Withdraw South African soldiers from DRC at once 

2 March 2024

While the South African government advocates peace for Ukraine and dragged Israel to the International Criminal Court to put an end to its military action against Hamas, it appears quite happy with the fact that its own soldiers are being killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

A total of 2 900 soldiers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were deployed to the DRC, but should be withdrawn from the country as soon as possible.

Government only sent its soldiers there in an attempt to polish its image in Africa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to think it is good enough to express condolences to the loved ones of the soldiers who perish in the ongoing conflict in the DRC.

Last month, two soldiers were killed and three injured in a mortar bomb attack on a military base in the eastern part of the country. And it came to light today that another two soldiers have died.

The details of the circumstances surrounding the incident are vague, but according to media reports, one soldier shot and killed a comrade-in-arms before turning the gun on himself.

If those are the facts, it indicates that morale among these soldiers is dangerously low. They do not understand why their lives are being endangered in a conflict that has nothing to do with South Africa.

Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 2 March 2024