Troop contributions are in the spirit of Nepad

South African troops are ready to take part in an African Union (AU) operation in Burundi and to assist a UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the ministry of defence told IRIN on Tuesday.

President Thabo Mbeki had said on Monday that he expected an African peacekeeping force made up of troops from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique, to begin deploying in Burundi from next week.

Reuters reported that Mbeki, addressing a gathering of African church leaders in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, said the peacekeeping force was evidence of Africa's commitment to fix its own problems.

Defence ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi told IRIN on Tuesday that South Africa already had about 750 troops deployed in Burundi guarding returned leaders taking part in the peace process.

However, he could not confirm the exact number of troops South Africa was to commit to the Burundi effort. However, previous reports said Ethiopia would contribute 900 troops, Mozambique 200 and South Africa a further 514 to the three-year peacekeeping operation.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops already in Burundi are deployed mostly around Bujumbura in a protection operation critical to the peace process being mediated by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

Meanwhile, Mkhwanazi told IRIN that over 1,000 SANDF troops were assembled in South Africa's central Free State province awaiting their deployment to the DRC.

"We will be going in on the invitation of the United Nations as soon as they are ready to receive us," Mkhwanazi said.

There were already a few specialists deployed in the DRC. "We sent liaison officers and observers, military police, search and rescue people and communications specialists," Mkhwanazi said.

He added that it was important for South Africa to contribute troops to peacekeeping operations as "we cannot be a prosperous country in a sea of poverty [amid] neighbours who are troubled by instability and conflict".

Mkhwanazi said: "It is in South Africa's interests that we have peace and stability in the whole of the SADC [Southern African Development Community] region and the African continent. In the spirit of Nepad [New Partnership for Africa's Development] we need to be seen to be leading in solving our own problems."

With regard to recent reports that the SANDF may be over stretched by its troop commitments, he said: "The minister of defence is on record as having said that the SANDF is willing and able to fulfil all its commitments. As you know we have sent people to the Comoros to assist the democratic process there, we have observers and liaison officers in Eritrea and Ethiopia, we were able to deploy our first contingents in Burundi in a very short space of time.

"If we are asked [for further troop contributions] either by SADC or the AU, we will be able to fulfil our constitutional obligations," he added.