Malema slams SA’s DRC mission, says rebels undermined soldiers

EFF leader, Julius Malema, has echoed calls for the more than 2 000 South African troops, currently stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to be recalled.

The call follows the death of two South African soldiers and the injury of three others amid the escalating conflict in that region.

The soldiers were deployed to beef up the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) peace-keeping force that has taken over from the Kenyan-led East African Force (EAF), which left in December.

Its seeks to help the DRC stop the Tutsi-led M23 rebels from taking over the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma.

Since their departure earlier this week, opposition parties including the Democratic Alliance and the EFF have slammed the mission, saying South Africa does not have the capacity or resources to justify the deployment.

Malema says the recent rebel attack has undermined South Africa’s military efforts.

 

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed the country’s commitment to ensuring peace on the African continent.

The President has urged his naysayers to consider that in any war situation, there are people who will fall.

South Africa has previously deployed troops to the DRC, where SADC troops forced the M23 to retreat.

SANDF deployment to DRC 🇨🇩

“Cyril Ramaphosa wants to kill our children in DRC, our troops are sent there to be killed because they are not properly trained, they must come back home and we must stop with any military deployment” EFF leader Julius Malema
Dear @Julius_S_Malema it… pic.twitter.com/FUVBJwflgx

— Manzi Willy (@RealManziWilly) February 15, 2024

 

We cannot stay silent in the face of the ongoing genocide in DR Congo. The atrocities happening there demand our immediate attention and action as a country.#FreeCongo #StopGenocide #StandWithCongo #SANDF pic.twitter.com/piwQICtotW

— Bonga zamisa (@Bongazamisa) February 13, 2024

 

Our @SANDF_ZA mara South Africa like to take chances bafethu unfit fat pigs we must admit we don’t have army in South Africa #SANDF pic.twitter.com/UXyatmCNAK

— uMashonisa_ZA  (@uMashonisa_ZA) February 15, 2024

 

 

One defence analyst believes that South Africa’s soldiers lack the necessary resources to execute their peacekeeping mission in the DRC. The SANDF has come for a lot of criticism after two soldiers were killed and three injured, in a mortar attack on their base in the DRC.… pic.twitter.com/qUvQdcihRb

— eNCA (@eNCA) February 15, 2024