Linda Freeman

South Africa's Zimbabwe Policy: Unravelling the contradictions

The orientation seems clear: as Zimbabwe began to descend into crisis (Raftopolous and Phimister 2004) and especially following the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) government’s first public reversal at the polls in February 2000, Mbeki moved quickly to assist Mugabe both diplomatically and through promises of material assistance. In the years which followed, the South African government occasionally signalled its displeasure with events in Zimbabwe but never strayed far from its initial approach. Mbeki responded to Western pressure to ‘do something’ with assurances that processes were under way to bring about a resolution to the crisis. At the same time, he made clear that his government was not prepared to go beyond a minimalist policy of ‘constructive engagement’ and ‘quiet diplomacy’. As the crisis deepened, Mbeki’s government closed ranks with other southern African leaders in a regional laager against internal and international forces opposing the current government in Zimbabwe.

Canada and Africa in the 1970s

The nature of Canadas role in Africa in the 1970s has been sufficiently obscure that Flora MacDonald, during her short-lived tenure as Canadas secretary of state for external affairs, publicly wondered what we were doing there.1 Her musings were a product of the fact that, although Canada has consolidated and extended the initiatives undertaken in the previous decade, it is still a marginal actor in Africa and Africas importance in Canada remains quite slight. One can not imagine MacDonald asking a similar question about Canadas role in the Caribbean or Latin America. Therefore, Canadian activities in Africa can best be understood less as the product of major interests of immediate concern to Canada than of a number of structural and ideological factors in both the domestic and the international contexts. Canadas involvement in Africa continues to be an integral, if junior, component of the larger Western presence in Africa. Within this fundamental alignment, Canada has attempted to gain influence in both Commonwealth and francophone countries. At the same time, Canadian policies and actions in the fields of development assistance, trade, and investment have been governed by the imperatives of Canadas own social formation. Therefore, it is to a consideration of these fundamental forces behind Canadian policy that we must turn before examining the nature of Canadian activities in Africa during the 1970s at greater length.

The Contradictions of Independence: Namibia in Transition

Almost 30 years after other African countries, Namibia finally became free of colonial rule in March 1990. The attainment of formal independence was a momentous occasion, particularly for those who had suffered from the harshness of first German then South African control and who had taken part in the bitter struggle for liberation. For a time, Namibias independence regenerated the momentum stalled after the liberation of Angola and Mozambique in 1975 and of Zimbabwe in 1980, and gave hope to black South Africans struggling with the same intransigent regime. However, a series of formidable problems have limited the options open to the new SWAPO government. Indeed, at independence Namibias future was so tightly constrained that its room for manoeuvre, real independence and development was minimal. Few countries have started in such a heavily determined context. The legacy of South African rule included a severe fiscal crisis, a dependent economy, uneven development, and inadequate social services for the black population. While negotiations are underway over the status of Walvis Bay, Namibias main port, remains under formal South African control. Not surprisingly, the new government has moved cautiously at first, emphasizing national reconciliation and adopting conservative economic policies. This study explores the contradictions posed by the internal and international context within which the Namibian state must operate. Specifically it examines the difficulties posed by the lack of resources available for the present government which must nevertheless demonstrate that it is serious about its promises to transform the legacy of South African rule. It will argue that, barring rapid change in the region, the discovery and rapid exploitation of new natural resources or major Western assistance, the governments inability to meet mass expectations will pose major problems for the unity and stability of Namibia, not to mention its growth and development. While South Africas role has been crucial, other external factors also place severe constraints on the autonomy of the new Namibian government. The second part of the study assesses the limits on state policy posed by the structure

A parallel universe – competing interpretations of Zimbabwe's crisis

This article examines competing interpretations of the nature and cause of Zimbabwe’s contemporary crisis. It finds that while neoliberal macroeconomic policies promoted by international financial institutions helped to provide a structural basis for the crisis, arguments attributing blame to Britain and to wider Western sanctions are overblown and inaccurate. Similarly, although Western reactions to Zimbabwe’s land reform have had a racist tinge, these paled in comparison with the explicit racist intent of policies adopted by the Zimbabwean Government. The claim that Zimbabwe is undergoing a process of progressive transformation must be weighed against the nature of state power, the intensification of class divisions, a precipitous economic decline, a problematic development strategy and the extreme abuse of human, civil and political rights.