Front Line Africa, The Right to a Future: An Oxfam report on conflict and poverty in Southern Africa

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L i l t ArKKA

AN OXFAM REPORT ON CONFLICT AND POVERTY IN

S U S A N

OUTHERN AFRICAPUEAS.E MEIU8NTEVA

N AION

M i r H


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Oxfam 1990

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataSmith, Susanna, 1951Front Line A frica: the right to a futureSouthern Africa. Social conditionsI. Title968.06'3ISBN 0-85598-103-2ISBN 0-85598-104-0 pbk

Front cover & page heading illustration by Alison MoretonBack cover photograph: Sumve Primary School, Mw anza Region, Tanzania(Geoff Sayer/Oxfam)

Published by Oxfam, 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZDesigned by Oxfam Design Studio 797 DMH 89Printed by Alden Press, OxfordTypeset in 10 point Times Roman

This book converted to digital file in 2010


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Contents

PageAcknowledgements vGeneral notes viiAbbreviations viiiIntroduction 1Section I : Regional constraints on developmentChapter 1 : Background to South Africa's policy ofregional destabilisation 5Chapter 2 : The 'destab ilisation' phase of South Africa's

regional policy 21Chapter 3 : The human dimensions of conflict 41Chapter 4 : How conflict disrupts relief and developm ent

work 77Chapter 5 : South Africa's economic integration withsouthern Africa 99

Chapter 6 : The economic costs of destabilisation 133Chapter 7 : South Africa's regional policy: recent

developm ents and future prospects 142


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Front Line Africa: The Right to a Future

Section I I : Global and national constraints ondevelopmentChapter 8 : Trade, debt and problems of nationalpolicy 159Chapter 9 : Three case-studies:Zimbabwe, M alawi, Angola 208Section III: The roles of Britain and theEuropean CommunityChapter 10 : The role and responsibilities of Britain 259Chapter 11 : The role and responsibilities of the EuropeanCommunity 299Section IV: ConclusionsChapter 12 : Summ ary and key considerations 319Notes 329Appendices 369Further reading 387


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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the many people w ho have given the ir time and the benefit oftheir experience to the research for this book. Those who deserve specialthanks are the people in southern Africa whom we interviewed and consulted,who are too numerous to mention. In add ition, I should like to thank thepeople who under took research: Rona Alexander (on the EuropeanCommuni ty Spec ia l Programme) , Akwe Amosu (Angola ) , Bornwel lChakaodza (eastern Zimbabwe), Justin Forsyth (Namibia), Paul Goodison( E C po l i c y ) , L i z Ho l m e s , Rob i n Pa l m e r ( Z i m ba bwe ) , Ju l i a n Qua n(Mozambique and Zimbabwe), and Geoff Sayer (illustrations).

This book draws on the collective experience over time of Oxfam's workin Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia,and Zi m ba bw e. I have therefo re been grea t ly helped by the act iv ecollaboration of many Oxfam staff members and trustees.

I am also indebted to a number of other people who have helped withadvice and editing . Special thanks go to Reg G reen , M alcolm Harper,Prudence Smith, Sithembiso Nyoni, Colin Stoneman, Nicola Swainson, IanLinden, Ken Wilson, Bruce Coles, and Chris Dammers.

Officials in a wide range of organisations and governmental departmentshave also helped by supplying information. These include a num ber ofdepartments within the governments of Angola, Malawi, Mozambique,Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; the British Department of Trade andIndustry, Foreign And Commonwealth Office, and Overseas Development

Administration; the British embassies in Angola and Mozambique; the SouthAfrican embassy in London; the Commission of the European Community;


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vi Front Line Africa: The Right to a Futurethe library of the US embassy in London; UNHCR, UNICEF, and the UnitedNations Council for Namibia; the World Bank and the International MonetaryFund; the African National Congress of South Africa; the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross and the League of Red Cross Societies; theQuaker Office at the United Nations; the Overseas Development Institute; theInternational Defence and Aid Fund; the Anti-Apartheid Movement; BusinessInternational; and the library of Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford.

Lastly, Prudence Smith and Catherine Unia deserve special thanks for theirhelp with childc are, as do the staff of the Oxfam workplace nursery. Thebook could not have been written without their support.

Susanna SmithFebruary 1990


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General notes

Geographical focusOxfam's current programme in southern Africa supports a wide range of workin Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia,and Zimbabwe. This book concentrates on those countries where we haveup-to-date, direct experience. This is why the book does not deal in depthwith developments in Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland.'Front Line States'The 'Front Line States' are those states in southern Africa which have formedan alliance to fight apartheid and white minority rule in South Africa. Theyare formally constituted as a group led by one of the Presidents, electedperiod ically, and they meet regularly to coo rdin ate their po licies . Th emember states are Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, andZimbabwe.SADCCThe members of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference(SADCC), at the end of 1989, were Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi,M ozam bique, Sw aziland, Tanzania, Zam bia, and Zim babw e. Nam ibia isexpected to join on independence.Currency conversionsPounds sterling, US dollars, the South African Rand, and European CurrencyUnits (ECUs) are used throughout this book according to normal convention.Where other currencies are used, a sterling equivalent has been providedalongside, at the official rate of exchange for the month or year in question.


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viii Front Line Africa: The Right to a Future

Abbreviations

ACPANCARMSCORAZAPOBLSCMEACONSASCOSATUESAFFLSFNLAFRELIMOGDPGNPIBRDIDAIM FMDMMNRMPLA

African, Caribbean, PacificAfrican National Congress (South Africa)Armaments Corporation (South Africa)Azanian People's Organisation (South Africa)Botswana, L esotho, SwazilandCouncil for M utual Economic A ssistanceConstellation of Southern African StatesCouncil of South African Trade UnionsEnhanced Structural Adjustment FacilityFront Line StatesNational Front for the Liberation of AngolaMozambique Liberation FrontGross Domestic ProductGross National ProductInternational Bank for Reconstruction and Development(World Bank)International Development Association (World Bank)International Monetary FundMass Democratic Movement (South Africa)Mozambique National ResistancePeople's Movement for the Liberation of Angola


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AbbreviationsNACTU : National Confederation of Trade UnionsNF : National ForumOAU : Organisation of African UnityOECD : Organisation for Econom ic Cooperation and DevelopmentPAC : Pan-Africanist CongressPTA : Preferential Trade AgreementRENAM O : Mozambique National ResistanceSAC BC : Southern African Catholic Bishop s' ConferenceSACC : South African Council of ChurchesSACU : Southern African Custom s UnionSAD CC : Southern African Developm ent Coordination ConferenceSADF : South African Defence ForceSATS : South African Transport ServicesSWAPO : South West Africa Peo ple's OrganisationUDF : United Democratic FrontUNCTAD : United Nations Conference on Trade and Developm entUNH CR : United Nations High Com missioner for RefugeesUNITA : National Union for the Total Independence of AngolaZANU : Zimbabw e African National UnionZAPU : Zimbabw e African Peop le's Union


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Front Line Africa: The Right to a Future

SOUTHERN AFRICA

DaresSalaamLuanda

Maseru /SOIHH LESOTHO

Walvis BayO ov Windhoek

Cape Town Lakes 3g S$gg 25SS >


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Introduction

February 1990 was a significant month for southern Africa. Watched by theworld, Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years as a political prisoner inSou th Africa. He was release d jus t day s after Presid ent de Klerk hadannounced important initial reforms, including the unbanning of the AfricanNational Congress and other key organisations, and the lifting of someaspects of the State of Emergency.

At the same time, Oxfam workers in South Africa, Mozambique, andAngola were facing less newsworthy developm ents. In South Africa, Oxfamfie ldworkers learned tha t President de Klerk had refused to meetrepresentatives of several rural communities which we have supported in theirbattle to resist forced incorporation into the South African 'ho m ela nds'. InMozambique, there was growing concern that another outbreak of faminewould occur, because armed conflict was preventing relief aid from reachinglarge numbers of people. In Angola, the delivery of relief aid to people in thedrought-affected areas in the south w as hampered by the continuing war.

This book aims to inform the public debate on southern Africa from ourviewpoint and experience as a relief and development agency. Oxfam hasbeen working in the region for over thirty years . A fifth of all our overseasgrants is spent there. Our work is directly affected by the massive sca le ofhuman suffering and the daunting obstacles to peace and just developmentwhich we witness.

Drawing on Oxfam's direct experience, this book focuses on southernAfrica during the 1980s, tracing developments up until the end of 1989. Itexamines the range of pressures global, regional, and national which lie


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Front Line Africa: The Right to a Futurebehind conflict and poverty, and which have impeded developm ent. It showshow these pressures combine to affect poor people in their struggle for abetter life. In particular, we identify three major obstacles in the fight againstpoverty, unde rdevelopmen t, and oppre ssion. They are apartheid in SouthAfrica, the unequal economic relationship between the underdeveloped Southand the industrialised North, and the marked failure of southern Africannations to promote equitable development.

Front Line Africa: The Right to a Future goes on to look at the policies ofBritain and the European Community towards the region's complex array ofprob lems . The book ends with a num ber of recommendations to the Britishgovernment, the European Community, and the governments of southernAfrica, which we believe could contribute to the relief of poverty andsuffering.

We argue that the 1990s bring an unprecedented opportunity for theinternational community to help establish a non-racial democracy in SouthAfrica. This would not only remove a central cause of regional instability,but it could also boost the economic prospects of the wider region. Further,more far-reaching measures are needed to support increased levels ofproduction and fairer trading terms, to promote debt reduction, and toimprove debt-m anag em ent strategies in southern African states. Mu chdepends on the international community, and whether i t has sufficientpolitical will to match this challenge. It is also vital that development policyerrors are addressed by the southern African governments. More responsiveand accountable systems of government are essential to the fight againstpoverty.

Britain has a key role to play. Indeed, its extensive, deeply-rooted linkswith South Africa and the wider region mean that if it is not going to be partof the solution, it will remain part of the prob lem.

Front Line Africa, The Right to a Future: An Oxfam report on conflict and poverty in Southern Africa

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