SA MP's to visit DRC troops

2005-08-10 13:43

Cape Town - The parliamentary committee on defence intends visiting South African troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), chairperson Kader Asmal said on Wednesday.

Discussing the trip, Asmal said it was very important the committee went to the DRC to see under what conditions South African troops were operating and if they were being adequately prepared and provisioned.

"There have also been very libellous statements made about them and not followed up. We must find out about these from the troops on the ground and see how they feel about them," he said, referring to accusations of sexual misconduct aimed at certain individuals.

This will be the first visit in over two years by a parliamentary oversight committee to the region.

See how troops have adapted

Asmal said it was intended to go last year but the intentions never came to fruition. The committee hoped to travel to the Central African country by early October, pending the weather, Asmal said.

"We also want to establish their state of readiness and how they have adapted to the role of a peace keeping force," he said.

He said the DRC was the most crucial peace keeping arena in Africa and as such it was important that South African troops were correctly prepared and equipped for the role they had to play.

Defence analyst at the Institute for Security Studies, Henri Boshoff, said South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops were playing an increasingly important role under the United Nations peace keeping effort in the DRC.

He said they had adapted well to the peace keeping arena and that much of their work entailed duties which they had performed while helping out the police back home.

"They are also often used in extraction operations," he said.

South Africa has approximately 1 200 troops based in Deni in the North Kivu region.

- SAPA