SA must help on positive African trends
DESPITE the widespread scepticism that greeted the golden jubilee of the Organisation of African Unity/African Union (OAU/AU) in SA, we should celebrate that body’s achievements. At its inauguration, the body adopted the objectives pronounced by the founders of the pan-African liberation movement at the turn of the 20th century: the emancipation of the continent from whiteminority and colonial domination.
Among the multilateral continental bodies created after 1945, the OAU/AU has performed relatively well. For the greater part of its history, half of Europe fell outside the European Union (EU). Even today, there is no prospect that Russia, the largest state on that continent, will be joining it soon. The second-class status of newcomers, such as Poland and Romania, is barely concealed, while large pockets of opposition to the EU persist among its old members. The Organisation of American States was the undisguised instrument of US hegemony in the western hemisphere.
The African political revolution that restored self-government is probably the OAU/AU’s single most significant achievement. The extremely patchy performance and uneven quality of African governments has probably been its greatest failure.
The 32 states that came together in that initial summit were diverse and had evolved through dissimilar experiences. Ethiopia, chosen as the site of the OAU’s headquarters, was the only African state that had evaded the colonial experience. But the former colonial states had attained independence by disparate routes. Algeria had taken up arms against French colonialism. Ghana had employed nonviolent methods to compel the UK to concede independence. In Egypt, a movement of modernist military officers led the movement to drive the British out. The boundaries of these political entities had been defined in Berlin in 1885.
Inherited circumstance conspired against success. Yet the OAU/AU has lost only one member, Morocco, while it added a new one, South Sudan. The continent this body represents is the world’s second-largest, embracing the monuments of human antiquity found in the Nile valley and those of modernity that comprise our Johannesburg skyline. The modern and premodern coexist, often uncomfortably. There are places that compare favourably with the wealthiest cities of the West — islands in an ocean of poverty and underdevelopment.
When Kwame Nkrumah said “Seek ye first the political kingdom”, he was expressing a universally held expectation that African governments, elected by Africans, would be more responsive to African aspirations and needs. Southern Africa was the site of liberation wars for 30 years. Other regions saw cycles of military coups. In modern times, the state has played a decisive role in shaping the economic development of Africa.
Under colonialism in SA, Algeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe, the state was unabashedly employed to plunder the indigenous people by seizing the best agricultural land and compelling them to earn a living by working for the whites. This bequeathed Africa a dual economy whose modern sector is skewed and uneven, reflecting the continuing influence of former colonial powers on its development.
The postcolonial state has been sharply contested among the factions of the new political elite, resulting in antidemocratic practices and political instability. Representative governments have been the exception during the past 50 years. Postcolonial states have found it well-nigh impossible to break out of the constraints arising from Africa’s modernisation initiated by colonial powers pursuing their own objectives. Elected governments are now returning to Africa, raising expectations that Nkrumah’s hopes might yet be realised.
The constitutive document of the AU departs from the OAU practice of non- interference in the internal affairs of member states. Adopted in 2002 after Africa witnessed the genocide in the lacustrine states, experienced the violent overthrow of legitimate governments by ambitious soldiers and had, through collective action, brought an end to apartheid, the AU document was informed by 50 years of experience. The AU’s inability to apply its decision not to recognise governments that come to power by force, Libya being a glaring instance, threatens to undermine its credibility when next applied. A continental body with teeth, because it acts even-handedly, remains aspirational.
The golden jubilee arrives at a time when there is great hope for Africa. From a very low base, African economies enjoy the highest growth rates in the world at a time when Europe is stagnating. The return of elected, democratic governments holds out the prospect of stability and prosperity. SA’s agenda must strengthen and reinforce these trends as a matter of our self-interest. The OAU’s founders created the environment for African liberation. That objective was attained in May 1994. A politically stable and democratic Africa is the environment required for speedy economic growth and the elimination of poverty. Africa must rise to that challenge with the same determination that we tackled colonial domination.