Recently President Eduardo Jose dos Santos spoke of the desire for a negotiated settlement in Cabinda, and some Cabindans see hope for an end to the war. Some Cabindans like Protestant priest Pastor Ngaka are hopeful that peace talks can occur. "The government is not fighting with Flec now - it sees that dialogue is the proper way to get peace," he said. With national and international attention focused on the moves for peace in the rest of Angola, nobody outside Cabinda appears to be paying much attention to the fact that there is still a war going on in Angola's northernmost province.

Angolan Foreign Policy: A Philosophy Of Pragmatism

The Angolan Government is formulating a new political and diplomatic strategy the fundamental feature of which is the inclusion of UNITA members in it as part of an effort to ensure that the principles that guide foreign policy are non-partisan. Under the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation, six diplomatic missions are to be headed up by UNITA members, as provided for in the Lusaka peace agreements. These include the Angolan embassies in India, Canada, Mexico, Cape Verde, Poland, and UNESCO. The current political-institutional situation will require pragmatic and active diplomacy in which all parties involved defend both the interests of the state and the rights and duties of Angolans abroad, with no influence of political party leanings. But having diplomats who are not members of the MPLA is not new.

If peace is consummated, it appears that the greatest diplomatic challenge facing the Government will be to garner support from international creditors for the reconstruction and economic development of Angola, given the opportunity provided by the Brussels Conference. In this context, the diplomats would need to create the conditions for Angolan entrepreneurs to have access to external financing.

The successful Angolan mediation in the 1995 and 2003 crisis’s in São Tomé e Principe, which made possible a return to the institutional legal order and to democratic order in that sister country, made Angolan diplomats known for their pragmatism.

Angola also made significant and costly sacrifices for Namibia’s independence, South Africa’s democratisation and the stabilisation of the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Along the same lines, the Angolan Government has at all times defended the right of East Timor to self-determination and independence. Angola is a member of the United Nations’ Security Council and the current chair of the Southern African Development Community.

Women's Gains In The Struggle For Equality

Angolan women participated, side by side with men, in the struggle for Independence, and are also playing a key role in the search for a lasting peace and consolidated democracy for the country. After Independence, the Constitution enshrined equality of the sexes before the law; with this legal instrument, women stepped up their battle for "a place in the sun." In small numbers, women began to be seen in some professions hitherto deemed "male". Barriers to education have stood in the way. Statistics indicate that as of 1992 54% of the women in Luanda were illiterate, as compared to 31.4% of men. Only 2.5% had continued their studies beyond the 10th grade, as compared to 7% of men.

As of 1992 women had scored some social victories, particularly the Law on Maternity, which provides for family planning, the recognition of consensual union as equivalent to marriage (where couples live together more than three years, both partners have the same rights as if they were married), equality of children whether born to a wedded or unwedded couple, and a cabinet office to promote women's development. The 1992 elections resulted in less Angolan women members of parliament. In the Second Republic women hold 9.5% of the seats, as compared to 14.5% in the First Republic. This outcome as attributed to the scant participation of women in the opposition political parties.

There are five women who serve as cabinet ministers, two in economically significant posts, Oil Minister Albina Assis and Fisheries Minister Fátima Jardim. In addition, a woman serves as vice-president of the Supreme People's Tribunal, five women are Public Ministry magistrates, and there are three women judges. One woman is an ambassador, and another, Anália Pereira, is the leader of a political party and a candidate in the 1992 presidential elections.

The First Lady of Angola, Ms. Ana Paula dos Santos, represents the country on the International Directing Committee for the economic promotion of rural women. Its Angola branch created a plan of action that includes the following:

• Sensitizing society to the important role of rural women in the national economy.
• Mobilizing financial resources to reduce the difficulties rural women face.
• Designing small rural development projects.
• Improving rural women's access to productive resources and financial services.
• Undertaking studies to determine the actual circumstances of rural women.
• Create the basic conditions for improving quality of life in rural areas.

Nonetheless, the social instability that has resulted from the war continues to be the major obstacle to implementation of the program, i.e. the exodus of populations to the cities and the fact that this target group has been forced to abandon their fields for better opportunities in towns and cities.

South Africa and Angola’s history have been closely linked for the last of the previous century. The National Party regime was a close ally of the Portugese colonialists and the Unita rebels and actively supported them. The apartheid regime repeatedly attacked and invaded Angola in the 1970s and 1980s in support of Unita. Without that support Unita would not have the threat that it was to the Angolan government. The Angola government and the MPLA-PT were strong supporters of the African National Congress and the South West African People’s Organisation for many years and provided them with key military bases and military and political support. In 1988 the South African Defence Force and Unita were effectively defeated by the joint forces of the Angolan government, Cuba and the armed wings of the ANC and SWAPO at Cuito Cuanavale. This key battle paved the way for the successful negotiations sponsored by the United Nations, which eventually led to all foreign forces leaving Angola, Namibia’s independence and a few years later South Africa’s first free and fair elections.

South Africa and Angola signed an Agreement on the mutual establishment of Representative Offices on 23 January 1992. An Agreement establishing full diplomatic relations was entered into on 27 May 1994, which led to the upgrading of relations to the level of Embassy. South Africa is represented in Luanda by Ambassador Mr T S Msimanga and 10 diplomats. Angola is represented in South Africa by Ambassador Mr. I F M dos Anjos. Angola has an Embassy in Pretoria with 20 diplomats, a Consulate and Trade Office in Johannesburg with 5 diplomats and a Consulate in Cape Town with 5 diplomats. South Africans require visas to visit Angola.

Agreements Between South Africa And Angola

• Establishment of Representative Offices.
• Establishment of Diplomatic Relations.
• General Agreement on Cooperation in the Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Fields.
• Air Services Agreement
• Establishment of a Joint Bilateral Commission of Co-operation

• Provide members with Angola-related business intelligence
• Help identify opportunities for growth and development
• Be a nodal point for Angola-related links with local and international partners, suppliers and markets
• Assist members by rendering practical services to smooth entry into the Angolan environment
• Maintain and expand a roster of Associates in Angola that could provide members with advice and assistance
• Be a point of contact for Angolan business interests seeking South African partners.

The SA-ACC and its members subscribe to internationally accepted good business norms and values, the maintenance of positive standards of business ethics and the conduct of its affairs in a transparent and accountable manner. The SA-ACC believes in the economic development of the South Africa-Angola partnership through constructive engagement.

• How can South African-Angolan political, economic, travel, tourism, cultural and other ties be increased?
• Would the removal of visas for travel between the two countries not assist in boosting travel and trade between them?
• Would a South African consulate in the main port southern port of Benguela assist in boosting trade levels.
• What specific assistance can the South African government provide Angola in dealing with the effects of many years of war, i.e. in demining operations and the rebuilding of roads and railway lines?
• Both Angola and South Africa are regional military, economic and political powers; how can their political and military relations be strengthened and linked together more closely?
• What specific business opportunities should South African companies actively pursue in Angola?
• How can South Africa assist Angola with its reconstruction, reconciliation, demobilisation, developmental, democratization and electoral programmes and policies?