DA wants parliament to probe death of SA soldiers in Central African Republic

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The Democratic Alliance says some tough questions need to be asked about South Africa's role in supporting the fallen regime of Central African Republic president, Francois Bozize.

DA MP, David Maynier, has called for a full parliamentary inquiry following new reports that suggest that the 200 South African troops were left dangling in the face a massive rebel onslaught on the capital Bangue this weekend.

Thirteen SANDF soldiers were killed and more than two dozen injured in a protracted battle on Saturday, before rebel forces took over the capital and Bozize fleeing to Cameroon.

Maynier says the government had been warned about the precarious situation in the Central African Republic adding that there was only one doctor supporting the SA soldiers and that they had to appeal to French troops for equipment.

"We need to get to the bottom of why the SANDF was deployed in the CAR effectively to support President Francois Bozize," Maynier said.

He says the DA wants the speaker of parliament to establish a multi-party ad-hoc committee to investigate South Africa's role in the Central African Republic and specifically the deaths of the 13 soldiers.

Maynier says the committee should also look at the following:

"Whether President Jacob Zuma authorized the deployment of the SANDF against the advice of the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and the Military Command who reportedly recommended, earlier this year, that the 28 soldiers originally deployed in the CAR should be withdrawn;

"whether the president was warned by senior military officers about the precarious situation in the CAR before taking the decision to deploy more soldiers;

"whether the President effectively misled Parliament when he informed members of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence that the SANDF was being deployed in the CAR to assist with "capacity building of the CAR defence force" and to assist with the "implementation of the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration process";

"the role of the Department of International Relations and Development which appears to have been frozen out of decision-making on the deployment of the SANDF to the CAR;

"why the SANDF was deployed, in terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and the CAR, rather than a mandate from the United Nations or the African Union;

"why the defence force was deployed, in the middle of what amounted to a civil war, with so little military support: there were no helicopter gunships to provide air support to SANDF soldiers or transport aircraft to evacuate SANDF soldiers from the CAR; and

"the exact circumstances under which 13 members of the SANDF were killed in the CAR."

Maynier said "in the end, President Jacob Zuma's decision to deploy the SANDF in the CAR, effectively to support President Francois Bozize, has been a complete disaster."