South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered on Monday, February 12 the deployment of 2,900 members of the South African National Defense Forces to the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight against illegal armed groups in the east of the country.
Some observers believe M23 has more or less surrounded Goma, and intends to capture it, as it did in 2012. That incident precipitated the international furor that led to the creation and deployment of the UN Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), made up of SADC troops from South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi.
The same situation is believed to have prompted the recently arrived troops of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) to formally deploy to Sake and surrounding areas, some analysts say.
The deployment is within the framework of South Africa’s international obligation towards the mission of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and supporting the DRC, explained the South African Presidency on its X account.
“The employment will cover the period from 15 December 2023 to 15 December 2024 and it has been authorized following the provisions of section 201 (2) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The budgeted expenditure to be incurred on employment is just over R2 billion. This expenditure will not impact provisions for regular maintenance and emergency repairs of the defense forces,” indicates the South African Presidency.
The obligation to provide troops to the SADC mission in the DRC rests with all SADC Member States, South Africa recalls.
On November 17, 2023, the Government signed the Agreement establishing the status of the SADC force which should be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Congolese Government thus committed to making available to this force the diplomatic facilities linked to this type of intervention.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission Force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) is tasked with supporting the Congolese Government in its efforts to restore peace and security in the eastern DRC, which has seen an increase in conflict and instability posed by the resurgence of armed groups.
This will come at a cost of R2 billion (Approximately $1.6 million).
The UN Organisation Mission in the DRC (Monusco) has been in the eastern part of that country battling the M23 and other rebel groups for many years.
The withdrawal of Monusco follows the vote at the UN Security Council last year to agree to the early withdrawal of the peacekeeping mission. This was after the government of the DRC asked for the withdrawal of Monusco.
The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission will withdraw from the DRC by the end of the year.
