South Africa has said it will withdraw troops from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO). In statement on Sunday, February 8, the mission said it had been informed by the UN Secretariat that South Africa will be withdrawing its remaining contingents and troops from MONUSCO. ALSO READ: South African MPs call for inquiry into troop deployment to DR Congo The decision to withdraw from one of UN's most expensive and longest serving missions comes as the South Africa n government faces pressure to reviews military operations abroad amid issues of ineptitude and decline of the South African National Defence Forces (SANDF). This also comes less than one year after the withdrawal of South Africa-led SADC mission in eastern DR Congo, which fought alongside the Congolese army in the war against the AFC/M23 rebels. ALSO READ: South Africa has no better option than withdrawal from Congo: expert The SADC mission, which also comprised troops from Malawi and Tanzania, was forced to withdraw after the Congolese government coalition lost the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu to the rebels. The coalition included Burundian troops, the FDLR genocidal militia, European mercenaries and local armed groups known as Wazalendo. South Africa had contributed troops to MONUSCO since the mission's first deployment in 1999, then called MONUC. As of October 2025, at least 750 South African troops were deployed in the mission, according to UN Peacekeeping. ALSO READ: MONUSCO will leave a trail of failures - experts The 27-year-old mission, which has a budget of over $1 billion every year, has been accused of failing to end cycles of violence in conflict-ridden eastern DR Congo, where more than 200 armed groups operate. MONUSCO, whose mandate was extended by one year in December 2025, has about 16,000 uniformed personnel, including some 14,000 military troops.
