DA to table motion to force Zuma to withdraw troops from CAR
Note to Editors: This is a statement released at a press conference today by DA Leader Helen Zille, DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko and DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans David Maynier.
The death of 13 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in the Central African Republic (CAR) is a great loss for South Africa. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones during this extremely difficult time.
What makes this tragedy so difficult to accept is the mounting evidence that there was no valid reason to deploy the South African National Defence Force to the Central African Republic in the first place. Furthermore, it appears that the reasons given by President Jacob Zuma's spokesperson, Mr Mac Maharaj in January that the soldiers would "assist with the capacity building of the CAR defence force and would assist CAR with the planning and implementation of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration processes", may not have been consistent with the facts.
Latest reports are that South African troops were involved in direct combat with both the Seleka Rebels, including young children, as well as Bozize's own mutinous soldiers. The conclusion is inescapable that the South African troops were deployed to defend the faltering and dictatorial Bozize regime.
What makes this intervention even more disturbing is that the deployment was reportedly undertaken against expert military advice, allegedly to protect the business interests of a politically connected elite, both in South Africa and in the Central African Republic. If this is so, President Zuma's position both as President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the armed forces, becomes untenable. The nation must know the truth.