South African troops deployed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo under the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) are in a dire situation and desperate to return home.
South African soldiers in the eastern DR Congo reportedly told a South African broadcaster eNCA that they are desperate to come back home. The media reports said over a thousand South African troops in Goma are vulnerable and running out of food and supplies.
This comes amid growing calls on the South African government to withdraw its troops from the eastern DR Congo because their mission has dismally collapsed.
“Communication from the troops exposes the lack of support and direction from South African authorities. Troops are struggling with lack of food and access to much needed supplies,” the channel reported, adding that the military labour organisation South African National Defence Union (Sandu) was receiving messages of distress from soldiers.
“They are not safe, the situation is too volatile,” Sandu National Secretary Pikkie Greeff was quoted as saying. “The truth of the matter is, they are now bargaining chips in a greater scheme of things, especially because they are surrounded, there is no way of getting them out there to extract them especially in a military sense”.
Defence and security experts have called on the South African government to withdraw its troops from the eastern DR Congo, saying their mandate in the conflict-ridden region was questionable.
The South African National Defence Forces troops are leading the Southern African Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) deployed to shore up the Congolese army against the M23 rebels. Tanzania and Malawi also contributed troops to the SADC mission.
The Congolese army is fighting alongside the Burundian army, the genocidal FDLR which comprises remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi is Rwanda and several armed militias known as Wazalendo as well as European mercenaries.
The coalition has failed to stop the M23 which has seized Goma, the capital of the North Kivu and Bukavu the South Kivu capital.
Last week, close to 200 of SAMIDRC soldiers, who were wounded during combat or needed medical attention, were repatriated after they were granted safe passage through Rwanda.
Several FDLR fighters including commanders were captured and handed over to Rwanda.
South African troops have surrendered and their camps are surrounded by M23 rebels in Goma and Sake while over 300 mercenaries have since surrendered and were given safe passage to their country by Rwanda.
Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera has ordered the withdrawal of his country’s troops.
The state of South African troops is in the spotlight, after 14 members were killed in late January and close to 200 others injured in Goma.
According to the reports, communication from the SANDF troops exposes the lack of support and direction from South African authorities. Troops are struggling with lack of food and access to much needed supplies.
Defence and security expert John Supard says South Africa should accept to surrender, take the loss and get the SANDF soldiers out of eastern DR Congo in “one piece”.
The country’s Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga previously told MPs that SANDF contingents in both the SAMIDRC and MONUSCO missions “had sufficient military equipment” including “ammunition and defensive capabilities” when they engaged in battle with the M23 rebels in late January.
