Defence Minister defends SANDF's DRC deployment amid casualties
Image: Phando Jikelo / Independent Newspapers
Defence Minister Angie Motshekga still maintains that the deployment of the SANDF to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was a success despite the tragic loss of 14 soldiers and 174 injuries.
Motshekga said the presence of the SADC Mission in the DRC in various areas of South Kivu from January 2024 provided safety, security, and stability for the people of the City of Goma and the surrounding areas.
'This was demonstrated by the communities coming back to their places of residence or homesteads as well as their livelihoods.
'The fights among various illegal armed groups, the M23 as well as the DRC Armed Forces were drastically reduced and with minimal displacement of communities in the far mountain areas,' she said.
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Motshekga was responding to IFP MP Russel Cebekhulu, who noted the controversy surrounding the SAMIDRC (SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and loss of life and conflicting accounts of its success.
He wanted to know what Motshekga based her claim of success on, despite the rebels still in control of key areas such as Goma and Sake, while the peace efforts were elusive.
Motshekga said the positive assessment of the SADC Mission's performance was demonstrated by the UN Mission reports as well as the positive reports by the UN headquarters in New York.
'A number of commendable statements of the positive work of SAMIDRC were issued by the UN.'
She also said the success of the mission was demonstrated and has to be gauged on the ultimate achievement of the presence of the mission, leading to the engagement among the warring parties in North Kivu.
Motshekga stated that there was a standing and planned session of the SADC Organ on Peace and Security to undertake a session on the lessons learned for future peace support operations.
'Reforms of future peacekeeping and or regional support missions reside in the domain of the region as a collective. Safety of peacekeepers is embedded in all peace support missions and or deployments as per the UN prescripts.'
She stated that the SANDF will be involved as part of the collective that will undergo the SADC standing operating procedure of undertaking readiness review of deployments, including SAMIDRC.
Motshekga added that all SANDF capabilities, including and not limited to intelligence, logistics support, and coordination with other role-players in SADC in SADC and AU missions, will be strengthened.
According to Motshekga, the deployment in Goma, DRC, has confirmed and reiterated their position and outcry for the express requirement of adequate funding provision by the government to acquire an acceptable level of new and modern prime mission equipment.
'The lessons learnt will be utilised in our training centres and schools as scenarios as well as applied in our planning sessions at various levels to ensure improvement in the conduct of future peace-keeping missions,' said Motshekga when responding to ANC MP Dakota Legoete.
Legoete asked about valuable insights the SANDF gained from its deployment in the DRC.
Meanwhile, Motshekga also said there were lessons learnt in training and operations from the Battle of Bangui regarding the deployments of the SANDF.
'The lessons have been integrated into training by, for example, choosing terrain forms similar to the area of deployment. The integration into operations is based on our concept of train as you fight."
She also said there were no deficiencies that were identified regarding accountability at the Battle of Bangui.
'Bearing in mind that our soldiers were outnumbered, they had fought bravely,' she said when asked about measures to prevent future operational failures and loss of soldiers' lives.
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za
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