Mbeki`s African Legacy
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29 September 2008: Mbeki’s African Legacy
South African president Thabo Mbeki resigned last week after the ruling African National Party’s National Executive Committee, in a dramatic move, asked him to step down. Mbeki has indicated he wants to clear his name by objecting to statements made by judge Chris Nicholson of the Pietermaritzburg High Court against him. Whatever the outcome of Mbeki’s bid to the Constitutional Court, one thing is certain, Mbeki is out for good.
Meanwhile, many in Africa wonder what will become of the man who spent so much time dedicated to solving the continent’s problems. Many are also wondering: did Mbeki act out of self-interest by intervening as mediator in conflicts ranging from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi to Zimbabwe? Was it to stroke his own ego while things were going wrong at home? Or was his countless efforts to reform the African Union (AU) into a more streamlined and effective organisation; to oppose ‘radicals’ like Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s efforts at a Union Government and to try and fight Africa’s case in the United Nations (UN) done out of a true commitment to peace and development in Africa?
Mbeki’s African legacy seems to many South Africans the one achievement of the former South African president that is above debate. That is, barring his drawn-out so-called ‘quiet diplomacy’ in Zimbabwe that earned him a reputation of being an ally of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. Despite the ground-breaking power-sharing agreement, signed, ironically on the eve of Mbeki’s ousting, many believe Mugabe is still president thanks to Mbeki. Mugabe’s statement last week that Mbeki’s ousting is “a disaster” lends an amount of credence to this view.
Still, it was not only in Zimbabwe where Mbeki attracted criticism for his role in Africa. Mbeki’s controversial mediation efforts in the Ivory Coast in 2006 also led to a lot of criticism, especially in West Africa. It certainly gave Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade another reason to criticise the South African leader. Wade and Mbeki – who both see themselves as ‘intellectuals’ with answers to Africa’s big unsolved questions – had been at loggerheads for years, ever since the dispute around the founding of the New Initiative for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
In the Ivory Coast conflict, some saw Mbeki as being biased towards President Laurent Gbagbo. This is certainly somewhat ironic since Mbeki was lambasted by Gbagbo’s supporters in 2000 when he didn’t immediately recognise Gbagbo’s appointment as president following the chaotic electoral process there. While the Mbeki-mediation did manage to convince the protagonists to shift towards accepting an election where all presidential candidates may participate – including former Prime Minister Allasane Ouattara – he had to step down as mediator after being rejected by the opposition.
The Ivorian mediation can certainly be seen by some as another example of diplomatic blunders by South African diplomats, coupled with Mbeki’s own subtle crusade against so-called Western powers – in this case France, which he saw as being anti-Gbagbo and Britain in the case of Zimbabwe. South Africa’s controversial role in the UN Security Council where important human rights issues were sacrificed for the sake of making a point about the powers of the Security Council, can be seen in the same light.
Overall, however, Mbeki’s contribution to Africa was positive. His endless efforts to get the protagonists in the intractable war in the DRC to sit around a table and sign an agreement in December 2002 was certainly a great achievement. His commitment to making the peace agreement stick and to convince rebel leaders not to go to war but to wait for elections in 2006 was certainly one of his greatest achievements. Also, his contribution to the peace process in Burundi – the first major effort by the South African government to make peace in Africa – will be remembered. His intervention, together with former president Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria to get Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor to leave his country, will also remain.
Within the AU Mbeki’s forceful and often arrogant approach – the same factors that lead to his impopularity amongst many at home – caused him to make enemies within some of the continental structures. However, Mbeki still has a lot to contribute to Africa and has sufficient experience and personal relations on the continent to do so. It is up to him to decide how he will use this to serve Africa in years to come.
Liesl Louw, Associate Editor, Institute for Security Studies