Former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, on Thursday in Johannesburg, said exploitative neocolonial influences are fuelling the unconstitutional regime changes seen in some West and Central African countries.
Mbeki argued that these coups could be avoided, but restoring democracy to the affected countries would require frank discussions with key stakeholders.
The former president made these remarks while answering questions from fellows of the MTN-sponsored Media Innovation Programme, who are on a study visit to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mbeki received the 20 fellows at his foundation in Riviera, where he spoke on the theme, Africa’s Indispensable Bilateral Relations (South Africa and Nigeria).
The elder statesman said, “I don’t believe those soldiers are instinctively anti-democratic, but they are addressing a different issue. And it’s a real problem… It’s a political rebellion against the old France-Afrique relationship.”
His comments follow a wave of unconstitutional regime changes that have swept across West Africa in recent years.
Civilian governments in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger fell to military control in May 2021, September 2022, and July 2023, respectively.
Consequently, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed economic sanctions that isolated the three nations, alongside Guinea, where the military took control in September 2021.
Although ECOWAS later agreed to lift some economic and travel sanctions in February, the junta-led states maintained their stance to leave the union.
In January 2024, the estranged states announced their withdrawal from the 49-year-old bloc.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, warned in April that the withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso from the bloc put ECOWAS investments worth nearly $1bn at risk.
On 6 July, Niger’s General Abdourahmane Tchiani, Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traoré, and Mali’s Colonel Assimi Goita signed a confederation treaty, which they said would strengthen a mutual defence pact announced the previous September, known as the Alliance of Sahel States.
Nonetheless, ECOWAS claims it is still leading efforts to reintegrate the sister states into the nearly 50-year-old bloc.
At a meeting with ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff on 9 August 2024, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who chairs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said the bloc would continue persuading the military leaders to return their nations to the fold.
“We will do everything to offer a hand of friendship to them and give them reasons to come back to us,” Tinubu said.
However, Mbeki maintained that these coups are primarily “political rebellions against the old France-Afrique relationship.”
He added, “Part of what happens in Africa is that a Thabo Mbeki is elected president of a country, but he’s very much in the pockets of the French. So, the soldiers, in rebelling against French neocolonialism, will also rebel against any political representative of French colonialism in their country.
“So, you get military coups. And you might protest about democracy, but I would applaud the soldiers’ anti-colonial stance. That’s what’s happening in West Africa. You see it in Niger, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, and Gabon. It’s a political rebellion against the old France-Afrique relationship.
“This is part of what is happening in West Africa, and I think it can be avoided. It is right to rebel against French neocolonialism. How the restoration of democracy is handled is something that can indeed be discussed. I don’t believe those soldiers are instinctively anti-democratic. But they are addressing a different problem, and it’s a real issue.”
Looking back, Nelson Mandela’s successor added, “In 2004 or 2006, around that time, the African Union asked us to engage the Ivorians to help resolve their issues. I discovered something then. One of the agreements with France was that there would be a French military base in Abidjan, and the commander of that base would have a mandate to oversee the national security interests of both Côte d’Ivoire and France.
“As a result, whenever circumstances arose that threatened his national security interest, the French commander could take over radio and television without consulting the president of Côte d’Ivoire or anyone else. He was empowered by an agreement signed in 1960 when Côte d’Ivoire gained independence. Effectively, he could take control of the country.
“That was just one of about 10 to 12 such agreements that France entered into with its former colonies. So, as you have seen, one of the great heroes of these young soldiers in Francophone West Africa is Thomas Sankara. The reason for this is that they are rebelling against the continuing colonial relationships that persist. They say, ‘We must break this relationship to truly declare our countries independent.’”
In his earlier address, the Director of Professional Programmes at Pan-Atlantic University’s School of Media and Communication, Prof Isaac Ezechukwu, thanked the former president for granting the fellows an audience. He described the visit as an opportunity to enhance the fellows’ understanding of Nigeria-South Africa relations and to foster cohesion between the two countries.
The meeting was attended by Senior Manager of External Relations at MTN Nigeria, Mr Funso Aina; Public Relations Manager at MTN Nigeria, Dr Lakinbofa Goodluck; Senior Manager of Strategic Public Affairs at MTN Group, Dominic Kumalo, among others.
