Traditional Leaders and Local Government in Africa:

Lessons for South Africa

The struggle to free South Africa from its apartheid shackles was long and complex. One of the many ways in which the apartheid regime maintained its stranglehold in South Africa was through controlling the freedom of speech and the flow of information, in an effort to silence the voices of those who opposed it. United by the ideals of freedom and equality, but also nuanced by a wide variety of persuasions, the voices of liberation were many: African nationalists, communists, trade-unionists, pan-Africanists, English liberals, human rights activists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jews, to name but a few.

Since its transition to democracy in 1994, South Africa has become increasingly drawn into the resolution of conflicts and the promotion of peace and stability on the wider African continent. This has followed from the high reputation of its own negotiated settlement as a model for other conflict torn countries to emulate, the iconic status of Nelson Mandela as a master of reconciliation and forgiveness, and not least the sense in Pretoria that South Africa has a moral obligation to repay Africa for the sins of apartheid and that it has some considerable capacity, military and economic, to do so.

US documents released in August 2011 reveal that President Eisenhower directly ordered the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of Congo. But the Americans were not alone Six months after achieving independence from Belgium, Congos first legally elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated on 17 January 1961. The effects of that attempt at annihilation, sanctioned by the United States and carried out by the Belgians, continue to reverberate throughout the continent today as the scramble for Africa continues.

The main focus of this publication is the link between South Africas grand pan-African ambitions, especially in the area of peace, security and governance, and its own capacity to pursue these objectives. Specifically, the paper examines Pretorias involvement in Africa, and internal capacity to support its mediation, peacekeeping and strengthening the abilities of African institutions for peacemaking. Further, it examines the challenges posed by tension between its pan-African and economic interests as well as power rivalry at the continental level, which have greatly limited its ability to take a more assertive role in regional political and economic developments. It briefly describes South Africas relations within SADC and the AU, as well as with Zimbabwe and examines the challenges posed by the agendas of China and Africas former colonial powers.