The withdrawal of the SADC forces from DR Congo is scheduled to be completed by the end of May, according to the South African military chief. The withdrawal from AFC/M23 rebel-controlled Goma city through Rwanda began on April 29, with an advance team of 57 troops and 13 trucks of equipment from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania, Gen Rudzani Maphwanya, chief of the South African National Defence Forces (SANDF), told a press briefing on Sunday, May 4. ALSO READ: DR Congo: Exiting SADC troops pass through Rwanda The troops will continue to pass through Rwanda to the Tanzanian port town of Chato, from where they will depart to their respective countries, he said. “Today as we speak, the second batch will be going, and this movement will be concluded by the end of this month,” said the South African military chief. The New Times understands that SADC troops arrived in the border city of Rubavu on Sunday afternoon for the second phase of their withdrawal. The South Africa-led SADC mission to conflict-hit eastern DR Congo was deployed in December 2023 to shore up a Congolese government coalition fighting the M23 rebels. The rebels have mounted an offensive since January this year, capturing key cities of Goma and Bukavu as well as nearby territories, including bases of SADC forces. ALSO READ: Kinshasa, AFC/M23 rebels agree on ceasefire at Qatar talks Maphwanya noted that the SADC secretariat had requested Rwanda to allow the troops to pass through its territory to Tanzania after efforts to airlift them from Goma airport failed. The SADC forces withdrawal began amid renewed efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully, with M23 and the Congolese government having agreed on a ceasefire on April 23 following days of Qatar-mediated talks. Despite the losses made by the Congolese army, SADC forces and their allied genocidal militia FDLR since January, the South African military chief insisted that the withdrawal was “a technical move that allows peace and mediation to continue.” ALSO READ: Defeated Congolese soldiers leave M23-contolled Goma “The rest of the South Africans, and SADC members will move out of Goma and Sake [through Rwanda] and they will disperse from the assembly area, which is in Tanzania,” Maphwanya said. He declined to reveal the number of SADC troops remaining in eastern DR Congo, citing security and safety reasons. “The movement, and the repatriation, is for both equipment and personnel. SADC is not leaving even a pin in eastern DR Congo,” he said. The South African government faced a lot of pressure to withdraw its troops from DR Congo after 14 SANDF were killed in the battlefield. Maphwanya said the fallen soldiers have been buried and all the wounded in action and others who were ill had been repatriated. “We are not cowing away,” he said, “we are withdrawing in a systematically phased manner.”
