Hon Speaker, the whole of South Africa was shocked to hear about the death of our 13 brave and heroic soldiers in a country that many had never even heard of before. I do in fact know the central African region, having travelled through it many years ago, and it is a region that has seen a tragic interplay of wars, coups and powerful outside interests fuelling conflicts over a bounty of resources.
It is dangerous for South Africa to be picking sides in this procession of conflicts, and if we do it needs to enjoy the support of the African Union, the United Nations and most importantly, this Parliament. It is therefore downright scandalous for the ANC to say that we are desecrating our soldiers' graves by asking questions around our military involvement in the Central African Republic, CAR. The burden of proof lies on the government to convince both Parliament and the public at large that our motives in this conflict were honourable and not seeking to protect commercial interests. We have an absolute duty to question what assets the Deputy International Relations Minister claimed South Africa has in the CAR, and whether our soldiers were in fact sent there to protect them.
When our soldiers' blood is spilt on foreign soil, we as representatives of the public are compelled to ask whether proper parliamentary procedures were adhered to when we sent those brave men and women to fight in a conflict that was not our own. We must also seek answers to the questions of whether that force was provided with an adequate amount of reinforcement, and why we had to rely on the French military's medical supplies as ours were apparently inadequate.
We are now told that South Africa is even considering sending more of our troops to the CAR, while President Zuma outrageously claims that the public must stay out of military affairs and simply let the government make its own decisions as it sees fit. [Interjections.] President Zuma, we are talking about the lives of our brave soldiers, and we will never give you a free hand to simply send them off to fight for any interests besides that of the country and the continent as a whole. [Interjections.] We will be desecrating their honour and their graves if we did not do our jobs as public representatives in asking the hard questions of government, and ensuring that the ideals that our army is fighting for are indeed noble ones. Thank you. [Applause.]