By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has criticised the deployment of South African National Defense Force (SANDF) troops to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
At least 2900 SANDF soldiers were deployed earlier this month provide support in combating illicit armed factions in the eastern region of the DRC.
The deployment was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa to fulfil the country’s obligation towards the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to the DRC.
Speaking in a media briefing following the EFF’s manifesto launch held over the weekend, Malema criticised the deployment, saying the move was “out of order”.
He called for the peacekeeping mission to be stopped “with immediate effect”.
Although he expressed support for South Africa helping the DRC, the EFF leader said he was of the view that SANDF soldiers were not fit for purpose.
“They are not properly trained. They must come back home and we must stop with any military deployment until we are fit and proper. Ramaphosa wants to kill our children in DRC.”
“Those [M23] rebels are well equipped. Look at what they did, they hit our base. Who goes to a base of an army if you know that thing is an army and is powerful. You go to their base once you have undermined them.”
Malema further claimed soldiers couldn’t handle the fire that engulfed the military’s combat training centre in Lohatla, Northern Cape, last year.
Six soldiers were killed in the veld fire, which destroyed military equipment and vehicles.
Ramaphosa has sent condolences to the families of two South African soldiers who were killed in a mortar strike in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking in parliament during a response to the State Of the Nation Address debate, Ramaphosa said South Africa will continue to contribute to peace missions in Africa.
“We will also continue to contribute to peace keeping and peace building efforts on our continent. We have just deployed personnel from the SANDF to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a SADC mission.
“We salute our defence force personnel who brave great dangers to make Africa a more peaceful and stable continent, that is what we applaud them for and we dip our heads for those who are injured and for those who may have fallen,” says Ramaphosa.
The injured soldiers were rushed to the nearest Hospital in Goma for medical attention.
The soldiers were deployed in December to assist the DRC government to fight M23 rebels and restore peace.
In a statement released this morning, the South African National Defence Force said details of the incident are still sketchy.
“Further investigation will be conducted to determine the basis of the incident,” said SANDF’s Siphiwe Dlamini.
Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise and the Chief of the SANDF General Rudzani Maphwanya have also expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers.
Malema meanwhile said party finalised its candidate list at a two-day sitting in Durban last week, following its election manifesto launch at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“Some of the criteria include that 40% of all names from the list must be youth. 50% or more of the names submitted must be women. There must be at least 10 PhD holders in the EFF list to Parliament. A matric certificate is a minimum requirement to form part of the EFF’s list.”
Malema added that an EFF-led government would end load shedding within six months by hiring former Eskom chief executives Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko to the ailing power utility.
He said Koko and Molefe were waiting in the wings to be deployed to the ailing utility, should an EFF-led government emerge victorious after the 2024 general elections.
Malema said an EFF government would utilise the coal-fired power stations to their full capacity, highlighting that electricity was the number one priority for the country.
Malema also took a swipe at Ramaphosa, saying he visited the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment plant but failed to provide water for the people of Hammanskraal.
This is after the cholera outbreak in the area claimed at least more than 30 lives. “Till today, Rooiwal is not working,” he said.
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Video Courtesy of EFFSA.