BuaNews (Tshwane)
Nelisiwe Masina
8 November 2001
Pretoria — The South African Defence Force (SANDF) says the 700 troops deployed in Burundi are 'safe and sound' amid the renewed violence in Bujumbura over the weekend.
Hardly a week after inauguration of a multiparty transitional government, the Burundian army has killed at least 162 Hutu during offensives in the east and south of the country.
'South African troops are sticking to their mandate, of protecting returning exiled Hutu leaders, and not involved in fighting,' SANDF spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said today.
He said none of the Hutu leaders under SANDF protection had been harmed in the latest violence.
Meanwhile, Cabinet has further allayed widespread fears for the safety of the South African troops in this delicate mission, by noting that their arrival in the war-ravaged country had been greeted with a positive atmosphere.
The SANDF had distanced itself from reports last week alleging that Tutsi radical wing leader Uprona Charles Mukasi would attack South African troops after calls to oppose the country's intervention.
In its meeting yesterday, Cabinet reiterated its commitment to assist Burundi to attain peace.
Stressing the need to ensure democracy and good governance in Africa, foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in the national assembly yesterday, the country's armed forces, both black and white, amply demonstrated a spirit of togetherness in their sterling work inside and outside South Africa.
'What was not so long ago an army of destruction and mayhem, has become an army of healing and peacekeeping,' the Minister said in her provisional report on the World Racism Conference (WCAR).
Dr Dlamini-Zuma said this is what made South Africa unique, 'and this is what we can share with the world.'
As part of the Burundian peace deal, current President Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, was sworn in as the president for 18 months, and will then alternate with his deputy Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu leader with the opposition Front for Democracy.
Former President Nelson Mandela, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, SANDF chief Siphiwe Nyanda and intelligence minister Lindiwe Sisulu, attended the inauguration ceremony that would hopefully bring an end to the bloody conflict that has ripped the country along ethnic lines since 1993.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2001 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
