Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

SOUTH Africa’s abilities in bringing peace to the continent and energising other African nations to join forces to end wars have been given the thumbs-up.

Thousands of South African troops are currently deployed at hotspots across Africa, with the majority battling it out in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring the final rebel groups to the peace table.

From conducting peacekeeping and enforcement missions as part of UN and African Union (AU) operations to mediating to help prevent war, South Africa and its soldiers are making their mark.

Mdu Khumalo, a researcher at the African Institute of South Africa’s peace and security division, said South Africa had shown in more ways than one that it was capable of bringing peace to Africa.

“Be it through mediation or actual peacekeeping missions, South Africa is more than able,” Khumalo said.

He said the country’s peacekeeping talent was born out of its operations and peace-brokering skills in Burundi.

“The success of ending war in that country led to the success of our other peacekeeping attempts elsewhere in Africa.

“South Africa and its ability and willingness to end conflict in Africa has been the spearhead for other African nations to stand up and take a joint responsibility in ending wars and conflicts,” he said.

Khumalo said South Africa had laid the foundation for Africa to become more involved in its own peacekeeping missions instead of relying solely on the UN.

He said South Africa’s commitment to peacekeeping and “putting its money where its mouth is” when it came to conflict resolution, had seen Africa’s nations increasingly auditing themselves for greater financial muscle to be put towards peacekeeping.

“South Africa’s commitment has seen other African countries taking an increased responsibility for keeping the peace instead of relying on ‘outside’ support to resolve Africa’s conflicts.

“The implication is that Africa is now showing the world that it can be a world player when it comes to peacekeeping.”

He said because of the great costs of peacekeeping, which could cripple the continent, Africa was being forced to take prompt, effective decisions which had a great impact in bringing about peace.

Khumalo cited the way the recent Madagascar and Equatorial Guinea coups were dealt with as examples of quick and effective decisions.

Defence analyst Helmoed Heitman said overall South Africa had made a success at peacekeeping, with it often being the first African country to commit “boots on the ground” when it came to resolving conflicts.

He said what was impressive about South Africa’s peacekeeping abilities was how the country’s defence force achieved its goals with few resources and on a shoestring budget.

“Within 10 days of being requested to help with peacekeeping in Burundi the SANDF had troops deployed on the ground.

“This was done without having the permanent standby force of many bigger armies,” he said, adding that the SANDF’s peacekeeping capabilities were respected around the world.

Heitman said an example of the respect South Africa had garnered was in 2006 when a South African infantry commander walked his forces into a battle zone in eastern DRC after he was refused both airlift and close air support. “Not only did he march his forces in but he also marched them out after peace was successfully restored in his area of responsibility.”

Heitman said while there had been problems such as with discipline, they were not unique to South Africa and happened to armies across the world.

“Overall everything points to us doing an excellent job and it is obvious that our guys are more than capable of bringing peace to Africa.”