Hon Speaker, hon Deputy President and hon members, while we appreciate the briefing by hon Minister, it is Azapo's view that the right person who should be briefing this National Assembly is his Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, as the commander in chief of the armed forces. [Applause.] He is the person authorised by law to deploy members of the SA National Defence Force.
Azapo supports the participation of South Africa in peacekeeping and other operations, provided they are done under the auspices of, and pursuant to a resolution by, either the United Nations or the African Union. The Central African Republic deployment was done in line with the bilateral agreement between the two countries under reasons and circumstances that are dubious in our view. We want to emphasise that this was not done by countries, but by Presidents who entered into agreements without the approval of their respective Parliaments.
If the SA National Defence Force was there to train the Central African Republic's army, why is it that junior officers seem to dominate the list? Shouldn't we have heard about commissioned officers, colonels, generals, etc? Or why do we even deploy soldiers to an area where there are elements of a civil war? Why was it necessary to establish a South African base? Surely, the Central African Republic's army has enough bases; and the training could have taken place in those bases.
We said this in this House before, and we are saying it again - there are concerns in certain quarters in the continent; that South Africa would like to be to Africa, what the USA is trying to be to the world; an international policemen and law enforcement agency. There are concerns that in South Africa, the continent is breeding a bully. We can choose to ignore these concerns.
There are serious allegations levelled against our Defence Force. They are alleged to have acted as a VIP unit to the ousted president. They are being accused of propping up a dictator who was deserted by his own people. Words such as mercenaries have been used to describe our National Defence Force. This should keep this House very worried.
There are also theories that our Defence Force members were there to protect business interests of individuals. Unthinkable as this may be, it seems to be the only explanation that makes sense. How do we explain the fact that they acted in isolation and were not part of the Economic Community of Central African States and the Central African Multinational Force? South Africa must continue to be involved in peacekeeping operations. Azapo believes that everything possible and legal should be done to establish lasting peace, and we should do this a part of a multilateral force.
We're cautioning against sending our young men and women to fight illegitimate and unjust wars like the one we did in the Central African Republic. We convey our condolences to the families that lost their loved ones in the Central African Republic. Thank you. [Applause.]