Southern Africa was facing an “erosion of democracy” caused in part by a failure of regional leaders to live up to their own agreements on the rule of law, civil society groups warned on Wednesday.
The 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) was faced with a growing number of regional “problem cases” and must enforce its own commitments on human rights and democracy at a summit next week in Angola, said a coalition of religious groups, unions and non-profit organisations.
“We note with deep concern the deteriorating political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe,” Malcolm Damon, head of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, told journalists in Johannesburg.
He said all five countries were plagued by “continued harassment and killings of human rights defenders, denial of citizens’ right to participate in the political process, violence… as well as increasing human insecurity”.
He called for “urgent attention” from the region’s heads of state.
SADC leaders have been struggling for almost three years to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe touched off by violent and disputed elections in 2008, which led to the creation of an uneasy power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
They have also failed so far to resolve the stand-off in Madagascar sparked by former president Marc Ravalomanana’s military-backed ouster in 2009, as well as persistent violence, mass rape, hunger and disease in the conflict-plagued Democratic Republic of Congo.
Meltdown in Malawi
The regional bloc’s August 17 and 18 summit in Luanda will also be faced with new meltdowns in Malawi — where security forces violently put down a wave of anti-government protests last month, leaving 19 dead — and Swaziland, which has seen mounting protests against King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch.
Damon criticised a “lack of progress” in SADC’s mediation efforts, and called on leaders to “review the SADC conflict resolution mechanisms to make them more effective”.
The head of the SADC Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, a coalition of non-profit groups, also criticised regional leaders for failing to enforce their own policies on protecting democracy in the region.
“We need to develop a mechanism that will ensure that SADC enforces its policies to manage these kinds of issues,” Boichoko Ditlhake said.
“Some member states are always choosing when to be part of SADC and when not to comply, hiding behind the concept of sovereignty.”
Meanwhile, Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika faced further protests and a loss of aid if he failed to address his country’s problems, civil groups and the US said on August 4.
Protests have been planned by civil organisations for August 17, should Mutharika fail to address the country’s problems before then.
As the poverty-stricken country rebels against Mutharika’s authoritarian rule, the United States says it will only release $350-million intended to help address Malawi’s energy crisis as part of an agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US agency which fights global poverty, if the government abides by its pledge to adhere to and uphold democracy and good governance; freedom of expression; freedom of association; and other fundamental freedoms enshrined in Malawi’s Constitution.
“The fate of this MCC compact is in the hands of the government of Malawi,” said Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, the press attaché and spokesperson for the United States Diplomatic Mission to South Africa.
The pact was signed in April 2011.
This strong stance followed the death of 19 people in street demonstrations and protests which shook the normally peaceful country. – Sapa and Staff reporter