“The objective of this study is to provide an analysis of South Africa’s role in
peacekeeping in Burundi and to identify the opportunities and challenges that confronted South Africa’s peacekeeping mission. The Department of Defense (DoD) in its own planning set 2007 as the year for its first deployment. However, the overwhelming need to secure the peace in Burundi necessitated the deployment of the South African
Protection Service Detachment (SAPSD) in October 2001. This early deployment resulted in several operational, budgetary, and
personnel challenges which the paper analyses. The paper also highlights several instances related to consultation and
communication where the guidelines established in the White Paper on
Peace Missions were either circumvented or overridden due to the need to act with speed to respond to a volatile conflict and a tenuous peace that had to be arrested with minimum time delays.The paper therefore concludes with a recommendation for a continuation and conclusion of the review of the White Paper on Peace Missions to
make it more relevant to contemporary conflict situations and to address
weaknesses identified from several years of experience gained by South Africa in peace missions throughout Africa.”
