Local News
African military exercise 'tremendous success': Zuma─── 05:19 Mon, 09 Nov 2015
Lohatla - President Jacob Zuma hailed a joint military exercise held in Lohatla, Northern Cape, as a tremendous success as the continent moves towards peace and stability.
The exercise, which ran for nearly two weeks, saw thousands of soldiers from the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) partake in military exercises with others from Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia.
In a speech prepared for delivery at the close of the drills, Zuma said it was a demonstration in Africa’s investment in peace.
“We often proclaim that we want African solutions to African problems. Through this exercise, we are demonstrating our readiness to solve our problems on the continent.”
“We have taken a significant step forward towards bringing the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability into operation. We have committed ourselves to silencing the guns on our continent by 2020,” Zuma said.
He added that the reality remained that many African states were still crippled by war.
“Apart from testing harmonisation, this exercise has gone a long way towards strengthening co-operation between the African Union and the regional mechanisms for the purposes of future peacekeeping operations.
“Today is indeed a historic day in the quest for African peace and security,” said Zuma.
-News24.com
In a speech prepared for delivery at the close of the drills, Zuma said it was a demonstration in Africa’s investment in peace.
“We often proclaim that we want African solutions to African problems. Through this exercise, we are demonstrating our readiness to solve our problems on the continent.”
“We have taken a significant step forward towards bringing the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability into operation. We have committed ourselves to silencing the guns on our continent by 2020,” Zuma said.
He added that the reality remained that many African states were still crippled by war.
“Apart from testing harmonisation, this exercise has gone a long way towards strengthening co-operation between the African Union and the regional mechanisms for the purposes of future peacekeeping operations.
“Today is indeed a historic day in the quest for African peace and security,” said Zuma.
-News24.com
