February 28, 2024

Are South Africa’s troops prepared for the DRC peacekeeping mission?

16 minutes

“South African deployment of soldiers to DRC is out of order. It must be withdrawn with immediate effect. Not that South Africa is not supposed to deploy in DRC. We [are] supposed to deploy in the DRC and be in the forefront. We just don’t have the army” – Julius Malema, EFF leader

The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is affecting several African nations. Just recently, Africa Daily produced a podcast demonstrating how tensions between Burundi and Rwanda are tied to the conflict in the DRC. And now, it’s South Africans who’ve been affected.

Local opposition parties insist that their nation’s army lacks the intended weapons, drones and mortar groups to protect them. It comes after two of the troops were killed in a mortar strike in eastern DRC. They were part of 2, 900 soldiers deployed to that country for a peacekeeping mission.

So, is South Africa up for this operation? Why does president Cyril Ramaphosa’s government feel so strongly about having a presence in the DRC? What’s in it for them? But also, who decides which countries should be part of such missions?

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