THE status of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as the emerging trade force in Africa was reinforced last week when Lesotho and Mozambique announced they would be withdrawing from a rival trading bloc and concentrating their efforts on the 12-nation body.
The move came as a shock to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). It immediately appealed to the two states to reconsider, but ruled out any merger of the two organisations.
Lesotho and Mozambique both cited the lack of progress in resolving differences between the two bodies as being one of the main reasons for their departure.
Mozambique officials argued that dual membership has increasingly put pressure on the financial capabilities of member countries and that, with only finite resources, these would be better spent concentrating on one organisation.
There has also been criticism that the activities of the groups have often overlapped and programmes and projects have been duplicated. Nonetheless, SADC sources warned that continuing rivalries between the two organisations would not help the region develop as an attractive investment location.
Other commentators argue that the differences could undermine the effective implementation of SADC's trade protocol, which envisages free trade between the 12 countries within eight years.
In recent months both organisations have attempted to bridge the growing divide, but to little avail. A high-powered ministerial SADC/COMESA task force which was charged with organising a joint summit meeting has still to agree on an agenda.
It is now expected that the eight remaining southern African states will follow the lead of Lesotho and Mozambique, thus strengthening the belief that the organisation is emerging as the real power-horse in the region. Both Botswana and South Africa are members of SADC, but have always remained outside the 23-state Comesa bloc, despite repeated calls to join.
South Africa - the most powerful economy in the region - opted after its first democratic elections in 1994 to join SADC. International donors, in particular the EU have increasingly operated within the SADC framework.
The secretary general of Comesa, Mr Binguwa Mutharika, argued that Comesa's advantage was that it was an African organisation "executed by Africans, for Africans."
Late last week he called on the two countries "in the name of pan-Africanism and African unity, to reconsider their decision".
However, Mr Mutharika was suspended suddenly last weekend because of allegations of financial irregularities.
Reuter reports from Johannesburg Black staff accused whites yesterday of hijacking Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body intended to heal the wounds of South Africa's past.
Senior black officials in the truth commission, some of whom have threatened to resign, complained in writing that they were being undermined, and passed over for crucial policy-making jobs.
"Liberals think they can deal with the poor by doing things for them, but they cannot deal with you as an equal, they can't reason with you," said one staffer, Hlengiwe Mkhize.
The dispute became public as Archbishop Tutu (65), the retired Anglican Primate of Southern Africa, was recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous prostate gland. He was expected to be off work for at least three more weeks.
His white deputy, Mr Alex Boraine, was listed by black officials as among the "clique of liberals" guilty of racism.
Mr Boraine responded yesterday that many of the commission's most powerful posts were held by blacks.
"It would be surprising if there were no tensions in the commission," Mr Boraine said in a statement. It "is a microcosm of South Africa, which itself is experiencing enormous tensions as it recovers from a period of desperate
He said high-level talks would be held on January 30th to clear the air.