Last Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote to the National Assembly informing it of his decision to extend the deployment of SA’s troops in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In terms of the notice, which he is required to serve to parliament, Ramaphosa extends the mission to December 20. For more than a decade, SA has had nearly 3,000 soldiers deployed there to help fight off the rebels fighting the elected government of the DRC.
By all accounts, the mission, under the auspices of the UN, has failed to achieve its stated goals. The eastern DRC is run by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
All the Southern African countries, including SA, Malawi and Tanzania, have lost soldiers thanks to attacks by the rebels. Early this year, SA lost two who came under attack in their base. Most recently, two more soldiers took their own lives.
Ramaphosa’s letter to parliament is unlikely to attract much attention. After all, SA’s political parties are involved in campaigning ahead of next month’s general elections. Still, this ill-advised extension deserves interrogation. Both the DA and EFF are opposed to the continued deployment of our troops under the current circumstances.
In principle, this newspaper supports SA’s participation in peacemaking missions across our continent. However, we don’t support sending our soldiers to their deaths.
Over the past few years, the government’s austerity measures have seen all budgets being cut to the bone. The defence budget was not spared these cuts. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the former defence minister and now corruption accused, did nothing to stop these cuts.
Since the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal of the 1990s, the first by SA’s post-apartheid government, SA has not beefed up its navy, air and ground capability. Denel, the state-owned arms maker, was almost brought to its knees by state capture.
Our troops in the DRC have no credible air support. Without this, they are sitting ducks waiting for their deaths at the hands of rebels. This is unacceptable.
Foreign deployments are always controversial. They are necessary support to diplomatic efforts, yet their execution is never free from corruption.
The DRC situation brings its own complications. Key among them is the involvement of Rwanda. In a way, troops deployed by the Southern African Development Community are effectively fighting Rwanda.
For its part, Rwanda, which has just commemorated 30 years since the genocide of its Tutsi minority, prizes its newfound peace. When Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front stopped the genocide, it repelled the Hutu majority, perpetrators of the genocide, to the neighbouring DRC. Kigali justifies its support of the M23 rebels as part of ensuring its own security. This argument is hard to sell to many, including in Pretoria.
Ramaphosa’s letter did not answer crucial questions about the deployment. These include: was Rwanda’s role in the DRC conflict discussed during his recent meeting with Kagame and are there any new support measures being implemented to ensure our troops are not put in harm’s way?
South Africans deserve answers to these questions.
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