VZCZCXRO9334
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #0300 0261006
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261006Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7893
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0982
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1111
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0994
RUEHYN/AMEMBASSY SANAA 0048
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 0435
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0339
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS PRETORIA 000300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS MASS SO SF
SUBJECT: NO SOUTH AFRICAN TROOPS FOR SOMALIA 
 
REF: A. PRETORIA 196 (NOTAL) 
 
     ¶B. PRETORIA 103 (NOTAL) 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
¶1. (U) South Africa will not send troops to Somalia, 
announced Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota January 25.  In 
press comments following a meeting with President Mbeki, 
Lekota expressed support for the proposed AU peacekeeping 
mission in Somalia, but stressed that South African forces 
are already stretched thin with deployments in the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Cote d'Ivoire, and 
Ethiopia/Eritrea.  Sending troops to Somalia could jeopordize 
the effectiveness of these other missions. 
 
¶2. (U) Lekota's spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said the Department 
of Defense is currently looking at other options by which the 
South African military might be able to support the Somali AU 
mission. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Institute for Security Studies analyst Henri Boshoff 
told PolOff January 25 that he believes South Africa may 
offer military personnel for the mission headquarters staff. 
They are also looking at assisting with the training of 
Somali forces and police.  On the non-military side, the 
Department of Foreign Affairs is considering support for 
capacity-building for the Transitional Federal Government. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Boshoff noted that this is the first time that 
senior South African political leaders -- Lekota, President 
Mbeki, ForMin Dlamini-Zuma, and DepForMin Pahad -- have 
publicly admitted that the South African military has 
capacity constraints.  In previous crises, Mbeki promised to 
deploy troops even if the military told him they were not 
available, like in Darfur where South Africa has provided 
only 400 of the 750 troops promised for AMIS. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: While the SAG will not deploy ground troops 
to Somalia, South Africa is looking for other ways to support 
the AU mission.  As noted in Ref A, we recommend funneling 
any concrete suggestions for South African involvement 
through the African Union or other regional leaders. 
BOST