Burundi: Missed opportunities for South African post-conflict development and peacebuilding?

The document argues that while South Africa was successful in peacemaking and peacekeeping in Burundi, it failed to maintain a substantive post-conflict presence after 2009, resulting in missed opportunities for development and peacebuilding. It recommends that South Africa develop a long-term, coordinated strategy for post-conflict engagement, leveraging its access to government authorities and building national skills in peacebuilding to avoid the ad hoc approach seen in Burundi.

• South Africa's transition from assertive peacemaking and peacekeeping to post-conflict development in Burundi was marked by a significant decline in presence after the withdrawal of troops in 2009.
• The overall approach to post-conflict and peacebuilding in Burundi is characterized as lacking a cohesive strategy and failing to produce a lasting impact.
• Despite signing multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on sectors such as defence, education, agriculture, economic cooperation, and sports and recreation following a 2011 state visit, these agreements remain largely unimplemented.
• South Africa's disengagement has allowed other international actors to fill the post-conflict development gap in Burundi, including the EU, IMF, World Bank, China, Japan, and several other nations.
• Operational failures on the South African side, including bureaucratic inefficiencies and poorly designed civil service training, have hindered engagement.
• Burundi remains a fragile state with significant peacebuilding challenges, including food insecurity, energy deficits, human rights violations, and the need for socio-economic integration of vulnerable groups.

APA

Hendricks, C., & Lucey, A. (2013). Burundi: Missed opportunities for South African post-conflict development and peacebuilding? Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief48_9Oct2013.pdf

Chicago

Hendricks, Cheryl, and Amanda Lucey. Burundi: Missed opportunities for South African post-conflict development and peacebuilding? Institute for Security Studies, 2013. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief48_9Oct2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hendricks |first1=Cheryl |last2=Lucey |first2=Amanda |title=Burundi: Missed opportunities for South African post-conflict development and peacebuilding? |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=October 2013 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief48_9Oct2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hendricks2013burundi, author = {Hendricks, Cheryl and Lucey, Amanda}, title = {{Burundi: Missed opportunities for South African post-conflict development and peacebuilding?}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2013}, month = oct, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief48_9Oct2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }