South Africa to Withdraw Troops From the CAR

South African National Defense Forces troops stationed in the Central African Republic. The soldiers reportedly fired on the Seleka rebels as they moved towards the capital of Bangui., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

April 4, 2013

South Africa to Withdraw Its Troops From Central African Republic

By LYDIA POLGREEN and SCOTT SAYARE
New York Times

JOHANNESBURG — However the chaotic situation in the Central African Republic plays out, it will do so without the South African troops who have been deployed there since 2007. After the troops suffered one of their deadliest days since the end of apartheid in 1994, President Jacob Zuma is bringing them home.

At least 13 South Africans were killed and more than two dozen were wounded on March 24 when the soldiers, who were stationed in Bangui, the republic’s capital, got caught in a firefight with hundreds of fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition as the rebels swept into the city and overthrew President François Bozizé.

Mr. Zuma announced the troop withdrawal on Wednesday at a meeting of African leaders in Ndjamena, Chad, to discuss the situation in the Central African Republic.

The assembled leaders refused to recognize the fledgling government of the rebel leader Michel Djotodia or to accept Mr. Djotodia as the legitimate head of state; they called instead for the creation of a transitional governing council.

Mr. Djotodia responded on Thursday by dissolving his government and trying to form such a council, according to Vianney Mboé, a lawyer who is involved in negotiations between African officials and Mr. Djotodia.

The proposed council, whose members would be selected based on criteria that have yet to be specified, would write a new constitution and elect an interim president. Mr. Djotodia will presumably be a candidate for that post, Mr. Mboé said.

In accordance with the demands of the African heads of state meeting in Chad, the legislative and presidential elections that Mr. Djotodia had said would be held in three years will now be moved up by a year, Mr. Mboé added.

The decisions made at the summit meeting in Chad “have been totally accepted by Mr. Djotodia,” Mr. Mboé said, adding that Mr. Djotodia’s decision to declare himself president had been “a bit hasty.”

The republic has had a long history of coups and dictatorships. Mr. Bozizé came to power in a military coup in 2003; the rebels drove him from power last month because they said he had not lived up to a peace agreement he had signed with them. He was reported to have fled to Cameroon.

The foreign minister of Benin said on Thursday that Mr. Bozizé would be welcome in Benin if he made a formal request for asylum.

The 400 South African troops in the Central African Republic were sent there originally as part of an agreement to beef up the republic’s military abilities. But many South Africans questioned the motive for the deployment.

The Mail and Guardian, an investigative weekly newspaper, published an article last week that questioned business deals between the African National Congress, the governing party in South Africa, and the Central African Republic; the government has defended its actions.

The deployment was the subject of a heated discussion in Parliament on Thursday, with the South African defense minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, struggling to explain precisely what the troops were doing in Bangui.

In sharp exchanges, Ms. Mapisa-Nqakula said the South African troops had no idea what kind of heavy weapons the Seleka rebel coalition had.

“We’ve never heard of rebels with mortars and heavy weaponry,” she said.

Asked whether the South African soldiers had killed children who were fighting on the rebel side, she replied that the troops had little choice.