The Iraqization of Africa?
Looking at AFRICOM from a South African Perspective

The South African government has openly expressed its opposition towards the creation of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM).1 What’s more, South Africa presents its position on AFRICOM as representative of the country as a whole, but particularly on behalf of a group of African countries—the Southern African Development Community (SADC)— which holds an aversive stance towards US plans in this regard.2 This does not represent a radical change in South Africa’s ruling African National Congress’s (ANC) general policy stance towards the United States over the last 10 or more years. While this is not the place to dissect South Africa’s policy towards the United States in general, it is important to ask critical questions
about the legitimacy of the South African government’s position—and that of some other African countries—towards AFRICOM. The discussion is an effort to examine some of the considerations that underpin this scepticism about US motives towards Africa.