Question NW600 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
19 April 2022 - NW600
Msane, Ms TP to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
Whether the Government has any plans to strengthen the African Union African Standby Force; if not, why not; if so, what plans; (2) Whether the Government intends to remove United States of Africa Command bases on the African continent; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. Article 13 of the Protocol on the Establishment of the African Union Peace and Security Council provides for the establishment of the African Standby Force (ASF) which is a part of the African Peace and Security Archtitecture (APSA). The ASF has five regional brigades supported by their respective Regional Economic Communities (RECs) or Regional Mechanisms (RMs).
As a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), South Africa is part of the SADC Standby Force which was launched in August 2008. Currently, South Africa is a major contributor to the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) which has made a significant contribution to restoring peace in the Cabo Delgado Province since its deployment in July 2021. Whether SAMIM should be strengthened would be a collective SADC decision and would be determined by operational requirements on the ground.
2. While South Africa does not agree with the presence of foreign forces in the continent, South Africa does not have much power or legal standing to remove any foreign forces in any country, other than in a South African territory. Foreign forces in an African country are there on the basis of a bilateral agreement between the countries involved. One of the founding principles of the African Union (AU), as provided for in Article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the AU, is “sovereign equality”. South Africa cannot interfere in the deployment of foreign forces in a sovereign African country, including deployment of the United States Africa Command, if it is done in terms of a bilateral agreement.