Cape Town – South Africa on Tuesday declined to comment on reports that ousted Central African Republic president Francois Bozize was in the country.

Media reports said Bozize had left Cameroon and travelled to the country via Kenya late on Sunday.

“We currently don’t have an official comment on the matter,” department of international relations spokesperson Nelson Kgwete told dpa.

Bozize, 66, fled the CAR in the wake of a military coup on 24 March, after thousands of fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition entered the capital Bangui, accusing him of breaking an earlier peace agreement.

SA deployment

Thirteen South African soldiers were killed and 27 injured in the take-over bid. The country has since withdrawn its troops, which numbered 200 at the peak of a deployment to train the CAR military.

Over his 10 years in office, Bozize’s armed forces engaged in summary executions, unlawful killings, the use of children as soldiers and many other human rights violations, according to a 2007 Human Rights Watch report.

In December 2012, the European Union suspended its more than $200m development programme in the CAR, saying the funds would be withheld until the rule of law is re-established.

The CAR said it had issued an international warrant for his arrest via Interpol last week. However, his name was not on the Interpol wanted list as of 4 June.

Sapa-DPA