By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Thursday announced the phased withdrawal of regional troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
During an extraordinary virtual summit attended by several heads of state of its member countries, the SADC decided to end the mandate of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and ordered a phased withdrawal of its troops.
The SADC is a regional economic community comprising 16 member states: Angola, Botswana, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Deployed in December 2023, SAMIDRC comprises military personnel from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania, who have been supporting the DRC military in combating armed groups in the eastern region. However, the mission has suffered casualties, raising concerns about its ability to achieve its objectives amid escalating violence.
The summit comes a day after Angola announced that peace talks between the DRC and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group would begin next week.
M23 has seized swaths of the mineral-rich and volatile eastern DRC, including the key cities of Goma and Bukavu, in a lightning advance since January.
The Congolese government says at least 7,000 people have died since then.
While officials did not comment on the size of the military deployment, the bulk of SAMIDRC troops come from South Africa, which is estimated to have sent at least 1,000 soldiers.
South Africa lost 14 soldiers in the eastern DRC conflict in January. Most were part of the SADC mission, but at least two were deployed as part of a separate United Nations peacekeeping mission. Elsewhere, three Malawian troops in the SADC deployment were also killed.
The mission was sent to the eastern DRC in December 2023 to help the government restore peace and security amid attacks by armed groups including M23.
SADC chairperson and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for a “greater sense of urgency” to end the fighting, which he said has caused instability beyond the DRC’s borders.
Inclusive dialogue was essential, he said, adding that a review of the mandate in DRC was “timely”.
Angola’s presidential office announced late on Wednesday that direct talks between the DRC and M23 would begin next week.
“Following the steps taken by the Angolan mediation … delegations from the DRC and the M23 will begin direct peace talks on March 18 in the city of Luanda,” it said.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco had earlier met Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who had previously refused to engage in dialogue with M23, as demanded by Rwanda. Kinshasa previously said it would talk to Kigali, which it accuses of backing M23.
Meanwhile Democratic Alliance (DA) pointed out that while it welcomed the SADC’s decision to withdraw troops from the DRC, it will be complicated, and it urged Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga to ensure that a significant amount of combat equipment, which it said could fall into the hands of M23 rebels, is not left behind.
The DA said the decision to withdraw troops was a step in the right direction after the dire conditions the soldiers had been enduring.