It is not a well-known fact that just before the second round of elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations moved hundreds of peacekeepers from positions all over the country into the capital, Kinshasa.
These soldiers were to become the stick of the UN’s carrot-and-stick plan, and were issued with armoured vehicles and heavy machine guns.
There were fears that tensions between the two candidates, President Joseph Kabila and his main opponent Jean-Pierre Bemba, would again boil over into the streets as they did in August. The ”stick” troops were there to prevent this.
The force chosen for this mission was the South African contingent.
”We might not have the cleanest boots, or [be] as disciplined as some others, but when the jobs need to be done, were are it, we get the job done,” Brigadier General John Church, South African National Defence Force director of peacekeeping operations, told a group of high-ranking officers visiting South African troops deployed outside the country’s borders.
Coming from Church, this was a no-nonsense assessment. He was awarded an Honoris Crux for his work in the Bush War, became a hero in the new defence force by helping with the South African rescue flights during the Mozambican floods and is still the South African Air Force helicopter pilot with the most flight hours.
The elections and subsequent inauguration of Kabila as democratically elected president went off without too much trouble.
But just to be sure, South African troops, in blue UN helmets, are still perched atop Casspirs with machines guns at the ready at the Independent Electoral Commission and other strategic places.
The job is not done in the DRC. Jean Marie Guéhenno, UN head of peacekeeping operations, said recently he hoped the UN peacekeepers would stay at least another three years.
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said while it is known that some European countries want to withdraw their soldiers from the 18 500-strong UN peacekeeping force, South Africa is there to stay. The country has about 1 400 troops deployed in the DRC as part of the UN Force.
Across the border in Burundi there are 850 South African troops, and while the Pakistani and Nepalese and other UN troops could be seen packing up, Lekota told South African troops this week they will be staying.
”We were the first here, we will be the last out,” he told the troops, who are soon to trade in their blue UN berets as the UN withdraws from the country that has been peaceful in the years running up to and after its election in 2005.
In 2001 South Africa became the first country to deploy troops to the then-highly unstable Burundi. The UN followed only two years later, when the country was more secure.
”We went in alone and the learning curve was high,” said Church, adding that: ”We had to learn to work with other forces, respect each other and respect the local population.”
After December South Africa will again be alone, the major task being to protect the returning members of the last rebel movement, Palipehutu-FNL, who signed the peace agreement only months ago.
While they have their guns and arms ready should they be needed, they have also made other plans to help the integration of former rebels into the society.
Contingent chaplain Ndoda Mbuyisa, based in Bujumbura, has been collecting clothes and toys from soldiers to give something for the returning rebels to come home to.
This is besides another project that he has running, where South African soldiers voluntary donate some of their deployment pay to buy women and children back from hospitals.
”In Burundi you can only be released from hospital once you’ve paid your bill. With the donation from the members, we have paid for women and young children to be released from hospital,” Mbuyisa said.
This is not the only place where the South African have used the ”carrot” part of their deployment to bring about change — in Kinshasa, the South Africans who are deployed as part of a bilateral agreement to train integrated Congolese troops have adopted one of the local schools.
South African Navy Captain Sonica van Rooyen said the Kabalo Institute, which has 300 children, has no roofs and no floors, no stationery and not a single black board.
Once again, due to donations from soldiers, every single child received a pencil case with pens, rulers and other writing equipment and, due to their efforts, local businessmen sponsored a roof while paint was sponsored by South African businessmen.
While things are relatively stable in the DRC and Burundi, South Africans and the African peacekeeping operation in Sudan’s embattled Darfur region are facing an uphill battle.
”Things are definitely escalating … the question is, when and where will it peak and how bad will it be,” writes Captain Werner Klokow.
He is a military observer in El Fasher and said in the past week tensions were taken to a new level.
”Tonight an Amis (peacekeeping contingent) vehicle was hijacked close to our house and the night has seen a moderate volume of gunfire. It has prompted us to rehearse our emergency plan and we are constantly observing,” he wrote last Sunday.
Church said South Africa is planning to increase its troop strength in Sudan dramatically in the next rotation. The troops have already been sent Mamba vehicles to replace their soft-skin vehicles.
Peacekeeping is costing the country about R800-million a year, some of which is repaid by either the UN or the African Union.
Lekota argues that it is money well-spent because ”South Africa would never be stable unless Africa is stable”.
He said the refugees and illegal foreigners will keep coming to South Africa as long as there is war in their countries.
Thus, as South Africa is downscaling its presence in countries such as Burundi, it is sending more troops to countries such as Sudan.
Other conflict areas, such as the Central African Republic, are also appearing on the radar.
”We can probably deploy anywhere in Africa. It is becoming easier for our troops because most of them have been deployed before and thus training is becoming easier; the only question is numbers,” Church said.
South Africa is one of the top ten troop-contributing countries to United Nations peacekeeping operations. This is beside short missions, such the one in the Comores to secure that country’s election.
And this from a country that is only supposed to be ready for peacekeeping operations in 2008. — Sapa