Terror at the front gate: Insurgency in Mozambique and its implications for the SADC and South Africa

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Victor H. Mlambo,Mfundo Mandla Masuku
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2700

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Terror at the front gate: Insurgency in Mozambique and its

implications for the SADC and South Africa

Victor H. Mlambo

1

| Mfundo Mandla Masuku

2

1

Department of Political and International

Studies, University of Zululand,

KwaDlangezwa, South Africa

2

School of Development Studies, University of

Mpumalanga, Mbombela, South Africa

Correspondence

Victor H. Mlambo, Department of Political and

International Studies, University of Zululand, 1

Main Road, Vulindllela, KwaDlangezwa 3886,

South Africa.

Email: halavico@yahoo.com

The paper, employing a qualitative research approach through the review of literature

seeks to examinethe increasing acts of terrorismin Mozambique's Northern Cabo Del-

gado region and itsimplications for the SADC and SouthAfrica. Regionally, the SADC's

failure to act has castdoubt on the regional body's abilityto protect and support mem-

ber states in times of need and has painted a bleak picture for the region's security,

should the insurgency spread to othercountries. For South Africa, this presents a secu-

rity conundrum,not only are the country's land borders porous, but the country'sintel-

ligence services have been marred by political interference, thus questioning the

country’s ability to promptly respond to possible threats that may emanate from its

land borders. The current political discourse in South Africa argues that should terror

groups consolidate their presence in Mozambique and look to expand their operations

to South Africa, The country's borders at their current state together with a politically

compromised intelligence service would serve little purpose in protecting the country

considering their state of disarray. The paper recommends that collective action is

needed to address the on-going insurgency in Mozambique through a SADC initiated

regional framework, which is supported by member states. For South Africa, invest-

ment in border operations, policy harmonisation, and the impartiality of intelligence

services are key issues that ought to be addressed to ensure thatgoing forward, South

Africa can repel any possible terror-relatedincident.

KEYWORDS

borders, Mozambique, security, South Africa

1|INTRODUCTION

The September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, DC we're

not only the most shocking terrorist attacks conducted by a sub-state

group in history but portrayed the unpredictability, underlying com-

plexities, and how far terror groups are willing to go to carry out their

mission (Ilardi, 2009). Subsequently, the attacks altered the concept

and approach of border security, soon after, a plethora of concepts

underpinning the need to address terrorism emerged, such as “war on

terror”and “the securitisation of terrorism”. Building on the insights

of Mohan and Mawdsley (2007), this paper reinforces the notion that

the growth and sophistication of terrorism as a process is not an iso-

lated incident. It is a process driven by a combination of factors such

as underdevelopment, state fragility, hegemonic interests, ideological

differences within the religious context and ethnic differences. The

authors are of the view that weak state institutions accompanied by

poor governance and the role of external actors (e.g., Multinational

cooperation's and third party states undermining the sovereignty of

other countries) are additional factors that are giving birth to terrorism

in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Further-

more, the quest to define terrorism and its underlying principles is

complicated by the growth of religion and its association and under-

standing of the concept. For example, Islam is seen as an inherently

violent religion compared to the Christian faith, which is seen as less

militant. Therefore, defining the concept of terrorism will differ greatly

between Western governments and their Middle Eastern

Received: 25 July 2020 Accepted: 10 May 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2700

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2700. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of8

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2700