SOUTH AFRICA: Pretoria mulling DRC troop contribution

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SOUTH AFRICA: Pretoria mulling DRC troop contribution

JOHANNESBURG, 21 August (IRIN) - South Africa has been asked to send a battalion of peacekeeping troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Ministry of Defence spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi told IRIN on Wednesday that a request for a troop contribution to the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) had been received. However, he said: "We are still making some arrangements and as soon as all the preparations, including the legal modalities, have been completed we'll be able to make an announcement."

He confirmed that South Africa had been requested to provide a reinforced battalion of 1,500 soldiers that would form part of a brigade responsible for maintaining peace in a bloc of southeastern DRC.

The area the South African troops would control includes Bunia, where about 85 people were killed in recent massacres. South Africa has already contributed 149 defence personnel to MONUC, largely in support roles.

Jakkie Cilliers of South Africa's Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) had been preparing for an expanded peacekeeping role.

"After the 30 July agreement was signed, South African President Thabo Mbeki instructed the department of defence to begin preparing [for peacekeeping in the DRC]. There was a follow-on mission to [UN headquarters in] New York where South Africa sat down with the UNDPKO [UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations] to discuss force requirements," he said.

As to whether or not the SANDF had the capacity to conduct such a mission, Cilliers said: "I think it would be our analysis that with the ongoing deployment in Burundi the SANDF would be quite stretched. There are issues regarding the sustainability of both the Burundi and DRC missions."

The SANDF had problems in terms of "our troops not being combat ready, insufficient funding and the age profile [of soldiers]", Cilliers noted. Ideally, for such a mission, one wanted soldiers between 20 and 25 years of age, not 30, as was the case with South Africa's ageing army.

Despite this, the commitment of a battalion to MONUC would be a positive development as it would refocus attention on the SANDF's primary roles, instead of "navel-gazing".

The plan was to have one battalion deployed with two in reserve to rotate every four months. Due to the nature of the typography in southeastern DRC, air support would be a major focus of the mission, hence provision was being made for transport aircraft such as the Hercules C-130 and Rooivalk helicopter gunships.

Peacekeeping in the DRC would be a challenge. "Not only is it a rough neighbourhood because of the 'negative' armed elements, but a tough neighbourhood in terms of environment, it's dense jungle, with diseases such as malaria," Cilliers warned.

[ENDS]

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