GCIS/ Sapa
President Jacob Zuma is seen at the Union Buildings in Pretoria during the annual Freedom Day commemoration. Photo:GCIS/ Sapa
Durban – South Africa was planning to open an embassy in Central African Republic (CAR) where it was also considering sending back troops to participate in a regional peacekeeping force.
CAR Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye said that President Jacob Zuma had told him at their meeting in Pretoria on Sunday about his plans to establish an embassy in the capital, Bangui.
Thirteen South African paratroopers were killed in a battle with Seleka rebels in Bangui last month, but South Africa now recognises the Seleka-led transitional government as it has submitted to regional plans to pave the way to elections.
Foreign diplomats were puzzled that South Africa had no embassy there despite having had troops stationed there since 2007, and believed this had prevented the government from understanding important developments in the CAR.
Zuma withdrew the troops soon after the parabats were killed, but he said last week that the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas) had asked him to send troops back to the CAR as part of its proposed peacekeeping force to restore order to the country, which has been destabilised by the ousting of president Francois Bozize.
Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, said Zuma would consider the request “sympathetically” if submitted formally.
Tiangaye said he and Zuma had not discussed this, but he added that it was up to Eccas, not his government, to ask South Africa for troops.
He also reiterated that he thought it would be “premature” for South African troops to return to the CAR. Tiangaye also expressed condolences for the deaths of 13 South African soldiers on March 23.
“The message I brought is a message of calm and peace. We would like to take that unfortunate incident as a page of history that we will now turn to open a new one,” he said through a translator.
Tiangaye, a leading human rights lawyer and political opponent of Bozize, was appointed as prime minister as part of broad-based transitional government.
He met Zuma on Sunday at the head of a government delegation, saying the purpose of the meeting was to put relations between the two countries on a proper state-to-state level as they had become too personalised under Bozize.
“It was not the fault of President Zuma or the government of South Africa. It was because President Bozize was hiding the nature of the relationship between the two countries,” Tiangaye said.
He said the meeting had succeeded: “We are convinced we have now entered a new chapter and that the relationship will be more transparent to both countries.”
Zuma said he was happy with the message Tiangaye had brought from his government and that South Africa now recognised the CAR transitional government.
The Mercury
