AFRICA: South Africa recommits to peacekeeping

Photo: UN/IRIN

SANDF peacekeepers in Burundi.

JOHANNESBURG, 10 July 2009 (IRIN) - South Africa has renewed its commitment to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions, announcing the continued deployment of troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Uganda and Nepal.

"These are all ongoing missions" in fulfilment of international obligations, Henri Boshoff, military analyst at the Institute for Security Studies, a South Africa-based think-tank, told IRIN.

Despite being hard pressed to maintain adequate troop strength, training and equipment, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would continue to assist integration, training and capacity building efforts in the DRC Defence Force, and some 1,140 troops would continue to be deployed to MONUC, the UN mission to the DRC.

Some 850 troops would continue supporting the UN/AU operation in Sudan, a small group would be deployed to the AU Observer Mission in Uganda, and a single observer would participate in a UN mission in Nepal.

What is to happen to the 1,100 SANDF soldiers about to be pulled out of Burundi remains unclear. "There is a lot of pressure to move them to the DRC," Boshoff said.

tdm/he