Johannesburg - Amid growing calls for the government to come clean, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has written an open letter asking what South African assets needed protection in the Central African Republic and if South Africa owned or had sold mineral rights in that country.
His question came as the defence force announced that the 13 South African soldiers killed in the Central African Republic were all members of the SANDF’s 1 Parachute Battalion in Bloemfontein.
They died during an 13-hour firefight on Saturday when 200 SANDF troops clashed with 3 000 rebels advancing on the capital Bangui.
In his letter on Tuesday Holomisa appealed for the parliamentary portfolio committees of defence and international relations and co-operation to hold an urgent joint session to probe why the SANDF had been sent to the CAR.
He noted there had been “conflicting reports” from the Presidency, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation and the Department of Defence and Military Veterans on the reasons.
This echoes a call by DA Chief Whip, Watty Watson, who has asked the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, to set up an ad hoc committee to probe the deployment of troops in the republic.
But the chairman of Parliament’s oversight committee on Defence, Malusi Motimele, said: “I am not sure what it would achieve.
“The president has a constitutional mandate to deploy our forces both internally and externally.”
Meanwhile SANDF Union national secretary Pikkie Greeff said President Jacob Zuma and those who made the decisions on deployment were ultimately responsible for the situation South African soldiers found themselves in.
Greeff said senior officers deployed in the CAR were upset about the lack of support. “We heard our troops not only asked for medical supplies from the French soldiers but also ammunition,” he said.
In his letter Holomisa said: “We first heard that there had been an agreement between our two countries entered into in 2007 for Operations Morero and Vimbesela. The former, we were told, was for a unit of the SANDF special forces to be deployed in the republic to provide VIP protection to President Francois Bozize.
“Operation Vimbesela involved the refurbishment of the military bases and the training of military personnel of that country.
“After this weekend’s tragedy, the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, denied our troops were in the republic to protect President Bozize. She did however admit that they were there to ‘protect South African assets’,” said Holomisa.
He argued that the way to get to the truth was for the presidency and ministers to appear before the relevant portfolio committees.
According to Holomisa, before such a meeting, the relevant departments should provide reasons for:
* Entering into a co-operation agreement with the CAR in 2007;
* The five-year extension of the agreement last year, along with details of which assets the SANDF were to protect as well as any documents conferring mineral rights on South Africa.
* He wanted details on whether SA still owned those mineral rights and, if not, to whom they had been sold and for how much.
* Information should also be given on where the proceeds of these transactions went – the treasury, individuals or political parties.
On Tuesday, Motimele, together with Dan Montsitsi, co-chairman of the joint standing committee on defence, said their committees had been informed by the president about the deployment of troops to the CAR and supported this.
“(We) are hopeful for the safe return of the rest of our troops as soon as their mission is accomplished.”
The Star