Shannon Ebrahim

Spotlight Is SA failing to provide leadership in Africa?

ONE must wonder whether South Africa has failed to provide leadership on the continent when the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, was here on a state visit last week, and we remained silent on the descent into chaos in his country.

Based on the official statements by our public representatives, one would think the DRC was a nation at peace and merely undergoing a leadership transition.

It was all pomp and ceremony, and the usual platitudes about strengthening economic trade and investment.

It was as if the rising instability and brutal violence gripping the DRC, causing tens of thousands to flee to neighbouring countries was happening somewhere else.

Even one of Kabila’s erstwhile allies, Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, seems to have lost faith in Kabila’s ability to govern his country, six months after Kabila was supposed to step down in accordance with his country’s constitution.

Angola is bearing the brunt of Kabila’s misrule, with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing across the border and placing Angola under unbearable strain.

One of the poorest regions in the DRC – the Kasais – is racked by unfathomable violence. The UN says it has found 42 mass graves, and the UN Human Rights Council now says there will be an independent international investigation into war crimes.

It is widely reported that government forces have used disproportionate force against followers of the rebel group Kamwina Nsapu, carrying out summary executions and dumping the bodies in mass graves, while the rebel group is accused of decapitating 40 policemen, and recruiting child soldiers as young as 10.

According to the Catholic Church, more than 3300 have been killed in the Kasais since October.

As a result of the violence, Unicef estimates 400000 children are at risk of acute malnutrition and 600 schools have been attacked or destroyed. It is estimated 1.3million civilians have been displaced.

The numbers are staggering if you compare them to internal displacement in other countries. Last year, 920000 were internally displaced in the DRC, 824000 in Syria and 659000 in Iraq.

President Jacob Zuma did last year expressed concern about the political violence in the DRC reversing the gains of democracy.

This year we have heard nothing about the carnage taking place or its root causes, which has far surpassed the levels of violence in 2016.

The root causes go back to the dangerous political stalemate that resulted from Kabila’s refusal to step down as president, using the excuse that voter registration needed to be completed first.

The Kamwina Nsapu rebels are demanding his government implement a deal signed on December 31 requiring Kabila to step down.

The Catholic Bishops helped to negotiate the agreement to secure an election this year, to prevent a renewed civil war.

In January the Bishops said they expected the deal to fail and in March they withdrew from talks.

The rebellion against Kabila that began in central Kasai has now spread to five of the 26 provinces.

South Africaneeded to take a principled stand and address concerns about the political violence and, most importantly its cause, the need for Kabila to commit to stepping down.

The UN is resorting to its usual instruments – sanctions, an arms embargo, asset freezes and travel bans – but none of these measures is likely to resolve the situation.

South Africa could have made a difference by putting pressure on Kabila to do the right thing.