South Africa will be leading the Southern African Development Community’s deployment Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo to assist the Congolese government in restoring peace and security in the eastern part of the country. Just recently, the United Nations withdrew its peacekeeping mission after 20 years following a call by the Congolese government for the withdrawal of the UN peacekeepers. They (DRC government) deemed the U.N. force as ineffective in protecting civilians from the armed groups and militias that have plagued the eastern part of the country. Let’s take a listen to this short report from SABC’s Chris Ochamringa  in Kinshasa….

Was this a good move though and also what is it that the SADC mission will be facing? What about South Africa’s military being the one in the forefront of the mission, do we have the capabilities? To help us answer some of these questions, we are joined by….

Guest: Thomas Mandrup - Associate Professor with the Royal Danish Defence College and with the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa at Stellenbosch University