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Why South Africa continues to be neutral in Ukraine-Russia war

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 25 January 2023; Hits: 613

By hamza Mohamed, Aljazeera, 24 January 2023

PRETORIA - Pretoria has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion but continues to call for dialogue.

The United States has criticised South Africa’s decision to hold military exercises next month with Russia and China as the war in Ukraine rages on.

The exercises – called Mosi, which means “Smoke” in Tswana, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages – will see 350 of South Africa’s soldiers train alongside their Russian and Chinese counterparts.

The drills will happen off South Africa’s coast from February 17 to 27 and will take place during the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The United States has concerns about any country … exercising with Russia as Russia wages a brutal war against Ukraine,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said on Monday.

The comments from Washington came hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, in Pretoria.

South Africa defended its decision to hold the drills.

“All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide,” Pandor told reporters. “There should be no compulsion on any country that it should conduct them with any other partners.”

She said the exercises were “part of a natural course of relations between countries”, adding that Pretoria should not be denied “the right to participate” in the drills.

Lavrov said there was no need for any country to be concerned about them.

“Our exercises are transparent,” he told reporters. “We, together with our South African and Chinese partners, have provided all the relevant information. We don’t want to provoke any scandals or confrontation. We just want every country to be able to have their own rights in the international systems as provided by the UN Charter.”

South African government officials described Lavrov’s visit, which came a day before US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was due to arrive in South Africa, as an ordinary visit.

Lavrov’s trip has nevertheless been described as insensitive by some opposition parties and the small Ukrainian community in South Africa.

To understand why the trip is getting so much attention within and outside the country, it is important to examine Pretoria’s stance in the war and its relationship with Moscow.

What is South Africa’s position on the conflict?

South Africa says it is impartial in the conflict, which started after Russia sent its troops into Ukraine 11 months ago.

In March, Pretoria abstained from voting on a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling for Moscow to withdraw its forces immediately.

South Africa, along with 34 other countries, also abstained from a vote at the UN condemning Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories in October.

“South Africa believes that the only path to peace is through diplomacy, dialogue and a commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter, including the principles that all member states shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means,” Pandor said in her remarks after the meeting Lavrov.

“It is important, therefore, to mention our sincere wish that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will be brought to a peaceful end through diplomacy and negotiations as speedily as possible,” she said.

But South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has offered to mediate in the conflict, has blamed NATO for the war. The alliance ought to have “heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region”, he said in March.

Why is South Africa neutral?

Pretoria and Moscow have long historical ties dating back to the times of white minority rule in South Africa.

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) has longstanding relations with Moscow forged during the liberation struggle against apartheid. Many of the ANC leaders were educated or received military training in the Soviet Union. Some, like the late Eric “Stalin” Mtshali, have Russian nicknames thanks to their connections to Moscow.

The Soviet Union backed the liberation movement with arms and money. This was in stark contrast to the West, where the United States labelled the ANC a “terrorist organisation”. Washington considered the liberation hero Nelson Mandela a “terrorist” until 2008.

South Africa is also a member of the Non-Alligned Movement. The 120-country movement, formed during the Cold War, is not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc or superpower.

Since gaining independence in 1994, a core pillar of South Africa’s foreign policy when it comes to conflict resolution has been to call for dialogue. Pretoria has backed peace talks in several conflicts in Africa and most recently hosted peace talks between Ethiopia’s government and rebels from its Tigray region.

Pandor has repeatedly insisted that South Africa will not be dragged into taking sides and has criticised the West for selective condemnation of Russia while ignoring other acts of aggression like the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Are there other ties between Moscow and Pretoria?

Both South Africa and Russia are members of BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc aims to promote trade and security ties between member countries.

South Africa, the most industrialised country in Africa, has been a trade partner with Russia for years. South African exports to Russia were valued at $587 million in 2020 while Russian exports to South Africa totalled $506 million.

How is the government’s stance viewed in South Africa?

Last week, the foundation of the late South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu criticised the naval exercises, calling the drills “disgraceful” and “tantamount to a declaration that South Africa is joining the war against Ukraine”.

The Democratic Alliance, the country’s main opposition party, has also been vocal in its opposition to the government’s neutral stance, calling on South Africa to side with Kyiv.

“We are already involved in this war,” John Steenhuisen, the party’s leader, told parliament in March. “Our government can’t be seen to be supporting Russia’s aggression.”

“Let’s put the country before party politics and think what this war will mean to us and what will be its impact on our economy,” he said.

Steenhuisen also visited Ukraine in May for a fact-finding mission.

Ethiopia’s northernmost point often dubbed Earth’s hottest place

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 23 January 2023; Hits: 656

By Soukaina Rabii

This photo represents the Afar chief, Aboubakr, photographed against the backdrop of Lalibella. It is Ethiopia’s northernmost point often dubbed Earth’s hottest place.

Tigray war decimated the land

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 23 January 2023; Hits: 618

By Soukaina Rabii

Doning a traditional Habesha skirt, a knock-off “Supreme” shirt, and a Kalashnikov in hands, a young Afar boy named Tifa, offers a comico-tragic scene. Water scarcity in the region is exacerbating armed conflict in an area already torn by the Tigray war.

This is Soukaina's selected photography work capturing the climate crisis in Afar land, Northern Ethiopia. The Afars are the world’s last nomadic, pastoralist tribes. Catastrophic weather events, barren wilderness, and arid temperatures reaching + 50 C are threatening to wipe out the tribe.

Soukaina is a campaigner innately passionate about climate and social justice.

Deepening a Culture of Military Professionalism in Africa

Details: Written by northsouth; Category: Africa; Published: 22 December 2022; Hits: 593

By the Africa Center for Strategic Studies

ADDIS ABABA - Creating a culture of military professionalism requires instilling core societal values within all members of the armed forces. Such shared values have a powerful unifying effect on a military, amplifying force cohesion and effectiveness.

“The armed forces in many African countries represent a threat to security because of their lack of military professionalism.”

This assessment by General Mbaye Cissé, National Security Advisor to the President of Senegal, identified a focal point in a dialogue on military professionalism and professional military education among senior security officials from 30 African countries hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies on December 14, on the sidelines of the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. In addition to remarks by General Cissé, the dialogue featured insights from United States Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Commander of United States Africa Command, General Michael Langley.

Africa has experienced seven military coups as well as several attempted coups since 2020, revealing a pattern of increasingly politicized militaries on the continent. This spate of unconstitutional changes of power upends a two-decade trend of diminishing incidences of military coups in Africa. It also risks a return to the era of misgovernance, stagnant development, impunity, and instability that characterized Africa’s military governments of the 1960s to 1990s—often referred to as Africa’s “lost decades.” Africa experienced 82 coups between 1960 and 2000.

Alarmed by the growing number of recent coups, the African Union held an extraordinary summit on the issue in May. In December, the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, similarly, committed to establishing a regional force to restore constitutional order in member countries that experience coups.

Why Military Professionalism Matters

Military professionalism is a means to effectively provide security for citizens in a manner that upholds the rule of law and safeguards human rights.

Achieving this requires strong ties to local communities and a commitment to educating the armed forces about their responsibilities to society. General Cissé observed that “there is a correlation between military effectiveness and the relationship between a country’s military and the public.” The rationale is that military support of community interests builds trust. This trust both mitigates against the emergence of violent extremism as well as facilitates more effective responses against security threats when they emerge. “An army that does not invest in education and ethics in relation to the population pays a price in terms of security,” he added.

Military professionalism is a particular challenge for African militaries because of the legacy of colonialism. “One aspect of the heritage of colonialism is that security forces’ main mission was repression. The forces were not united, they were artificial, and were too present in the political arena. This is an ongoing handicap,” General Cissé counselled.

For these reasons, Africa must make a dedicated effort to strengthen and sustain military professionalism.

Strengthening Military Professionalism in Africa

Military professionalism does not emerge by chance but is a dedicated outcome. It is not the result of a single event or temporary push that builds professionalism and then produces benefits indefinitely. Rather, it must be constantly reinforced, refined, and perpetuated. Military professionalism is a culture that must be institutionalized to reverberate within a force.

Culture

Central to creating a culture of military professionalism is instilling within soldiers, from the lowest rank to the most senior officer, core societal values and principles that the military aspires to represent. Values such as integrity, honor, expertise, sacrifice, and respect for citizens do not necessarily emerge naturally but must be taught and regularly refreshed. Nearly all militaries provide tactical training and exercises—establishing core competencies. However, many lack an intentional strategy to build a set of core values. Creating such shared values has a powerful unifying effect on a military, amplifying force cohesion and effectiveness.

Secretary Wormuth noted that in the United States military, general officers regularly participate in professional development programs, including an ongoing process of inculcating values of military professionalism and creating leadership development opportunities for subordinates.

An illustration of the ongoing acculturation process was an open letter released in September 2022, “Principles of Civilian Control and Best Practices of Civil-Military Relations,” by 13 former U.S. Secretaries of Defense and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that was widely circulated via the media to the U.S. military, policy community, and public.

General Cissé underlined “the importance of teaching military officers the value of democracy and the role of a military within a democratic society.” These values must be learned and cannot be taken for granted, especially in countries without a strong democratic tradition. He advocated for military leaders gaining experience in democratic societies so that they could deepen their appreciation for the dynamics of civil-military relations.

There is a role for the international democratic community to help anchor democracy and an ethos of military professionalism in Africa, General Cissé observed: “When African regional organizations sanction coups, then it is important that the international democratic community get behind and support these sanctions.”

Senegal has emphasized public service as a core value through its “armée-nation,” the engagement of the Senegalese army in infrastructure, health, and education projects at the community level. The aim is to impart on both citizens and soldiers the understanding that the army is the nation’s army, and that its mission is not just to defend the territorial integrity of the nation, but also to contribute directly to the socioeconomic development of the country. By supporting human security, the army is also reinforcing norms of ethical behavior toward citizens. The army, thus, is engaged in both physical and human security.

Institutionalization

Professional military education (PME) is a primary vehicle through which an ethos of military professionalism can be institutionalized. Unlike trainings, which focus on tactical skills and operational proficiencies, PME aims to cultivate leadership, strategic vision, and ethical values among a country’s military leaders.

General Langley’s experience is that PME is particularly vital for “emphasizing democratic values, including upholding the rule of law, especially in conflict.” Likewise, PME is integral for instilling respect for civilian control. The two are complementary as it is the leadership and values gained through PME that enables military officers to be effective advisors to civilian leaders, General Langley clarified.

General Cissé agreed with the importance of PME for institutionalizing military professionalism, saying “without PME, you will not have stability.” He cautioned, however, that PME must focus on the core priorities of a society. They need to be practical and relevant to the national context. In Senegal, he feels PME is an essential means of building a republican army.

Merit-based recruitment and promotion is another means by which military professionalism can be institutionalized. The pattern of recruiting predominantly from the ethnicity of the president, seen in some African militaries, creates a chain of command more loyal to the president than to the constitution. Ethnically biased armed forces lack the popular trust, legitimacy, and competency of a merit-based force, hindering its effectiveness. Selection to PME institutions, General Cissé underscored, needs to be merit-based with exams that officers must pass for promotion. Promotion, moreover, cannot be based just on field performance over classroom and ethical considerations.

General Cissé called for a new PME roadmap in Africa. He characterized the recent backsliding in military professionalism in Africa as evidence that PME needs to be reassessed and reoriented. “We have many PME academies in Africa, but we need to rethink the content they are teaching. In this sense, PME institutes are not sufficient. Nor are there sufficient resources available to support them.”

Civil-Military Relations

A central feature of military professionalism is trustworthy civil-military relations.

Civilian and military leaders both have critical roles in security decision-making, though they are different and complementary. Democratically elected civilian leaders are responsible for setting a vision, strategy, and policy for the security interests of a country. Military leaders are then responsible for implementing that guidance in as effective and professional manner as possible. General Langley explained, “the ultimate decision-makers are civilian leaders. My role is to provide sound advice. Every military should strive to be apolitical so they can be objective with their advice.”

General Cissé stressed the importance of the military role being clearly defined. “It is the absence of clear borders between the political and military arenas that leads to decreased stability.”

While the civil-military relationship can be complex and entails constant effort, blending as it does two distinct sets of experiences, it also brings many strengths. Secretary Wormuth expounded that “civilians bring different perspectives and ask different questions than military leaders. Civilians also bring outside world sensitivities to military decision-making.” This leads to more well-rounded and considered decisions.

In the end, “military leaders need to trust civilian decision-making” under democratic systems, reflected Secretary Wormuth. “Civilians have the right to be wrong. Their job is to make decisions—and then to be held accountable.”

“Trust does not just happen, though. It needs to be earned, built, and nurtured,” advised Secretary Wormuth. To do so, “civilians need to work to educate themselves about the military and its background, interests, and values, so as to understand where military leaders are coming from.”

Civilians can also bring additional objectivity and balance to security decision-making, for example, by “helping to mediate intra-service debates,” observed Wormuth. “It is important for military leaders to recognize that civilians also bring value,” she added.

In short, effective civil-military relations are a two-way process that requires regular maintenance.

Military Professionalism is Indispensable for National Progress

Security is essential for strengthening democracy and economic development in Africa. With most African conflicts and threats to citizen security emerging from domestic political crises, military professionalism can be an indispensable stabilizing factor for a society.

“We need African militaries to serve the public,” General Cissé summarized. “We need African militaries to be autonomous, accountable, and respectful of democratic values. If they are not, we will constantly be starting over and will not have stability.”

Benefits of a professional military

- More effective national and citizen security provision

- Politically neutral military officers

- National and republican armed forces

- Clearly defined vision, mission, and role for each security organization

- Greater responsiveness to national security priorities

- More efficiency in the alignment and use of resources as well as greater legislative and public support to fund the military

- Security forces that uphold the law, respect human rights, and are accountable to a military code of conduct and civilian oversight

- Enhanced public trust, respect, and support for security forces

Adapted from DCAF, “The Armed Forces: Roles and Responsibilities in Good Security Sector Governance”

Additional Resources

- “To Support and Defend: Principles of Civilian Control and Best Practices of Civil-Military Relations,” Open Letter from former Secretaries of Defense and former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, War on the Rocks, September 6, 2022.

- “Professional Military Education Institutions in Africa,” Infographic, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, February 25, 2022.

- Risa Brooks, “Beyond Huntington: US Military Professionalism Today,” Parameters 51, no. 1 (2021).

- Joseph Siegle, “Africa’s Coups and the Role of External Actors,” Spotlight, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, December 17, 2021.

- Steve Maguire, “Professional Military Education Needs Reform. Here’s Why and What to do,” Wavell Room, October 13, 2021.

- Pat Paterson, “Measuring Military Professionalism in Partner Nations: Guidance for Security Assistance Officials,”Journal of Military Ethics 18, no. 2 (2019).

- Kwesi Aning and Joseph Siegle, “Assessing Attitudes of the Next Generation of African Security Sector Professionals,” Africa Center Research Paper 7, May 2019.

- Abel Esterhuyse and Benjamin Mokoena, “The Need for Progress in an Era of Transformation: South African Professional Military Education and Military Effectiveness,”Stability: International Journal of Security & Development 7, no. 1 (2018).

- Hubert de Reviers, “L’École de Guerre et la formation des élites militaires,”Revue Défense Nationale No. 798 (2017).

- Emile Ouédraogo, “Advancing Military Professionalism in Africa,” Africa Center Research Paper 6, July 2014.