>>> Louis Proyect <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 10/April/1997 03:54pm >>> >What exactly is the role of South Africa? Is it simply a site for >negotiations or does Thabo Mbeki have a stake in a "democratically >elected" government in Zaire rather than one that comes to power >through armed struggle. Wouldn't a radicalized Zairean state power >undermine the neoliberal experiments of the ANC? Some random thoughts... SA has had the most eclectic and internally-contradictory foreign policy since 1994 of any country I've ever heard of. Ties to Cuba, Libya and Syria seem to really piss off imperialism, but generally SA is a demonstration country for elite political transition underlaid by neo-lib macroeconomics. Mbeki's in Washington at present; the talks between Kabila's forces and the Zaire government are underway near Pretoria; but far more interesting is regional subimperialism, particularly a meeting this week between De Beers diamond mining empire and the rebels over the diamond mines that Kabila recently captured. Copper in the southeast just fell into his hands as well. And geopoliticians here are wondering about how all of this may affect the other Great Lakes conflicts, with Uganda's Museveni at the centre of support for rebel forces throughout the region. Possibly a redrawing of national boundaries awaits. Yet all of this is too far away to have any impact on SA directly; refugee traffic from Zaire has been moderate, but no big increase is expected. Jo'burg and parts of Kinshasa are tightly linked through crime syndicates, but formal trade with Zaire is minimal. I don't think the class character of Kabila's movement can be predicted; even if they took a left turn, there is so much space, cultural differences and a language barrier separating SA from Zaire that all most people here are hoping for is a quick capture of Kinshasa and some stability in the region so that SA troops aren't brought up to do peacekeeping work along US lines. The ANC of course holds no truck for Mobutu due to his close ties to apartheid-era SA. But while Kabila's old left perspectives are humorously remarked on here, there are no historic ties of any magnitude to SA liberation forces. I also get no hint of any Chiapas-type reactions to neoliberalism in Zaire; the closest are some comrades at Makaresh University in Uganda. But it's a long struggle to network, much less unite the various ongoing strands of practical anti-neolib activity up-continent...
