‘RENAISSANCE PEACEKEEPING’ — A South African solution to conflict in the DRC?

The document analyzes South Africa's strategic options regarding the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) across three scenarios: a firm peace agreement, a shaky cease-fire, or the absence of a cease-fire. It critiques existing OAU and UN mechanisms as over-ambitious and under-resourced given the DRC's geography. The author introduces 'Renaissance peacekeeping'—a proposal by Thabo Mbeki to co-opt current belligerent statutory forces into a multinational peacekeeping force to ensure rapid deployment and local knowledge. While noting the risks of impartiality and the need for a 'lead nation' (potentially South Africa), the author concludes that South Africa is likely to be drawn into the conflict despite the high risk of mission failure due to fragile cease-fires.

• South Africa's participation in peace missions is governed by a 1998 White Paper, which mandates that deployments require a clear international mandate, sufficient collective means, and defined entry and exit criteria.
• The author argues that the 'Draft Mechanism for an OAU Observer Mission and a UN Peacekeeping Operation' is flawed because it fails to distinguish between observer and peacekeeping mandates and proposes tasks—such as border control—that are unrealistic for available African resources.
• The 'Renaissance peacekeeping' concept, proposed by Thabo Mbeki, suggests inviting the statutory forces currently fighting in the DRC to serve as the multinational peacekeeping force to allow for rapid establishment and the use of troops with existing local knowledge.
• To ensure the credibility and impartiality of the 'Renaissance' model, the author suggests the Joint Task Team (JTT) should include an 'out-of-area' lead nation from another continent to provide resources and impartial command.
• The author notes a tension between the Department of Foreign Affairs, which prefers diplomacy, and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), which has shown an increased appetite for forceful deployments following 'Operation Boleas' in Lesotho.
• The document concludes that South Africa will likely be drawn into a multinational operation in the DRC, but warns that such a mission may be based on a fragile cease-fire destined to fail.

APA

Malan, M. (1999). ‘RENAISSANCE PEACEKEEPING’ — A South African solution to conflict in the DRC? Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper37.pdf

Chicago

Malan, Mark. ‘RENAISSANCE PEACEKEEPING’ — A South African solution to conflict in the DRC? Institute for Security Studies, 1999. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper37.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Malan |first1=Mark |title=‘RENAISSANCE PEACEKEEPING’ — A South African solution to conflict in the DRC? |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 1999 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper37.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{malan1999renaissance, author = {Malan, Mark}, title = {{‘RENAISSANCE PEACEKEEPING’ — A South African solution to conflict in the DRC?}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {1999}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper37.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }