The SANDF has pledged a number of entities to the largest mission in Africa in its bid to help the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in its stabilisation and peace consolidation efforts.
THE SANDF has pledged a number of entities to the largest mission in Africa in its bid to help the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in its stabilisation and peace consolidation efforts.
RSA Battalion public information officer Major Anele Cengani said the SANDF pledged the Infantry Battalion Group, Composite Helicopter Unit, Tactical Intelligence Unit, Quick Reaction Force and Air Medical Evacuation Team. South Africa has close to 1,500 military personnel deployed under the umbrella of Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République Démocratique du Congo (Monusco).
Monusco took over from an earlier UN peacekeeping operation – the UN Mission in the DRC.
“The mission has been authorised to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating, among other things, to the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the government of the DRC in its stabilisation and peace consolidation efforts,” Cengani said.
Cengani added that since July 25, 2022, anti-Monusco protests have raged on in the eastern region of the DRC. The protest was called by a faction of the youth wing of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) ruling party, which said in a statement that it was demanding the immediate withdrawal of the UN peacekeepers over what it described as their ineffectiveness. Demonstrators have accused Monusco of failing to protect civilians from armed groups operating across eastern DRC.
“The violence started in Goma when several hundred people stormed and vandalised the Monusco headquarters and a supply base. The unrest spread to nearby towns and cities, including Butembo, where protesters fired upon United Nations personnel at the base there, killing three mission members,” Cengani said.
“Thirty-six people, including four United Nations peacekeepers, have died in the past few weeks as hundreds of protesters vandalised and set fire to United Nations buildings in several cities in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“All South African peacekeepers are safe and accounted for following the deadly anti-United Nations protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The situation is currently calm and under discussion on a strategic level by the United Nations and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Cengani added.
