Opposition parties are demanding answers and accountability from the South African government over the deaths of nine SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week. South African troops face further fighting against M23 rebels that have cut off the city of Goma, essentially leaving DRC government and peacekeeping forces trapped.
In recent weeks, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have taken several towns around Goma, which is the capital of North Kivu province. Fighting has escalated between M23 and Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) forces (including troop contributors South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi). When it was evident that the M23 rebels were overrunning several towns, soldiers from the United Nations’ MONUSCO mission joined SAMIDRC and DRC government forces (FARDC).
During fierce fighting around Sake, less than 30 km from Goma earlier in the week, seven SANDF soldiers deployed with SAMDRC were killed, and two SANDF soldiers deployed with MONUSCO lost their lives, along with three MONUSCO troops. At least eighteen South African soldiers have been injured.
On Sunday, M23 fighters were closing in on Goma, with reports indicating rebels were infiltrating the city, causing thousands of civilians to flee and flights from the local airport to be halted. In a statement, the M23 said it had closed the airspace around Goma, and was preparing to ‘liberate’ the city.
Darren Olivier, African Defence Review Director, told Newzroom Afrika on Sunday that SAMIDRC, including the SANDF, is not adequately supported and does not have enough force multiplier equipment such as artillery, attack helicopters, drones, heavy mortars and so on, to make infantry more effective.
“So what I’d expect to see from [President Cyril] Ramaphosa is first of all obviously much pressure on the diplomatic side because the way to solve this is through diplomacy, but in terms of ensuring that the troops on the ground are given the best support that they can be given given that they can’t rapidly leave at the moment, is to try and get them the kinds of capabilities that will give them an edge. As many aircraft as we can get airworthy, additional armoured vehicles if possible.”
South African Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Mathu Joyini, on Sunday told the UN Security Council that external forces are destabilising the country and that “it is crucial for the Rwanda Defence Forces to cease support to the M23 and for the M23 to immediately cease all hostile actions and withdraw from occupied areas.”
“We cannot accept a world wherein non-state actors are armed to do the will of other states, while those states refuse to accept responsibility for unnecessary armed violence and potential war crimes,” Joyini added in a rare condemnation of Rwanda.
JSCD asks for full briefing
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) on Sunday said the loss of nine SANDF troops in the DRC is serious and requires investigation to prevent recurrence.
“Some of the issues that must be looked into include the combat preparedness, defence intelligence capabilities and specifically the availability of combat support equipment including air support and ammunition,” said Malusi Gigaba, the Co-Chairperson of the committee.
“The Joint Standing Committee on Defence of the 6th Parliament raised concern regarding serviceability of Prime Mission Equipment and readiness of the mission for deployment. The capacitation of our soldiers is a primary obligation that the SANDF must ensure. This is one area of oversight the committee aims to enhance in the 7th Parliament to ensure that the SANDF has adequate equipment to respond to any eventuality,” the Committee said.
The committee will urgently schedule a meeting to get a full briefing on the incident as well as the overall status of the deployment. “It is important that we get a full briefing from the Minister, the Acting Secretary of Defence and the Chief of the SANDF not only on the incident but also on the status of the mission and the availably of adequate equipment for SANDF members deployed in DRC and in any mission,” said Phiroane Phala, the Co-Chairperson of the committee.
DA calls for SANDF withdrawal
Chris Hattingh, Democratic Alliance (DA) Spokesperson on Defence & Military Veterans, on Sunday called on the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, to urgently brief Parliament on the “deteriorating and calamitous situation” in the DRC.
“We will not rest until we get answers and we hear a plan from the Minister to safeguard the SA base and personnel on the ground. It is unacceptable that while SA soldiers are marched to their deaths, the President, who ordered the deployment, sits locked in internal party scuffles, fighting internal party battles, at the ANC Lekgotla,” Hattingh said.
He added that it is “unacceptable” that Motshekga and her generals flew out of Goma on Saturday in a luxury VIP Falcon jet, leaving behind wounded soldiers with no SANDF air support available for them.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa sent the South African National Defence Force to combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with the full knowledge that our troops were unprepared; that the mission could not be won; and that our fiscus could not afford it. The crisis has now escalated to the United National Security Council, where South Africa’s recklessness in this conflict will damage our reputation.
“A report to Members of Parliament in both Houses will help determine how best we withdraw the SANDF from eastern DRC and engage with regional and international partners to seek a solution,” Hattingh said.
SANDF under-equipped for DRC fight
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Carl Niehaus said the manner in which the SANDF’s senior command handled the situation in the DRC turned out to be “nothing less than a public relations disaster”.
He said the EFF has over a long period of time been expressing serious concerns that the SANDF is totally under-equipped, and that troops deployed to the DRC are not adequately trained in order to face M23 rebels.
“These rebels are well trained and equipped with more sophisticated weapons systems than what our troops have at their disposal, including missiles guided by unmanned drones. Without the use also of sophisticated armed drones, and the return of the Rooivalk into full and upgraded service, together fighter jets such as the Gripen, and drones, to provide air cover, our SANDF troops are left exposed and vulnerable on the killing fields of the DRC,” Niehaus said. “The SANDF is currently so poorly managed, cash strapped, and in disarray that it is unable to deliver even the most basic minimum operational capability.”
The EFF has called for the immediate withdrawal of SANDF from the DRC, pointing out ten South African deaths in the DRC last year. The EFF also pointed out that the deployment of SANDF troops in the DRC “is a very expensive exercise, for which we are only partially refunded by the United Nations, and that these exorbitant costs divert critical resources from a cash strapped SANDF, that is already severely underfunded, and unable to modernize and maintain its equipment.”
“The substantial financial costs, and the erosion of morale of SANDF troops, due to the ill-conceived ongoing deployment of SANDF troops in the DRC, is substantially contributing to the dangerous collapse, that threatens the security and national sovereignty of our nation.”
Niehaus accused Motshekga of misleading the nation when on 21 January she declared on national television that the SANDF is “operationally capable”, and able to defend South Africa and carry out all its duties. The EFF has called on her to resign over the “untenable situation” in the DRC, and also called for an emergency joint sitting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces to debate the tragic events in the DRC, and for President Ramaphosa to account to Parliament “and to our whole nation, about his gross dereliction of duty, and specifically why he continues to send our soldiers to the DRC to be slaughtered there, knowing very well that we are unable to adequately resource and protect them.”
SANDF facing an ‘impossible task’
Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi on Saturday called for Ramaphosa and Motshekga to brief the nation on the status of the SANDF mission in the DRC. He said South African soldiers are facing “an impossible task due to being underfunded, under-resourced, and mismanaged, meaning that women and men have been sent to their deaths.”
“It is also reported that defence forces from other countries are reluctant to commit further resources to the ongoing mission, forcing the SANDF to carry the burden of this conflict. Sources have informed Rise Mzansi that the SANDF soldiers in the DRC are so deeply under-resourced to the extent that ammunition is beginning to run out or has already run out.”
Vuyo Zungula, the leader of the African Transformation Movement, said there is need for introspection regarding the SANDF’s deteriorating operational capacity. He said it is alarming that policies and conditions have resulted in soldiers’ untimely deaths, identifying inadequate resources and declining equipment reliability as serious concerns.
“It is unacceptable that our soldiers are deployed in high-stakes situations without the necessary support and tools to ensure their safety and success,” stated Zungula.
UN condemnation
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on Sunday said the Secretary-General “is deeply concerned by the escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and reiterates his strongest condemnation of the M23 armed group’s ongoing offensive and advances towards Goma in North Kivu with the support of the Rwanda Defence Forces.”
In the last 48 hours, two MONUSCO peacekeepers from South Africa and one peacekeeper from Uruguay were killed while implementing the mandate entrusted upon them by the Security Council. Eleven peacekeepers sustained injuries and are being treated in the UN hospital in Goma, Dujarric aded.
“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers as well as to their Governments and the people of South Africa and Uruguay, and wishes a swift recovery to the injured. He pays tribute to the bravery of all the United Nations peacekeepers while implementing their mandate to protect civilians and defend them against armed group violence, in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC).”
Guterres called on the M23 to immediately cease all hostile actions and withdraw from occupied areas. He further called on the Rwanda Defence Forces to cease support to the M23 and withdraw from DRC territory.
At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sunday, the DRC said Rwandan forces had crossed into its territory in what amounted to a “declaration of war.”
“More Rwandan troops have crossed the 12th and 13th border posts between Goma (in the DRC) and Gisenyi (in Rwanda), entering our territory in broad daylight in an open and deliberate violation of our national sovereignty,” Congolese Foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said.
The DRC severed all diplomatic ties with Rwanda amid the M23’s latest offensive.
According to the United Nations, more than 400 000 civilians have been displaced by the surge in fighting this year.
