As a key economic player in Africa, South Africa is expected to play a leading role in the stabilization of the continent, Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa- Nqakula said on Wednesday.

South Africa has set "an enviable example of peaceful conflict resolution", Mapisa-Nqakula said in a defense review.

"Most importantly, however, it is also in our national interest to have a stable continent, with accruing benefits for a shared food security, development, security and the building of economic relations with the rest of the continent," she said.

The minister said South Africa is almost certain to increase its commitments on the continent.

Currently, the South African Defense Force (SADF) has two battalions in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Darfur region of Sudan.

Over the past 13 years, South Africa has deployed its forces as part of the peacekeeping mission of the UN in the DRC (MONUSC).

Recently the African Union (AU) invited willing members to contribute human, financial and material resources to an initiative called African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis (ACIRC). South Africa is one of the 10 countries to commit to ACIRC.

Commitments in Africa far exceeded what was anticipated in the aftermath of the advent of democracy in 1994, Mapisa-Nqakula said.

In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, for example, various treaties and protocols on defense and security cooperation require the SANDF to commit troops and assets, and at home the SADF has taken over the patrol of land borders from the police, committing four battalions, said Mapisa-Nqakula.

Given the ongoing geo-political challenges on the continent and South Africa's national interests, South Africa's defense responsibilities cannot be scaled down, she said.

"Consequently, the resources allocated to defense must be commensurate with South Africa's defense responsibilities and tasks," the minister highlighted.

"It can be argued that, although South Africa is a developing country at peace, its responsibilities on the Continent justifies that defense expenditure be set at slightly above two percent of GDP."

The country's defense budget currently is at approximately 1.1 percent of GDP.