The document outlines the disarmament process in South Africa, detailing significant events from peaceful resistance to armed struggle and subsequent negotiations for demilitarization. It highlights the establishment of working groups, agreements on the suspension of armed actions, and the verification of disarmament efforts, emphasizing the importance of political will and trust in achieving a sustainable peace. Key lessons include the necessity of removing arms from the equation and the role of independent verification in fostering confidence in the peace process.

1. DISARMAMENT, DISMANTLING AND
DISBANDMENT
LESSONS FROM THE SOUTH
AFRICAN PROCESS
ROBERT MCBRIDE

2. THE BEGINNING
• 50 years of peaceful resistance
• 30 years of armed struggle
• Prison talks, July 1986
• Secret Channels
• Harare Declaration
• Unbanning , Feb 1990

3. RELEASE OF MANDELA
• Temporary Indemnity for ANC Negotiators
returning to South Africa
• Temporary firearm permits to protectors of
ANC Leaders
• Return of Exiles

4. GROOTE SCHUUR MINUTE 4TH MAY 1990
• First direct public negotiations between
Government and ANC (“talk about talks”)
– setting the rules
• Common commitment towards ending a
climate of violence and intimidation as
well as a commitment to stability and to
a peaceful process of negotiations
• Definition of Political Offences
• Establish effective channels of
communication

5. PRETORIA MINUTE, AUG 6TH 1990
• Establishment of Working Groups
• Prisoners
• Violence
• Review of Security Legislation
• Paragraph 3
• Unilateral Suspension of armed activity
• Establishment of Working Group to deal with above decision

6. PARAGRAPH 3 WORKING GROUP REPORT
• The Working Group agreed on the following
• No armed attacks, no infiltration of men or materials, no creation of
underground structures, no incitement of violence, no threats of
armed action and no training in South Africa
• Agreed on the principal that no political party or movement should
have a private army
• Recognise that MK is no longer an unlawful organization
• Noted the historical fact that MK had weapons and cadres in the
country
• Agreed that control over such cadres and arms be excercised
• Move towards legalisation and normalisation of arms issues
• Security forces must take cognisance of the suspension of armed
action and related activities

7. SOUTHERN AFRICA: ANC BASES AND WEAPONS

8. EXTERNAL DISARMAMENT AND VERIFICATION
• 1991 process of decommissioning MKs
external arms caches
• Weapons surrendered to host countries
• This involved description of weapons,
numbers, and working condition
• Verification by MK Commanders and
host Governments
• All external weapons surrendered
• Joint secret working groups, MK and
Government

9. EXTERNAL DISARMAMENT AND VERIFICATION
COPY OF ACTUAL VERIFICATION DOCUMENT

10. EXTERNAL DISARMAMENT AND VERIFICATION
COPY OF ACTUAL WEAPONS VERIFICATION RECEIPT

11. NEGOTIATIONS, FRUSTRATION & BREAKDOWN
• CODESA I
• Government political point-scoring & Mandela‟s
response… “Now he is attacking us because we have not
dissolved Umkhonto. He is not even telling you, … that
we agreed, …at the beginning of this year on Umkhonto
we Sizwe. We then had an agreement in terms of which
we had to hand over our weapons for joint control by the
Government and ourselves, but we linked that to the
development of the political process. You are asking us
to commit suicide, because when your Government is not
prepared to intervene to stop the violence; when the
perception amongst our people is that it is elements in
the Security Forces that are killing our people; when our
people demand to be armed, what political organisation
would had over its weapons to the same man who is
regarded by people as killing innocent people.”
• Violence, Prisoners, harassment of ANC &MK
• BREAKDOWN

12. BREAKTHROUGH
• Record of Understanding, Sept 1992
• CODESA II
• November „93 Election date
• December 16
• Disbanding of MK
• April 27, 1994
• First Democratic Elections

13. ARMS & AMNESTIES
August „94
• Main stockpile of ANC arms surrendered , 40
trucks worth
October ‟94
First post-apartheid amnesty to cover activists
who had possession of weapons
A number of subsequent amnesties were declared
Integration of armed forces. New Defence Force
Non-Statutory
Demobilisation and Normalisation

14. LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
• Peace making is a process fraught with risk and
frustration
• Acknowledgement that alternative means, other
than armed conflict, need to be pursued
• Political will for a just and equitable solution.
Free political activity
• Arms must be removed from the equation,
equally so, repression
• Disarmament and decommissioning is a
significant part of the process. Directly liked to
building confidence in the process
• Must be formalised and verified. Independent/
neutral honest broker