South African forces to remain despite funding shortfalls

South African troops participating in the African peacekeeping mission will stay in Burundi despite funding shortfalls, the South African National Defence Force chief, Gen Siphiwe Nyanda, told IRIN on Wednesday at the end of a four-day inspection.

"We are aware of the difficulties the peacekeepers are faced with, but we do not have an alternative, we will continue to do our job until all combatants come to the cantonment areas, he said in Bujumbura, the Burundi capital.

He added, "We are here to protect them in the cantonment areas, disarm them, demobilise them by sending them back to their homes and helping them to integrate into new security forces."

Of a 3,099-strong peacekeeping force that was supposed to have been deployed in Burundi since June 2003, only 1,600 South Africans have arrived. Although Mozambique agreed to provide 202 troops and Ethiopia 1,297 troops, their deployment has been delayed due to a lack of money. However, Nyanda said he expected they would be arriving "in the coming days".

The EU recently granted €174 million to the government of Burundi, some €57 million of which was earmarked to support the African Mission in Burundi, also known as AMIB.

Nyanda said he would like to the peace process to move faster, and called on all belligerents to implement the ceasefire agreements they had signed. "Perhaps we are unhappy with the pace of how things are moving, but there is no doubt that things are moving," he said.