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Appointment of Representative to Burundi
Deputy President Jacob Zuma is pleased to announce
that Ambassador Welile Nhlapo, the Director General
heading the Presidential Support Unit, is to represent
the Facilitator of the Burundi peace process and South
Africa in the African Mission in Burundi. The Mission
is being established in terms of the Ceasefire Agreements
signed last year.
The Mission is scheduled to exist for an initial period
of one year, and is to fulfil the following objectives
among others:
· Peacekeeping.
· Oversee the implementation of ceasefire agreements.
· Support disarmament and demobilisation and
advise on the reintegration of combatants.
· Strive towards creating conditions that are
favourable to the establishment of a United Nations
Peacekeeping Force in Burundi.
The African Mission will also facilitate the activities
of the Joint Ceasefire Commission, (JCC), and Technical
Committees to achieve the establishment of a new National
Defence Force and Police Force in Burundi.
Ambassador Nhlapo, who also leads the Deputy President's
Burundi Task Team, is a former Deputy Director General
for Africa in the Department of Foreign Affairs and
has also served the country as Ambassador to the African
Union in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia.
"I am confident that Ambassador Nhlapo will represent
us well and that he will play a key role in ensuring
that the African Mission becomes a success, and to assist
us to achieve the objectives of a return of peace and
stability in Burundi. He has worked tirelessly on the
Burundi peace process already and has a clear vision
of what is required to fulfil this demanding responsibility,"
said Deputy President Zuma.
The Head of the African Mission will be appointed by
the Great Lakes Regional Peace Initiative on Burundi,
chaired by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. The
United Nations Secretary General recently appointed
the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Mission in
the Congo, (MONUC), Colonel Alioune Samba, as Interim
Chairperson of the JCC in Burundi.
For more information please contact Lakela Kaunda
on 082 782 2575.
Issued by the Presidency
Cape Town
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