Shaun Benton
18 February 2008
Peacekeeping operations by South African soldiers, both on the African continent and further afield, are to become a key element of South Africa's foreign policy going forward, says Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota.
Addressing a media briefing in Cape Town last week, Lekota said it was clear that peacekeeping was more than merely a "passing engagement" for South Africa, and that a White Paper on peacekeeping missions was being reviewed, seven years after the country's first foray into such operations.
He explained that the country could have not foreseen the extent of its involvement in peacekeeping operations on the continent. Such missions had become part of South Africa's regular engagements, and the country's defence budget would no longer be able to regard the costs involved in such operations as incidental.
Multilateral efforts
At the same time, Lekota said that South Africa would need to be seen to
be part of multilateral efforts, especially through operating within the parameters of the South African Development Community (SADC).
Following the successful launch of the SADC rapid reaction brigade in Lusaka, Zambia last year, there was a need to speed up the establishment of the African Standby Force as an additional force for peace and stability on the continent, Lekota said.
South Africa is currently focused on bringing peace to Western Sahara, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
South Africa also has a strong interest in reconstruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo, given that the country has poured considerable resources into a peaceful outcome to the conflict that wracked the country.
Lekota said it would be likely that peacekeeping operations would be pushed up the agenda when South Africa assumed the chair of the SADC in August this year.
He also pointed out that South Africa would assume the presidency of the powerful United Nations Security Council in April, just over a year since its election to the council as a non-permanent member.
In this position, South Africa would continue to seek and promote closer cooperation between the African Union's Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council, Lekota said.
Source: BuaNews
