Four more SA National Defence Force (SANDF) members have died in escalating conflict between Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, bringing the total number of SA casualties to 13.
This comes as a truce has been brokered between the SANDF forces and the M23 to allow the South Africans access to medical supplies.
“We need to access medical facilities for those who require medical attention,” SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini told Business Day. However, he did not indicate which supplies were required and for how long the truce would last between the two opposing forces.
A video circulating on various social media platforms since Monday showed SANDF members raising a white flag at the M23 fighters, possibly indicating surrender, which Dlamini has denied.
In a statement, the SANDF said: “The footage in question depicts a white flag raised, which is an outcome of discussions between the opposing fighting forces to agree on a truce, to allow M23 to recover their dead and injured in the vicinity of our base.
“This will also open the route for our troops to access medical facilities. This is common practice in any war.”
M23 rebels said they had taken control of the city of Goma on Sunday, a key hub in the conflict between M23 and the DRC armed forces.
The SANDF says the latest casualties were caught in a crossfire near Goma International Airport, close to the SANDF base.
“The M23 rebels launched several mortar bombs in the direction of Goma Airport, which landed on the SANDF base, and this resulted in the SANDF losing three members,” the SANDF said in a statement.
“One of our members who was injured during the battle with M23 rebels over the past three days later succumbed to injuries. The rest of the injured members continue to receive medical attention at Level 3 Hospital in Goma.”
The SA soldiers are part of the UN Stabilisation Mission in DRC (Monusco) and Sadc mission in DRC (SAMIDRC) and will remain in the area as peacekeepers, the SANDF said.
In a phone discussion held on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, agreed that a ceasefire must resume and peace negotiations must begin.
The presidency said: “The two heads of state have agreed on the urgent need for a ceasefire and the resumption of peace talks by all parties to the conflict.”
In an address to the Oxford Union in London on Monday, minister of international relations & co-operation (Dirco) Ronald Lamola called for the DRC and Rwanda to renew diplomatic dialogue.
SA previously called for the withdrawal of Rwanda’s forces from the region and for Kigali to halt its support of M23, saying actions of the rebel group contravened the ceasefire brokered through the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes.
Lamola’s remarks follow the DRC severing all diplomatic ties with Rwanda by recalling its diplomats from Kigali. DRC has told Rwanda to cease diplomatic and consular activities in the DRC capital within 48 hours, according to reports by Reuters.
“We call upon the UN to leverage its resources and mechanisms to ensure that states providing arms and assistance to third-party forces are held accountable for violations against other nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Lamola said.
Pikkie Greeff, national secretary of the SA National Defence Union (Sandu), said the union, which has called on government to be more transparent regarding the safety of its members in the deadly war, had received no feedback.
Sandu has previously raised concerns that the soldiers are ill-equipped compared to M23, citing major budget cuts to the defence force in recent years.
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