SADC ORGAN ON POLITICS, DEFENCE

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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.

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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 1970s.
• 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.

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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.

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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

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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 OPDSCs 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).

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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 OPDSCs 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.

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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).

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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.

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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

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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.

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(No Transcript)
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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, considerthe 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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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• QUESTIONS