South Africa: Navy's Frigates and the Somali Pirates

During the first week of October, a South African-owned yacht with three South African citizens on board was hijacked by Somali-based pirates off the coast of Tanzania and forced to turn back to the Puntland coast.

Many are asking why South Africa is not joining the international naval fleets to combat Somali piracy, which is essentially an 'African problem'.

The European Union (EU) has also asked South Africa on several occasions to join the EU anti-piracy task force. After all, South Africa acquired naval warships at great expense after the end of apartheid. Why not use them?

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