unknown,” Ellis said.