President Jacob Zuma did not comply with the people's right to know in respect of the CAR

President Jacob Zuma did not comply with his constitutional obligations when deploying the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The President's spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, is in full damage control-mode claiming that allegations, concerning the constitutionality of the deployment, are "inaccurate".

These are the facts.

The president submitted two letters, concerning the deployment, to Parliament.  

The first letter was written to inform Parliament about the deployment; the second letter was written to "clarify" the expected cost of the deployment.

Both letters, submitted to Parliament, for some reason, were dated 07 January 2013.

1. The reason for the deployment

In the first letter, the president informed Parliament that the reason for the deployment was to: "assist with capacity building of the CAR Defence Force and will also assist that country with planning and implementation of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Re-integration process."

The President did not "clarify" the reasons for the deployment in the second letter. 

However, there is a passing mention in the letter to a "protection element".

2. The cost of the deployment

In the first letter, the President also informed Parliament that "the expenditure expected to be incurred for this employment is R65 055 000-00 (Sixty five million and fifty five thousand)." 

However, the President clarified the expected cost of the deployment in the second letter as follows: 

"I therefore wish to clarify that the stated estimated costs of Sixty Five Million and Fifty five Thousand Rand (R65 055 000-00) is for the period 03 January 2013 and 31 March 2013, part of which is from the current defence vote. No provision has been made yet for the financial year 2013/14 for this employment. However, the Department of Defence estimates that approximately Twenty One Million Rand (R21 000 000, 00) per month would be required."

The expected cost of the deployment, over five years, assuming the same force level, was therefore expected to be, not R65m, but a massive R1.2 bn.

The President clarified the cost of the deployment. However, he never clarified the reason for the deployment.

The official reason for the deployment therefore remains: assistance with capacity building, disbarment, demobilization and re-integration of the CAR defence force.

This we now know, was simply not true. 

At the Memorial Service, on 02 April 2013, the President, himself, stated that "These additional soldiers were not trainers. They were not deployed to train but as a protection force for the trainers." 

In the end, therefore the President did mislead Parliament about the reasons for the deployment of the SANDF in the CAR.

Statement issued by David Maynier MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, April 5 2013

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