Stephen G. Cary Chairperson

Asia A. Bennett Exec;utlv• St1cretary

Colin W. Bell

?J'i I

American Friends Service Committee 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pennsyl vania 19102 • Phone (215) 241 -7000

faecutive Secret1;1ry Emeritus

International Division

PROPOSAL

SOUTHERN AFRICA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM

Compiled by the Africa Panel subcommittee on the future of international affairs in southern Africa

August 1981

An Affi rmative Action Employer

SOUTHERN AFRICA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM PROPOSAL

Program Proposal That AFSC continue to focus major program attention on the region and issues of southern Africa, implementing this commitment through work

in southern Africa itself and through educational work in the United States and basing it in a fundamental belief in the value of ~ach person and in the power of nonviolent action to bring needed change. For southern Africa, a Southern Africa International Affairs Representative (SAIAR) would relate specifically to issues of regional develop-ment and cooperation, carrying out a vigorous program of personal contact, seminars, conferences and report writing to forward the goals ·of justice and development in all of southern Africa , including the minority-ruled states. In the United States and else-where, Peace Education efforts would be enhanced by regularly written reports and the provision of annual visits by a consultant and other speakers from southern Africa.

The SAIAR would be a three year appointment with two months' work in the United States at midpoint for personal leave, program consultation and interpretation. There would also be a two month speaking tour at the end of the appo i ntment . This appointment is not dependent on other possible southern Africa program developments and should be implemented as soon as possible.

Background v"AFSC relationships in southern Africa have been active for about 30 years. AFSC has had staff in southern Africa continuously since 1957 . Work has

centered on support for self-determination, majority rule, non- racial societies, and ultimate reconciliation between and among contending groups. U. S. public education on southern Africa, national reconstruction and community development with an emphasis on self-help housing have also been concerns.

Two southern Africa programs are now phasing out as AFSC responsibilities. The Zambian community development program is being devolved to Zambians who have been active with it for many years. The Southern Africa Representative Program (SARP) will be terminated at the end of 198 1, but the current representative will continue to make annual three month speaking tours in the U. S. as a consultant to the Peace Education Division.

At the time SARP started, AFSC undertook to establish, and in some cases to reestablish, relationships with liberation movements which were playing an active role on the southern Africa scene. SARP also interpreted southern Africa to the U.S. public via the representative's speaking tours. The need for U.S. interpretation continues and the opportunities for interpretation have increased. With the independence of Angola, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, however, the political scene is significantly different in the sense that more attention needs to be focused on movement for change in Namibia and South Africa, and possibilities for regional cooperation have changed. AFSC no longer maintains the main Quaker relationship with these groups.

The work of QPS in Botswana and Zimbabwe as well as the individual contacts of several QPS representatives with members of southern African liberation movements and government officials have enhanced Quaker contact in the region. In addition, the anticipation of a QPS QIAR with access to South Africa gives added dimension to the

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cooperative role .that can be played by QPS and AP'SC in southern Africa. and Material Assistance Program for Southern Africa (T.AMAPSA), with its also provides contact at a program level .with refugee and e~iled groups South Africa.

AFSC's Technical base in Zimbabwe, from Nand.bia and

The AFSC ~ust continue to relate to and suoport liberation ~ovements and other groups and individuals seeking majority rule in South Africa and Namibia in ways that are in keeping with Quaker tradition. The Service Conunittee must make itself available-· eo· those inside and outside of those coutttries. But the changes in southern Africat and the new situation created by these changes, suggest new possibilities for a SAIAR role,

Role of SAI.AR The SAIA&'s main attention will be given to efforts at regional cooperation in southern Africa and to interpreting developments in the region back to

the United States, The region includes the ten states of southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia; South Africa, Zambia, Zimbab~e, Swaziland), plus any other states which become associated with the regional cooperation (definitely Tanzania, possibly Zaire).

The SAIAR will, upon appointment, tour the region to learn more about the possibili-ties and problen.s related to the development of regional cooperation and the vision which governments, non-govern~ental groups and individuals have of cooperation for the future. The SAIAR will seek ways of useful personal involvement in the process of developing cooperation. Ways of possible APSC programtnatic assistance will be sought, includinS the calling together of small or larger groups in international meetings or in conferences to forward the goal of cooperation. Perhaps the first six months might be used for explorationt lea~~ng and reporting, w:iiu:h more specific A.FSC participation getting underway after that time.

The SAIA.R will also maintain continued contact with liberation ·movements and groups working for similar ends, located both inside and out of South Africa and Namibia. 'nle idea of conferences or small consultations concerning the needs and goals of the people of SouLh Africa and Namibia and the tesolution of the crises in the region would be explored.

. A basic part of this assignment is reporting back to AFSC frequently and fully,

including regular reports for public distribution. These reports are to cover what is happening in southern Africa; others will detail the activities of the SA!AR. Extensive reporting is intended t:o keep AFSC well informed on a rapidly c.hansing area and t:o assist the Peace Education Division in its work on southern Africa with a variety of constituencies in the United States. TI-le SA!AR will also support the Peace !ducation effort in the United States by identifying and helping to select speakers from southern Africa and by facilitating visits to the region by persons and groups affiliated with AFSC. This effort is seen as fundamental to ongoing educational work in the United States.

Rationale for Focus Coordination and cooperation among the countries of southern Africa, particularly in t::he ecor.omic sphere, is a.n idea whose t:ir.ie has come.

The majority-ruled countries are already at work on seeking methods of cooperation, in part to lower their dependency on South Africa, and basically to improve the standard of living for their people. At the other end of the political spectrum, South Africa is promoting the idea of a constellation of southern African states, with the intent of building more than just bantustans into the structure. In t:he long run, South Africa with majority rule will be a major influence in southern Africa regionalism.

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South Africa (and Namibia while under South Af rican c ontrol) is not able to discuss regionali sm with t he rest of southern Africa . Yet , regionalism i s each gover nment 's long-term goal. This may create a situation within which leaders of both South Africa and the ot her countries of t he region will be open to the work of an AFSC SAIAR travelling within South Africa and the res t of the region, sharing ideas about regional cooperation. In addition to r egular visits by the SAIAR to Namibia and South Africa if they are possible, AFSC will also help to facilitate and make use of visits by ot hers t o develop this dimen~ sion of the program.

Regionali sm cannot reach i t s maximum utility without participation by Namibia and South Africa , and that participation is dependent on independence and majority rule . Therefore~ developments in Namibia and South Africa will be major concerns of the SAIAR.

The idea of cooperation, even union , among African countries goes back decades to the beginning of Pan-Afri canism. The OAU is one expr essi on of that idea. While the history of close cooperation and coordination among African states is not one with a lar ge measure of success, greater cooperation seems likely i n the future. Attempts as diverse as. the East Africa Community , the Central Africa Federation and t he shared university among t he former British Protectorates illustrate the difficulties.

There ar e , even so, stron g elements of support fo r success in southern African cooperation, such as the establi shed lines of communication which tie them together. The r egion is a natural working unit, no t an ideological or theoretical construction. Many of the states have specialties which add to the str ength of the whole, such as Mozambique's ports , Zimbabwe ' s agriculture, Angola's oil and Zambia's copper . Ther e have already been years of cooperation in the struggle for majority rule . There·are no national boundary disputes within the area to become a source of friction. Successful cooperation should be to every country's advantage. Southern Africa could become a zone of peace, though today it is torn by apartheid.

AFSC must begin to shape new relationships with the peoples and governments of southern Africa which speak to their present and immediate s ituations as well as their futures . This may be done in par t by f ocusing and facilitating dialogue on r egional economic cooperation; such development and cooperation could help to support t he necessary changes which must occur and to minimize the amount of des truction and dea t h duri ng the transition. In t he longer range, regional economic development and cooperation are clearly in the bes t interests of the entire population of the region .

AFSC's commitment to regional economic development res t s on its bel i ef in and dedication to the concept of just non- racial societies, and it i s already expressed through the Technical and Mater i al Assistance Program for Southern Africa (TAMAPSA) . AFSC's involvement in discussions to promote regional economic cooperation would be a suitable complement to TAMAPSA and would provide both the means and rationale for an increasingly viable and continued AFSC presence and a valuable educational service to AFSC's constituency .

Though the Peace Education Division supports the proposed Southern Africa International Affairs Program it wishes to .have its continuing reservation noted concerning the amount of time that the SAIAR would spend in the field. The International Division has proposed that the SAIAR be a three year appoin tment with home leave and review in the seventeenth and eighteenth months and a nationwide tour at the end of t he appointment. The duties of the SAIAR, as well as financial considerations, warrant t his kind of arrangement. The hope is that the written reports, the use of consultants, and possible visits to the field as well as the end of . duty tour by the SAIAR will meet the needs of the Peace Education Division .

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BUDGiT: SOtJTHERN AFRICA INTE~ATidNAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM

Field maintenance

maintenance

vacatiou

home cost

social security

new persounel

home leave

pension

insurance

total maintenance

Expenditures

111aintenance

office supplies ·

repairs

equipment (lllinor)

travel (fuel included)

telephone/telegraph

postage/freight

equipment (vehicle)

conferences

printing/publication

miscellaneous

subtotal

PPS&E

contractual servi~es*

total

,FY 82

18,000

1,000

4,000

3,059

4,000

2,085

4il67

36,.311

36,.311

3,000

900

2,000

10,000

2,000

2,000

15,000

2,000

1,00..Q. 73,711

11,506

. 13,$00

98,717

FY 83 FY 83

21,600 25,920

1,000 1,000

4,000 4,000

3,538 4,112

-· 3,000

2., 411 2,803

4,792 5i511

40,341 43,346

40,341 43,346

1,500 1,000

500 500

750 500

12,000 10,000

2,000 2,000

2,000 2 ,ooo

10,000 10,000

2,000 2,000

l .z qoo 1,000 70,591 73,846

10,138 11,076

15, 5,tS 17,853

96,254 102,775

*The Peace Education Division has presented costs of $20,SOO for a consultant and other

speakers. They project a possible $7,000 in honoraria,