SOUTH AFRICAN PEACEKEEPING (2000-2008)
By: David Rilley-Harris, Curator, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History (DNMMH)
Between 2000 and 2008 South Africa was functioning as a more substantial peacekeeping force and was probably the most significant African peacekeeping force. This period largely aligns with the presidency of Thabo Mbeki who was in office from June 1999 until September 2008. The prospect of South Africa leading the way into an African renaissance looked possible. The context, however, included increasing instability in various African regions, which had led to a significant rise in the costs of UN peacekeeping missions in previous years.
Operation Mistral in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which had begun in September 1999 grew increasingly complex putting strain on the United Nations (UN). Operation Mistral was a part of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC). South Africa’s small initial contribution had grown and included infantry battalion groups, military observers, staff officers, helicopter detachments, medical personnel, and logistical and engineering support elements. These elements were protecting civilians in volatile areas, escorting humanitarian convoys, monitoring ceasefire compliance, and assisting with disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR). South Africa was seen to be an ideal nation to play these roles having experienced and overcome some similar situations during the country’s transition to democracy.
During Operation Fibre, South African forces were deployed to Burundi in 2001 as part of the African Union (AU) Mission in Burundi (AMIB), which later became the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) in 2004. South Africa would become one of the leading contributors in both AMIB and ONUB and was the first peacekeeping element into Burundi as well as the last element to leave. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) deployed infantry, military observers, and staff officers as well as specialised protection units for politicians returning to Burundi from exile after a civil war. The SANDF supported ceasefire arrangements, helped maintain general security, and assisted with election preparations. The South African role in Burundi would become known as a model for African peacekeeping operations and it forged a healthy relationship between South Africa and Burundi.
South Africa was less successful in its smaller contribution to the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). Under Operation Espresso, the SANDF was deployed to control the border between the two countries following the 1998-2000 war, which concluded with the Algiers Peace Agreement of 2000, facilitated by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Although South Africa was unable to fulfil its mandate, the mission provided the country with its first experience in peacekeeping in a conflict between two countries. South Africa’s failures in UNMEE were largely due to an inability of the various parties to keep Eritrea compliant with the peace agreements.
Between November 2001 and July 2007 South Africa was in the Comoros with Operation Triton being a part of an OAU mission. The SANDF contributed to disarmament efforts on the island of Anjouan and assisted in overseeing the 2002 elections. The South African Airforce (SAAF) supported police training with the use of two fixed-wing aircraft, and South Africa was asked to lead the Comoros peacekeeping effort. The SANDF sent a surge of troops assuring successful elections in 2006 and provided administrative assistance with the Anjouan island elections the next year.
Between October 2003 and January 2005, Operation Montego saw South Africa offer a small amount of administrative assistance in Liberia under the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), marking South Africa’s first peacekeeping presence in West Africa. In Operation Pristine in Côte d’Ivoire in 2005 South Africa assisted with DDR processes and maintained their work despite renewed instability in the country. In Operation Bongane two South African military observers supported peace talks between Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army, and South Africa’s first peacekeeping deployment outside Africa was in Nepal where South Africa sent one military observer in 2007 to assist the UN Political Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).
African peacekeeping took to the fore in Sudan were there was some resistance to the idea of the UN bringing in peacekeepers from outside of the continent. The UN and AU undertook cooperative peacekeeping efforts in Sudan, with South Africa participating through Operation Cordite, which commenced in 2004. There was no real political resolution to work with in Sudan making the peacekeeping role difficult and largely focused on protecting civilians. The South African force used patrols to deter attacks on civilians, helped with AU/UN coordination, and provided protection for humanitarian efforts. In 2008, the mission became the first AU/UN coordinated peacekeeping mission making 26,000 troops available. After a UN request that South Africa provide more soldiers, the South African contingent included eight military observers, seven staff officers, and 760 other personnel. Despite the general failure of the mission, it became an example of substantial cooperative African effort. The top ten contributors of personnel in 2008 included Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal while the top twenty-five contributors included Ethiopia, Benin, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa. One of the problems with the mission involved a limited mandate with which the soldiers had to work. They were permitted to engage with the enemy only when in the vicinity of civilians causing complications which tied the peacekeepers hands and caused peacekeeper casualties to begin mounting. After Sudan, the UN had no choice but to start looking toward more aggressive peacekeeper mandates.
In 2007, Operation Vimbezela commenced in the Central African Republic (CAR), with the SANDF attempting to operate largely independently, focusing on refurbishing training facilities and providing technical and instructional support. Due to mission creep and inadequate support, this peacekeeping mission culminated in 2013 in South Africa’s worst ever peacekeeping military defeat. Later that year, South Africa achieved its most convincing peacekeeping military victory in the DRC, providing aggressive leading support to the UN mission.
Between 2000-2008, South Africa committed to an impressively wide range of peacekeeping operations, performing in a way which enhanced South Africa’s reputation. The SANDF gained valuable experience and South Africa’s diplomatic influence grew. This opportunity, which South Africa took great advantage of was partly made available by increasing instability across the continent, which was placing growing pressure on the UN. Unfortunately, continental instability continued to worsen, and following Thabo Mbeki’s presidency, the SANDF experienced a decline that placed its peacekeeping efforts under significant strain.
