Building security in Southern Africa

This report by the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the evolution of security architectures in Southern Africa, tracing the transition from the informal Front-Line States (FLS) alliance to the formal structures of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), specifically the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC), and the Southern African Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO).

• The Front-Line States (FLS) alliance, founded in 1975 by Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique, served as an informal forum focused on decolonization and ending minority regimes in Rhodesia, South West Africa, and South Africa. It operated as a "club of national governments" that included liberation movements and was supported by an informal substructure, the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC).
• The Southern African Development Community (SADC), established via a 1992 Treaty, is primarily an intergovernmental organization for economic development. While its Treaty provides guidance on the rule of law, democracy, and human rights, the SADC Secretariat has historically shown reluctance to engage in security issues to avoid diluting its focus on economic integration.
• The SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security was created to succeed the FLS alliance, but its development was delayed by a conflict between South Africa and Zimbabwe over its status. Zimbabwe argued the Organ should function independently with a separate chair and a "flexible and informal" modus operandi, while South Africa maintained that the Organ is a subsidiary of SADC and its chair must be subordinate to the SADC chair.
• The Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC), which predates SADC, operates without a formal legal base, charter, or permanent secretariat. It coordinates military, state security, and public security through three subcommittees, though it is criticized for lacking tolerance for non-state actors in monitoring human rights or early warning.
• The Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) serves as the primary operational mechanism for fighting cross-border crime. It operates as the de facto subregional arm of Interpol, with its secretariat and the Interpol bureau both located in Harare. SARPCCO has conducted joint operations (such as Voyager 4, Midas, Atlantic, Stone, and Sesani) to combat vehicle theft and drug trafficking, though legal complexities often hinder the return of seized items to their countries of origin.
• SADC and SARPCCO have collaborated on small arms control, with SARPCCO appointed as the implementation agency for SADC policy on small arms and cross-border crime prevention. This includes the development of a SADC policy/protocol on small arms intended for submission to the SADC Summit in 2000.
• The region is working toward a sustainable brigade-size peacekeeping force over a five-year period, following the West African model. This includes the establishment of the Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre (RPTC) in Zimbabwe and a SADC peacekeeping clearing house to coordinate training and maintain records of practitioners.
• Bilateral security agreements have often been used to legalise military interventions after the fact. Examples include the Defence Protocol between Angola, the DRC, Namibia, and Zimbabwe (signed April 1999) and agreements between South Africa and Lesotho following military interventions to restore stability.

APA

Cilliers, J. (1999). Building security in Southern Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono43.pdf

Chicago

Cilliers, Jakkie. Building security in Southern Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 1999. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono43.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cilliers |first1=Jakkie |title=Building security in Southern Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 1999 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono43.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cilliers1999building, author = {Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{Building security in Southern Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {1999}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono43.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }