Liberia: SA awaits orders
2003-08-14 20:06
Pretoria - South Africa would only give its final response to a request by the United Nations for peacekeeping troops to be sent to Liberia once the multilateral body had determined its requirements, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Thursday.
The UN Security Council was busy working out these details before passing a resolution in this regard, she told reporters in Pretoria.
"We'll know within the next week or so," the minister said.
"Once they've clarified that we will be in a position to say what we can supply."
After receiving the request from the UN, South Africa had said it was not in principle opposed to participating to such a mission, Dlamini-Zuma said.
"It depends on what they need and what we are able to supply... because we are already involved in a number of peacekeeping missions."
These included missions in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A few weeks ago, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota was reported as saying South Africa would not be able to send troops to Liberia due to its commitments in Burundi and the DRC.
'No peace to keep'
Asked about this on Thursday, Dlamini-Zuma said: "Let's wait for the request and see what we can do about it. The UN realises that we are stretched."
On Monday, President Thabo Mbeki attended a ceremony in the Liberian capital Monrovia where then president Charles Taylor handed over power to his former deputy, Moses Blah.
This move was aimed at ending a civil war of 14 years.
The Democratic Alliance cautioned the government to consider factors like cost and military capacity before promising troops for Liberia.
The safety of South African troops must be taken into account, said DA defence spokesperson Roy Jankielsohn in a statement.
"As yet, there is no peace in Liberia... South African troops could well find themselves in a situation in which casualties have to be evacuated," he said.
"We should not send a peacekeeping mission to Liberia if there is no peace to keep."
A mission to Liberia could turn into a long-term deployment due to the country's complicated political situation, Jankielsohn said.
Cost
A deployment of South African troops to Liberia, in addition to those in the DRC and Burundi, would be very costly. The contributions of the African Union, the UN and the international donor community did not nearly cover the present costs, he said.
On Tuesday, it emerged that South Africa was short of 4 000 troops for current deployment levels.
"The fact is that the SA National Defence Force is already overextended with its current deployments. We cannot afford to commit further troops to foreign peacekeeping missions without seriously diminishing our domestic capacity, both in terms of border deployments and police support duties."
South Africa needed to know exactly what it was getting into, what needed to be accomplished and by what time, according to Jankielsohn.
"The DA does not want South Africa to be a mere spectator to events on the African continent. We have an important leadership role to play in promoting democracy and human rights.
"However, we are also aware of the unrealistic expectations of South Africa's potential role, and gravely concerned that the deployment of troops is being considered with apparent disregard for the policy provisions..."
- SAPA