South Africa| Southern Africa

CrisisWatch database

South Africa, considered a pariah for its military adventurism and aggression against its neighbours in the Apartheid era, has become a driving force in African peace-keeping since the late 1990s. Working in tandem with Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria and Egypt, among other key African states, it has mooted initiatives aimed at addressing Africa’s deadly conflicts. Its forces are involved in peace-keeping and associated duties in Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea/Ethiopia and, more recently, in the Sudan. Apart from invigorating extant regional communities such as SADC and ECOWAS, these initiatives have led to the creation of important new potential anchors for peace and good governance, such as NEPAD and its African Peer Review Mechanism, as well as the AU and its Peace and Security Council. The last of these provides for an early warning mechanism, an African Standby Force for peace-keeping operations, and a Council of the Wise.  However, much will depend on how effectively all this new institutional machinery is implemented in practice. Intermittent reports of human rights' violations by South African peace-keeping forces in the Congo as well as the failure of its ‘quiet-diplomacy’ approach to restore peace and the rule of law in Zimbabwe have not helped its otherwise positive reputation for leadership.

Crisis Group will closely monitor these developments, reporting from time to time on larger institutional and thematic issues.