DR Congo: South African soldiers are reportedly itching to go home

The Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC) has South African troops stationed in the country’s east. They are in a terrible situation and are itching to get home.

According to reports, South African soldiers in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo informed the South African station eNCA that they are itching to return home. According to media estimates, more than 1,000 South African troops in Goma are in danger and are running low on supplies and food.

This coincides with mounting demands that the South African government remove its troops from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo due to the mission’s catastrophic failure.

“The troops’ communication reveals the absence of guidance and assistance from South African authorities.” The station said that troops were having difficulty accessing essential supplies and food, and that soldiers were sending distress messages to the South African National Defence Union (Sandu), a military labor organization.

According to reports, Sandu National Secretary Pikkie Greeff stated, “They are not safe, the situation is too volatile.” Since they are surrounded, it is impossible to get them out there to extricate them, especially from a military standpoint. In other words, they are now bargaining chips in a larger scheme of things.

Experts in defense and security have urged the South African government to remove its troops from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, citing doubts about their mission there.

The Southern African Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC), which is being sent to support the Congolese army fight the M23 rebels, is led by soldiers from the South African National Defence Forces. 
Malawi and Tanzania also sent troops to support the SADC operation.

The Congolese army is fighting alongside the Burundian army, the murderous FDLR, which is made up of European mercenaries, multiple armed groups known as Wazalendo, and survivors of Rwanda’s 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The M23 has taken control of the capitals of Goma, North Kivu, and Bukavu, South Kivu, and the coalition has been unable to stop them.

Nearly 200 SAMIDRC soldiers who need medical care or were injured in fighting were sent home last week after being given safe passage through Rwanda.

A number of FDLR combatants, including commanders, were apprehended and sent to Rwanda.

More than 300 mercenaries have subsequently turned themselves in and been granted safe passage to Rwanda, while South African forces have surrendered and their bases are encircled by M23 rebels in Goma and Sake.

Lazarus Chakwera, the president of Malawi, has issued an order for the troops to leave the nation.

Following the deaths of 14 comrades in late January and the injuries of nearly 200 others in Goma, the condition of South African troops is in the news. 

Reports state that the SANDF forces’ communications reveal the absence of guidance and assistance from South African authorities. The troops are having difficulty accessing essential supplies and food.
According to defense and security specialist John Supard, South Africa should accept surrender, accept the defeat, and ensure that the SANDF forces leave the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo “unharmed.”

Angie Motshekga, the nation’s Minister of Defense and Military Veterans, previously assured lawmakers that when SANDF forces fought the M23 rebels in late January, they “had sufficient military equipment,” including “ammunition and defensive capabilities,” in both the SAMIDRC and MONUSCO missions.