Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The United Nations has asked South Africa to send more troops to Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George said yesterday.

These were expected to form part of a joint UN-Africa peacekeeping force.

He did not reveal the size of the contribution South Africa was expected to make towards what would become the biggest UN-controlled peacekeeping operation in the world.

But Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad revealed later it would be “substantial”.

“Obviously South Africa has to make a major contribution to what is going to be a (mostly) African force in Sudan. By its very nature it would not only include personnel but we are one of the few armies that have logistical and other back-up and, obviously, we’ll have to supply that as well,” Pahad said.

Defence spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said yesterday the UN request was being studied by the defence force chiefs who would then report back to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

“From there it will be taken to President Thabo Mbeki and the cabinet,” Mkhwanazi said.

However, earlier this year, Lekota warned parliament that peacekeeping efforts had already stretched the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to the limit.

In March, the National Assembly’s defence committee’s chairperson, Thandi Tobias, also lambasted the finance minister for expecting the SANDF to carry out is regional duties on the allocated budget.

“I wish that the honourable minister of finance was here today to hear what the committee was going to say when it pleads with him to augment the budget in the near future.”

She said the R25.9 billion – expected to grow to R28.6 bn over the medium-term expenditure framework – was not adequate for the SANDF to fulfil its peacekeeping and disaster management mandate.