Evaluating the peacemaking effectiveness of SADC

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to research on how peacemaking interventions by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in member states experiencing recurrent political conflicts should be evaluated, and how their effectiveness can be measured. Peacemaking is understood as a varied approach to resolving conflicts, encompassing negotiation, diplomatic engagement, and mediation. Mediation refers to third party facilitation aimed at resolving conflicts. The main argument is that SADC mediation– which forms the core of its approach to peacemaking – is not oriented towards transforming conflicts. Most, if not all, of the political conflicts SADC has mediated have recurred in one form or another. These include conflicts in Lesotho, the recipient of the most SADC interventions to date in any member state since SADC’s formation, as well as Zimbabwe, whose political situation remained precarious five years after SADC mediation. Moreover, SADC lacks formal criteria for evaluating the efficacy of its mediation efforts. This has also been limited by the way in which it problematises conflicts, and conceptualises their resolution. This study applies the concept of systemic conflict transformation (SCT) as a conceptual framework for evaluating SADC’s mediation efforts in Lesotho and Zimbabwe. It finds that SADC was effective in managing those crises in the short term, but that the link between short-term progress and the longer-term transformation of conflicts was underemphasised in its mediation mandates. This is attributed to the absence of a comprehensive peacebuilding framework; an inadequate institutional interface between SADC and the countries in which it mediates; and an over-reliance on ‘track one’ diplomacy that excludes non-state and developmental partners from its peacemaking processes. The study concludes that the main condition driving SADC’s effectiveness in achieving conflict transformation is the degree to which it draws a distinction between achieving the objectives of its broader peacemaking mandate, and those outlined in the specific mediation mandate. It further concludes that the efficacy of SADC’s mediation efforts should therefore be evaluated against its broader regional mandate to promote democracy, stability, and development in its member states, regardless of the specificities of the given mediation.