Speaker, hon Deputy President, and hon members, we welcome the opportunity given to us to present this statement and thank the Presiding Officers for their positive consideration of our request in this regard.
As government, our imperative to fully account and report to our people through their representatives in this House remains an important consideration in the execution of our mandate. Since this executive statement follows our comprehensive briefing to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, we will not dwell much on the issues of background.
However, it is important to note that South Africa signed a Defence Co- operation memorandum of understanding with the Central African Republic, CAR, in 2007. This followed decisions of the African Union, AU, Peace and Stability Council for the member states, in the name of African solidarity, to assist with the postconflict recovery of that country. South Africa therefore did not just decide on its own to go into the Central African Republic.
The initial deployment had ranged between 30 and 85 members over a five- year period. The memorandum of understanding provided that it shall remain in force for a period of five years and can be extended by means of an Exchange of Notes between the parties through the diplomatic channel. It provides further that the termination of this memorandum of understanding shall not affect the implementation of the other agreements, conventions or contracts concluded under this memorandum of understanding, except if the parties have provided otherwise. In line with this, after extensive negotiations, the memorandum of understanding was renewed in December 2012.
When the security situation in the Central African Republic deteriorated earlier this year, government made an assessment that resulted in the deployment of 200 additional troops as a protective force for the trainers and the military assets that were already in that country. This was very important because a contingent of unarmed SA National Defence Force, SANDF, trainers and South African government assets were in the Central African Republic. It was also important to ensure that South African military assets in the Central African Republic do not fall into the wrong hands. We had also taken a decision to continue monitoring the situation in order to inform further action, if necessary, to protect our personnel and our assets. On 11 January 2013, the President of the Central African Republic and the rebels who sought to overthrow him reached a deal to create a coalition government with the country's political opposition. This agreement, facilitated by the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS, a regional body, would allow President Bozize to stay in office until 2016 with the provision that a prime minister will be appointed from the country's political opposition. It is important, in this regard, to appreciate that prior to the recent conflict, the CAR was a fragile state slowly recovering from decades of instability and coups d'tat.
Madam Speaker ...