South Africa's new drive to achieve progress in the DRC

An Overview By sending a high profile delegation to Rwanda and Uganda after a day of talks in Pretoria with President Laurent-Desire Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa this week gave every indication that he has embarked on a new drive to achieve a lasting peace deal in the giant war-torn central African nation. South African diplomats and experts interviewed by IRIN this week agreed with the view carried by the South African daily, 'Business Day', that Pretoria was playing an increasingly central role because of its concern that the seizure of four towns by rebels since the signing in Lusaka earlier this month of the peace accord by regional heads of state could scupper the agreement entirely. Rebel leaders have still not signed the accord. South African leaders see it as a "workable accord" and want Uganda and Rwanda to bring their influence to bear on the rebel leaders. Claude Kabemba of the South African-based Centre for Policy Studies told IRIN South Africa's neutrality throughout the conflict placed it in an ideal position to bring pressure to bear on all the warring parties. "We are concerned that the conflict should now be stopped," Mbeki told a news conference after meeting with Kabila on Monday. The diplomacy Kabila's delegation to Pretoria on Monday reportedly included at least 20 cabinet ministers, who, according to South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, held "very detailed" talks with their South African counterparts on agricultural, financial and other future development and investment issues. The following day, Mbeki dispatched Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma to Rwanda and Uganda with the former foreign and defence ministers Alfred Nzo and Joe Modise. Mbeki said the idea of the visit was to get Uganda and Rwanda, "who are committed to the ceasefire" to persuade the rebel parties to sign. Kabemba of the Centre for Policy Studies noted: "Although Zambian president Frederick Chiluba remains the official mediator appointed by the region to broker peace in the DRC, his credibility with the rebels, the DRC government and Angola is not beyond question." Mbeki stressed at his news conference that Pretoria was acting "in support" of Chiluba. Kabemba added that South Africa's stance throughout the conflict has been to consistently call for dialogue and has not sided with any of the warring parties. "Chiluba lacks this credibility because of, among others, accusations by Angola that Zambia is used as a conduit to resupply UNITA rebels. South Africa's impartiality in the DRC war is therefore unquestionable and is in a better position to rally all the belligerents behind a ceasefire agreement," Kabemba said. The pitfalls However, Graeme Simpson of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation told IRIN that current attempts to bolster peace initiatives in the DRC could come unstuck if the internal protagonists were not bound by a ceasefire agreement. "There are varied vested material interests in the DRC that would make the enforcement of peace in the country a big challenge," Simpson told IRIN. "Reaching agreement on the cessation of hostilities can be easily forged diplomatically, but sustaining the peace on the ground will be the harder part." He added that it would be difficult to hold warring parties' leaders accountable in an environment where grassroots activism is minimal or non-existent. Zuma cautious Zuma, who by Wednesday met Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and representatives of the rebel factions, was reported as saying that the modalities to bring peace to the DRC as quickly as possible still needed to be worked out. However, according to news reports on Thursday, Zuma had not yet succeeded in getting Rwanda and Uganda to persuade the rebels to sign the ceasefire agreement. 'Business Day' quoted senior South African sources as saying Pretoria was unlikely to get too heavily involved in reconstruction of the country until national dialogue and a democratisation process was "well underway".