Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), describing the country's troop deployments abroad as "over-ambitious," charged Monday that South Africa has exceeded its capacity for peace support operations in Africa.

Speaking after a parliamentary committee visit to DR Congo and Burundi, DA spokesperson Roy Jankielsohn said it is clear the lack of financial support from the UN and other donors was affecting the ability of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to fulfil its mandate.

Jankielsohn also charged that the troops were deployed without the necessary planning, regarding budget and exit criteria.

"Political indications on the ground are that the SANDF deployments are not going to end soon. Furthermore, logistical support to troops on the ground is far from adequate," he said.

Jankielsohn said SANDF was unable to deal with some of its problems due to the lack of funds. He cited inadequate medical facilities in Bujumbura for the 1,512 troops currently deployed there.

He also complained about a shortage of medical supplies, especially medicines and delays in procurement and transportation of equipment.

"The SANDF presence in these countries is undoubtedly appreciated and the troops have taken well to their new roles showing both their resilience and adaptability," the DA spokesperson acknowledge.

"However, the South African government has committed troops in peace support operations abroad without the capacity to sustain them," Jankielsohn added.

He said with serious logistical problems of ageing equipment and vehicles, as well as a limited number of deployable troops SANDF will require large amounts of funding to maintain these deployments over an extended period.

According to Jankielsohn, current deployments in 2003 are expected to cost about 1 billion rand (145 million US dollars) and a further 2,3 billion rand (233 million dollars) in the next three years.