SADC SUMMIT 2019: How the liberation struggle nurtured economic union

Arusha. Sometime in the middle of 1979, the leaders of what used to be called the Frontline States met in Arusha.

It was not usual for the presidents of Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Angola and Mozambique to convene at the country’s safari capital.

Such meetings were held more or less on rotational basis in the capitals of the member countries or other areas at the ‘frontline’; close to the states still under the colonial yokes.

For Tanzania, the meeting took place when the country had not settled down after the war with Uganda which drained a lot of resources.

At the end of the day, the meeting hosted by the Nation Founder, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, came out with a statement on the birth of a new organization.

That was the Southern Africa Development Coordinating Conference (Sadcc), a precursor to the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) whose 39th summit will be hosted by Tanzania next month.

Incidentally, the western media which largely operated from Johannesburg, gave a rather special coverage to the session of the frontline presidents.

For the first time, the meeting of the leaders spearheading the fight against the minority rule in southern Africa, deviated from the hard-hitting statements on decolonisation.

Some observers might have felt it was too soon to embark on an economic union when several states were still under the minority rule.

For Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), although the road map to the Lancaster House talks had been laid down, the country was still under the ‘puppet’ black leaders like Abel Muzorewa.

Angola was already independent (since 1975) but had plunged into a civil war; more blood letting than many years of the liberation struggle.

In South Africa, it was business as usual as far as the apartheid regime was concerned. Its hegemony extended to its frightened neighbours.

Namibia was effectively under the control of Pretoria despite the decade old war of liberation by the South West African People’s Organisation (Swapo) combatants and international pressure to force the Boers out.

Although the frontline states caucus continued until the early 1990s, the establishment of Sadcc brought a new impetus to political and economic trends in southern Africa.

Some felt the decision was made because the focus of southern Africa would be on economic integration after the end of the minority rule.

Others saw the coming end of the colonial/apartheid rule as an opportunity to enhance economic relations and tap the available resources.

Although the meeting to found Sadcc took place in 1979 Arusha but it was not until the following year (1980) that the organization was officially launched.

The timing was not by coincidence. The same month (April 1980), Zimbabwe joined the bloc following its hard fought independence after many years of a bitter war.

Zimbabwe under the leadership of Comrade Robert Mugabe automatically became the sixth member of the Frontline States and Sadcc.

A total of nine majority ruled southern African countries signed the Lusaka Declaration that formally established the organization. Sadcc was tasked to spearhead socio-economic cooperation although in several other areas, such as Namibia and South Africa, the fight for freedom raged.

It was later transformed into Sadc (Southern Africa Development Community) in August 1992 with the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration and the Treaty establishing Sadc.

It was at this juncture that much emphasis was put on the socio-economic cooperation although the political and security cooperation remained.

That was despite the dissolution of the Frontline States in 1994 after South Africa’s first democratic elections which put a free Nelson Mandela at the centre stage.

On August 14th, 2001, the 1992 Sadc Treaty was amended. The amendment heralded the overhaul of the structures, policies and procedures of the regional organization.

One of the changes is that political and security cooperation is institutionalized in the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (OPDS). The year 2017 saw Comoro becoming the 16th member state. That was during the 37th Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government held in South Africa.