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Mozambique's International
Relations with South Africa
Dossier MZ-0007, part 17
17. Full Diplomatic Relations Established,
but South Africa Still Helped RENAMO in 1993
Above: In December 1993, even before South Africa’s first democratic elections, Mozambique officially opened an embassy in Pretoria for the first time, after it was decided to establish full diplomatic relations in September.
In a major step towards normalizing relations, Mozambique and South Africa agreed to establish full diplomatic relations and to open embassies in each country. At the same time, although the move was apparently unconnected, the South African military announced that the controversial "Recce" battalions, which had been involved in several scandals, had been disbanded as a cost-cutting measure.
In March, Marcelino dos Santos reiterated the complaint that the South African regime was continuing to support RENAMO, and called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions. He also appealed for help in repatriating an estimated 1.3 million Mozambican refugees and displaced persons.
Cross-border gun-running remained a serious threat to local stability. In one case, three men, Mozambican nationals, were arrested in possession of SAM-7 ground-to-air missiles. The two governments agreed to take joint action to clamp down not only on arms smuggling but also on organised car theft networks and "chop shops."
MHN Resources
Consolidated Downloadable Zipped Files
Click on the yellow folder image below to download a zipped file of the seventeenth of a series of dossiers on South Africa-Mozambique relations. The archive covers the year 1993, and contains 34 documents. New items will be added from time to time: this edition of the dossier is dated 23 October 2021.
