SA sends two police teams to Sudan on peacekeeping mission
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb 11, 2005 (Xinhua) — South African police are sending two teams to strife-torn Darfur in Sudan on a peacekeeping mission this weekend.
The office of the national police commissioner said on Friday the 12-strong party would form part of an African Union operation and will fall under the authority and guidance of the continental body.
President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday in his address to the opening of the parliament in Cape Town: “Today South Africa enjoys the singular honor of being the permanent venue for the Pan- African Parliament, and we form part of the AU Peace and Security Council.”
The AU has played a key role in Sudan, with 3,000 troops deployed in the Darfur region to monitor a ceasefire agreement. It has also actively seeking a political solution to the crisis there.
Police Director Anand Pillay from the Western Cape has been appointed commissioner of the civilian policing component.
“I am honored to have been chosen out of thousands of police officials to take up this post and I intend to fly both the South African and the SAPS flags high whilst in Darfur,” Pillay said.
“I know that there are many challenges ahead of us and that we will be dealing with a traumatized community, but South Africans are adaptable, warm-hearted people and SAPS members have a community-oriented approach,” he added.
Therefore “armed with these attributes we will make a positive contribution to the African Union Mission in Sudan.”
National police Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s spokesperson, Director Sally de Beer, said Pillay’s team would be deployed to Sudan for six months, while an advance team would be deployed for a period of three weeks. Both teams would consist of six people.
“The task for these 12 members will be to establish a headquarters in El Fashir and Nyala and to ensure that accommodation and logistical requirements are put in place as speedily as possible to receive the ten teams of 10 SAPS civilian police monitors as requested by the AU,” said de Beer.
“It must be emphasized that the members of the SA Police Service will be regarded as civilian police monitors and will be performing monitoring and advisory duties only,” she said.