CAR rebels want to mend fences with SA

THE rebel-led government of the Central African Republic will meet President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria soon in an attempt to mend relations after the killing of 13 South African soldiers in Bangui last month.

The Sunday Times has learnt that the delegation of the interim government will be led by Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye, but the date of the visit could not be confirmed.

Zuma is preparing for the follow-up summit on the CAR crisis in Congo Brazzaville this week.

Tiangaye's visit will give Pretoria a chance to impress on the interim government the need to respect the Libreville Agreement of January 2013, which called for a government that includes all the warring forces.

The recent coup, which sent former president François Bozizé into exile, was partly caused by a dispute between him and the rebels about the implementation of the agreement.

Zuma's spokesman, Mac Maharaj, could not confirm the visit. He said that Zuma would attend the summit on Thursday, which will discuss the CAR's funding requirements. It will be hosted by the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas).

"The summit will look into the funding requirements of the CAR and reconstruction ... [and] assistance with capacity-building," he said.

He also expected the issue of the 2000 Central Africa Multinational Force, which South Africa has been asked to be part of, to be discussed.

Zuma has said that the government is still considering a request by Central African countries to contribute soldiers to the envisaged peacekeeping force. The understanding is that South Africa will accede to the request, but is awaiting a formal petition from Eccas or the CAR.

The number of South African National Defence Force soldiers and type of military contribution by Pretoria will be decided once Eccas and the African Union finalise the list of required equipment and skills.

SANDF spokesman Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga said that it had not yet received instructions to return to the CAR, but were ready for any eventuality. "Should it come through, the SANDF is ready to carry out any task that may be allocated by the government of the republic," he said.

Mabanga said that all South African military personnel and equipment had been cleared from the country. If a request came for the redeployment of soldiers to the CAR, the army would determine how to go about it.

"It depends on a lot of factors ... When would we be required to be there and what is the size of the force that would be sent there? The request doesn't come to us. What comes to us is an instruction that stipulates the size of the force and the time when that force will have to be deployed."

Asked whether the SANDF would be taking extra precautionary measures if the army were instructed to move troops back to the CAR, Mabanga said that it would prepare itself for any likely situations. "We always plan for any eventuality, but surprises will always remain surprises. When we plan, we always consider any reactions and any surpri-ses and we always take those into consideration and develop contingency plans. In the first instance, it's that if our people come under attack, they will be able to defend themselves."