Anti-mercenary bill will hamper humanitarian work

South Africa is poised to toughen already stringent laws against citizens serving as mercenaries in foreign wars and conflicts, but critics say the new legislation cuts too deeply and will hamper legitimate humanitarian operations.

The Prohibition of Mercenary Activity Bill will ban South Africans not serving in the domestic armed forces from participating in foreign wars in any capacity, whether they serve as soldiers or work for private companies as pilots or security personnel.

If ratified, the bill drafted by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party could affect the thousands of South Africans working in security across Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq.

While few dispute the propriety of banning mercenary activity, critics of the new laws, including rights group Amnesty International, say the government has failed to make some important distinctions.

"The bill's definitions of 'assistance' and 'service' are vague and could limit legitimate security operations, or the activities of operations like the Red Cross or even our own operations," said Olajobi Makinwa, executive director of Amnesty International in South Africa.

"We welcome anything that will make mercenary activity accountable, but South Africans can bring crucial skills to people suffering in conflict regions where peacekeeping and stability services are needed and necessary," she said.

South Africa's long history of border wars and apartheid and post-apartheid violence has left it with an abundance of competent soldiers, most trained in the use of advanced weaponry.

Many have quit the military, some leaving elite units, to seek their fortunes with private security firms.

Military analysts estimate about 700 South Africans are serving with the British armed forces, and anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 are believed to be employed by private firms based in Iraq, where they use their soldiering and technical skills to protect lives and property.

In 1998 parliament passed the Foreign Military Assistance Act, banning citizens or South African residents from serving in foreign conflicts unless they were involved in humanitarian operations.

The law aimed to bury the country's embarrassing reputation of sending hired guns to places like Angola, Sudan, the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But the fallout from the failed 2004 coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea, in which dozens of South Africans were implicated alongside the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, prompted lawmakers to get even tougher with mercenaries.

The new law passing through parliament would force South Africans to give up their citizenship if they wished to serve with a foreign military.

Len Le Roux, an analyst at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies (ISS), says the new legislation fails to clearly distinguish between "mercenary activities" and "security activities".

"We fully support the main intent of the bill to ban mercenaries, but it includes certain activities, such as private security and South Africans serving in foreign armed forces.

We ask, 'Why are these activities mixed into this bill?'" le Roux said. "Is a South African serving in the British army a mercenary? One wouldn't ordinarily think so. The bill is prohibiting legal activities, and that is why we think it has gone too far."

Even Britain has appealed to South Africa to soften the legislation to allow the hundreds of South Africans serving with its armed forces to continue to do so, and an American think-tank has warned of the potential dangers the bill poses to other African governments.

"The main impact of the draft legislation ...

Will hit governmental and nongovernmental humanitarian interventions in Africa, in which South Africans bring unique skill sets and advantages," said Stratfor, an American think-tank that analyses international affairs, on its website. "Banning South African military activity in these cases (counterinsurgency, specialised training and helicopter piloting) effectively harms the legitimate security interests of African governments."

The anti-mercenary bill has already passed through a parliamentary sub-committee on defence and is awaiting approval by parliament, which is dominated by the ANC party, and is expected to pass easily.

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