South Africa’s troop deployment in eastern DR Congo continues to raise dust at home with opposition political parties demanding a judicial commission of inquiry into South African National Defence Forces’ (SANDF) failure and shortcomings of its “ill-conceived” mission. Members of the National Assembly also called for the resignation of the defence minister on Monday, February 10, as the country had not come to terms with the fact of losing of 14 soldiers in the troubled eastern DR Congo in late January. The SANDF deployed its troops alongside those from Tanzania and Malawi under the controversial Southern African Development Community Mission in DR Congo (SAMIDRC) to shore up a coalition of Congolese armed forces, European mercenaries and the genocidal FLDR, Burundian forces and Wazalendo militia in the war against the M23 rebels. ALSO READ: SADC mission in DR Congo should withdraw, says South African defence analyst The M23 rebels overran Goma city resulting in the Congolese army surrendering to the M23 rebels. Up to 300 mercenaries crossed into Rwanda where they were given safe passage back to their country. Up to 14 SANDF soldiers were killed when the rebels advanced towards Goma. There are reports suggesting that the South Africa soldiers are now confined to their bases in Sake and Goma airport with the M23 controlling their movement and those of other forces from the SAMIDRC. ALSO READ: Rwanda offers passage for bodies of South African soldiers However, South African media reported on Tuesday that the country had reinforced its beleaguered contingent in DR Congo with 700-800 soldiers. During a parliamentary debate on Monday, South African opposition leaders demanded answers to the mission’s failure. Leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) Pieter Groenewald said President Cyril Ramaphosa should set up a judicial commission of inquiry to among others, investigate whether “certain generals insisted that the President should be informed of the defence forces’ shortcomings and consequent inability to proceed with the mission”. He some military generals withheld “important information” on SANDF shortcomings and its inability to “proceed with the mission” in DR Congo. He accused senior generals of desperately trying to hide the SANDF’s ineptitude and decline. Groenewald said the recent deaths of South African soldiers in eastern DR Congo mirrored the 2013 Battle of Bangui in Central African Republic that left 15 South African soldiers dead. Groenewald, a former Commando officer, noted in-depth analysis and investigation is “always done” by the military in the wake of events such as the Bangui confrontation with Seleka rebels and prior to that the 1998 Operation Boleas in Lesotho – also an SADC mission. Specifically on the Bangui fiasco, Groenewald told the National Assembly that “12 years later history repeated itself”. Groenewald and MPs from other parties pointed to the lack of logistical and air support as well as outdated weaponry as contributing factors to the inability of the South African contingent in DR Congo. The African Christian Democratic Party’s Steve Swart backed the call for an judicial inquiry, saying the soldiers’ deaths were damaging to the SANDF's reputation. The Democratic Alliance (DA) also called for the resignation of Defence Minister Angie Motshekga. ActionSA's Athol Trollip agreed, said the soldiers had been set up for failure and ultimately death and called for their withdrawal from the DR Congo and a halt to future deployments subject to a defence review commission. Minister Angie Motshekga must resign or be fired by the end of the day. Our troops must return before the end of this month,’ Trollip said. “All those responsible for the ill-conceived deployment, inadequate logistical support, and ineffectual command ought to be charged with culpable dereliction.” Mmusi Maimane, leader of Build One South Africa, said the defence minister was out of her depth, adding that it was clear that South Africa's role in the conflict was not one of peacekeeping, but a belligerent one. DA MP Chris Hattingh said: “One day we will know the real reasons that President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Angie Motshekga as the Minister of Defence. For now, it’s simple, it doesn’t make sense. We agree that they are right, it doesn’t make sense. Let me make this clear. We need to withdraw from [DR Congo] immediately and that Minister Motshekga must go, honourably or otherwise. The time for excuses is over.” A respected South African defence expert, Helmoed Heitman, last week said SAMIDRC was a complete failure and therefore the regional bloc should negotiate a withdrawal from DR Congo.
