SADC ORGAN ON POLITICS, DEFENCE & SECURITY CO - OPERATION (OPDSC)

1. SADC ORGAN ON POLITICS, DEFENCE & SECURITY CO - OPERATION (OPDSC) Presentation by the Department of Defence to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) 14 November 2003.

2. SADC HISTORICAL BACKGROUND • In discussing the SADC OPDSC, one has to look broadly at SADC interstate security co - operation which dates back to the early 1970’s. • The Southern African Development Community (SADC) as it is now known, was established in 1992 with the signing of the SADC Declaration and Treaty in Windhoek, Namibia on 17 August 1992. The main objective of SADC is to achieve development, economic growth, alleviate poverty, enchance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration. SADC is mainly an economic community. • Prior to SADC, there was the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) which was established in Lusaka in 1980.

3. SADC HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (CONT) • SADCC was set up after the adoption of the declaration titled, “Southern Africa: Towards Economic Liberation”. The main focus of SADCC was to reduce economic dependence on South Africa. • SADCC was preceded by the Frontline States (FLS) established in 1975. It was set up by Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia in order to lobby for the liberation of Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Other countries such as Zimbabwe joined the FLS upon independence in 1980.

4. SADC OPDSC • In the restructuring of SADCC to SADC, a new structure called the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co - operation (OPDSC) was approved by the SADC Heads of State and Government (HoSG) Summit, in Blantyre, Malawi, in 2001. However, the process of setting up the OPDSC dates back to about 1989 when the Heads of State and Government Summit meeting in Harare decided that SADCC needed to be transformed. • During the course of discussing the formalisation of SADCC to SADC, a SADC workshop held in Namibia in 1994, resolved that SADC needed to set a course towards formal involvement in security co - ordination, conflict mediation and even military co - operation. It needs noting that this took place against the background of the existence of the FLS which was formally disbanded in 1994 to become the political and security wing of SADC. The restructuring of SADC did not

5. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • automatically accommodate the sub - structures of the FLS, namely the Inter - State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC). There was a debate amongst member states about the role of the ISDSC until finally it was agreed that it would fall under the OPDSC which in turn reports to the Heads of State and Government Summit (HoSG). • The OPDSC’s existence is provided for by the SADC Treaty (as amended). Article 9 (1) (c) is about the Organ whilst Article 9A is about chairing of the Organ (Article 9 A). • Overall the Treaty (as amended) provides that member states shall act in accordance with the principle of “...solidarity, peace and security” (Article 4 a) and that one of the objectives of SADC is “… to … consolidate, defend and maintain democracy, peace security and stability” (Article 5 (1) c).

6. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • The existence of the Organ is also provided for in the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Co - operation (PPDSC) which was approved by HoSG Summit in Blantyre, Malawi in August 2001. This guides the OPDSC’s structure, functions, objectives, secretariat, ratification, accession, etc. Some of these provisions are discussed below. • The Protocol states that “(t) he general objective of the Organ shall be to promote peace and security in the Region” (Article 2 (1). The OPDSC is therefore seen as one of institutions or mechanisms of enhancing peace and security in the region. • Let us turn our attention to the structures of the Organ.

7. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • The OPDSC operates on a Troika chairing system. This is the same as the overall SADC. The Troika provides for a Chairperson, Incoming Chairperson and Outgoing Chairperson. • There is a Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO) which is made up of Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Public Security and State Security (Article 5 of the PPDSC). Its main function is to co - ordinate the work of the Organ and its structures and it reports to the Chair of the Organ (the Head of State and Government of the member state chairing the Organ). • OPDSC has two sub - committees, namely the ISDSC (which is a former FLS structure) and the Inter - State, Politics and Diplomacy Committee (ISPDC). Both are chaired by the member state chairing the Organ (Articles 6 & 7 of the PPDSC).

8. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • The ISDSC and ISPDC each meet at a Ministerial level. The ISPDC is comprised of Ministers of Foreign Affairs whilst the ISDSC is comprised of the Ministers of Defence, Public Security and State Security. The MCO is where Ministers belonging to both ISDSC and ISPDC meet. • Although there is no provision in the Protocol and the Rules of Procedure, both committees also meet at the officials level. This is at the level of Permanent Secretaries or Directors - General or lower. For the ISDSC, this includes both Permanent Secretaries and Chiefs of Defence Staff. • The ISDSC has three sub committees, namely, Defence Sub - Committee (DoD), Public Security sub - committee (DoSS and DoHA) and State Security sub - committee (SASS and DFA). At this stage the ISPDC has no sub - committees although there are discussions oncreating sub - structures.

9. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • Only officials comprise membership of the sub - committees usually at the level of Directors - General or Permanent Secretaries. For the Defence Sub - Committee, the Chiefs of Defence Staff are included. • The Defence and Public Security Sub - Committees, in turn, have Sub - Sub Committees. The working groups are comprised of officials below the levels of Directors - General or Permanent Secretaries. • For the Defence Sub - Committee, there is the Operations (Ops) Sub - Sub Committee, whilst for the Public Security Sub - Committee, there is the Immigration Sub - Sub Committee (DoHA). • The Ops Sub - Sub Committee, chaired by the member state Chairing the Organ, in turn has working groups and standing committees (still

10. SADC OPDSC (CONT) Chaired by the country chairing the Organ). There are eight such groups/committees,namely, • Spiritual and Moral Support Services Workgroup, • Aviation Standing Committee, • Maritime Standing Committee, • Telecommunicaitons Workgroup, • Logistics Workgroup, • Military Medical Services Workgroup, • Defence Intelligence Standing Committee, and lastly, • Personnel Workgroup. • What follows is the OPDSC structure.

12. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • In an effort to strengthen the Organ, a Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ (SIPO), developed by the Troika of the Organ together with co - opted members such as South Africa was approved by SADC HoSG Summit held in Tanzania in 2003. • The objective of SIPO is to operationalise the provisions of the Protocol. Each sector of the Organ, namely, the Political (from the ISPDC), Defence, State and Public Security (from the ISDSC) had to work out activities that have to be undertaken in order to realise the objectives of the Protocol. For example, in the Defence Sector, it was proposed that in order to realise objective 2 (h) of the Protocol (Article 2 (2) (h), which reads, “…consider…the development of a collective security capacity and conclude a Mutual Defence Pact to respond to external miliary threats”, the following activities have to be undertaken;

13. SADC OPDSC (CONT) • finalisation of the drafting of the SADC Mutual Defence Pact, • operationalise the SADC Mutual Defence Pact, • promote and disseminate the SADC Mutual Defence Pact within the member states institutions, • harmonise military doctrines and operational concepts in the region in order to achieve regional inter - operability, • adopt and rehearse operational procedures aiming at achieving the spirit of the Pact. • SIPO also provides a structure to provide administrative, secretarial, management and other services to the Organ.

14. DoD PARTICIPATION • The DoD has participated in the activities of the Organ ever since SA was admitted as a member of SADC. This participation has ranged from attending and hosting meetings, providing inputs in respect of policy proposals, providing logistical support to holding joint military exercises such as Blue Crane and Blue Hungwe. • In SADC, the Troika system is used in Chairing and this is no different for the various SADC structures. In the SADC HoSG Summit held in Tanzania in August 2003, Lesotho was chosen as Chair of the Organ, South Africa Incoming Chair (to be Chair in 2004 - 2005) and Mocambique as the Outgoing Chair. • Choosing SA as Deputy Chair and ultimately as Chair has implications for the DoD. The Inter - Ministerial Security Committee agreed that the

15. DoD PARTICIPATION • DoD should be a lead department in respect of Organ issues, more so on ISDSC matters. • At ISDSC, ISPDC and OPDSC meetings each country has a responsibility of providing a country brief on its state of affairs. For SA, this responsibility falls to the DoD. • In the tradition of SADC, the member state that Chairs is expected to host part or all of SADC meetings. For the Organ, this means hosting; • the MCO meeting, • ISDSC & ISPDC Ministers and officials meetings, • putting in the agenda of Summit SADC position on issues such as the Africa Standby Force, etc.

16. DoD PARTICIPATION All these issues mean that the DoD, as one of the departments involved in the Organ, must ensure that the necessary inputs are developed and makes recommendations on how to meet the set objectives.

17. QUESTIONS