The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has asked South Africa to send troops to Somalia, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
The request was made during a visit to Washington by Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa. It will be referred to the Cabinet for a decision.
Dlamini-Zuma discussed the situations in Sudan, the Middle East and Iran with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the last day of her visit on Monday, he said.
The issues had been raised in the United Nations Security Council — on which South Africa recently assumed a non-permanent seat.
Mamoepa said Dlamini-Zuma will hand over the chair of the Group of 77 (G77) and China to the Pakistani foreign minister in New York on Wednesday.
”As a consequence of South Africa’s efforts during the last year, the G77 and China has managed to generate new levels of preparedness, cohesion and solidarity within its ranks,” he said.
Dlamini-Zuma will return home on Thursday, ahead of the funeral of the South African high commissioner to Namibia, Tim Maseko, and celebrations of the African National Congress’s 95th anniversary in Witbank, Mpumalanga. — Sapa