Johannesburg - A range of political parties and the ANC’s alliance partner, Cosatu, have asked hard questions about South Africa’s military involvement in the Central African Republic (CAR) in the wake of the news that 13 SA National Defence Force soldiers were killed and 27 were wounded in clashes with the Seleka rebels who have seized the capital Bangui.
Some have called for the remaining troops to be brought home as soon as possible – a move that President Jacob Zuma ruled out on Monday.
Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven was among those who wanted the soldiers to come home. Craven also demanded a probe into the role played by the SANDF, saying great care needed to be taken to keep the troops from being “inadvertently sucked into internal civil wars or factional battles”.
The DA demanded an investigation, calling on the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, to appoint an ad hoc committee of MPs to conduct an inquiry into the “military assistance operation”.
MP David Maynier, the party’s spokesman on defence, said such a multiparty committee would need to probe:
* Why the troops had been deployed in terms of a memorandum of understanding between South Africa and the CAR rather than a mandate from the UN or AU.
* Why the soldiers were deployed in what “amounted to a civil war”.
* Whether Zuma had authorised the deployment against the advice of Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Military Command, who earlier this year reportedly recommended that the 28 soldiers initially deployed in the CAR be withdrawn.
Maynier said South Africa’s determination to pursue a government of national unity option at all costs in situations where countries were racked by internal strife had led to South Africa miscalculating in the volatile CAR. He also questioned whether the SANDF had the capacity to support and sustain military operations such as the one undertaken in the CAR.
However, Zuma, in his address at the Brics summit in Durban on Monday, justified the deployment of troops to the CAR, saying this was part of efforts to contribute towards peace and stability in the region.
He said the dead soldiers had “paid the ultimate price in the service of their country and Africa”.
Zuma said troops had been deployed to the CAR in terms of a military co-operation agreement struck in 2007. The agreement called for South Africa to provide the army with military training, logistics and driving courses, and refurbished military infrastructure in Bouar and Bangui.
Several political parties were unconvinced.
Bantu Holomisa, the former general who leads the United Democratic Movement, said Zuma owed the country an explanation and that the disaster had “compromised South Africa’s foreign policy big time”.
Holomisa said that despite increasing tension between CAR leader François Bozize, who has fled to Cameroon, and the Saleka rebel group as early as December, and calls for the SANDF to be brought back home, Zuma had deployed more soldiers to protect Bozize.
“The question is why were soldiers hastily sent there and retained when it was clear that the situation in that country was getting out of hand… were these soldiers going there to protect our assets or possibly the fall of government there?
“I don’t think we had any business to be there in the first place. The interesting question is why our soldiers didn’t go there under the auspices of the UN… why did we go there through a bilateral agreement?” Holomisa asked.
The African Christian Democratic Party commended the courage of the SANDF troops but expressed concern that the military did not have the “airlift capacity to quickly extract troops when required”.
ACDP MP Steve Swart said reports that the SANDF had asked the French army for support to evacuate its soldiers illustrated this lack of capacity. “The ACDP is on record as requesting a larger budget for the SANDF, given the role it is expected to play in peacekeeping and other missions in Africa. This issue requires urgent attention,” he said.
Freedom Front Plus defence spokesman Pieter Groenewald said the government should take full responsibility for the deaths of the 13 soldiers, warning that the tragedy could be repeated if the government did not intervene and adjust the country’s defence budget.
“The situation, due to a shortage of logistical and air support which has now been revealed, is so desperate that we believe all soldiers should be removed from the area immediately to prevent further loss of life. Military experts have for a long time been warning that the defence force cannot properly undertake peace operations without this type of support,” he said.
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party was “saddened” by the deaths, calling the soldiers “true sons of the continent”.
Political Bureau