Regional
South Africa to seek AU support for regional troop deployment in DRC
The
government of South Africa is lobbying the African Union (AU) for financial
support to prop up operations of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) force deployed to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
reportedly to tackle armed groups there, it emerges, a day after reports
indicated that Pretoria had decided to send 2,900 troops to the volatile east
of DRC.
The
SADC mission that started on December 15, 2023, is set to run for a year, as
per the initial arrangements. The advance group from Malawi and South Africa
started operations in DRC on December 18, 2023, with a second South African
group arriving two days later. In early January 2024, Tanzania also deployed in
troops to the mission referred to as SAMIDRC.
Before
details about the deployment were announced, a source from the SADC Secretariat
revealed that the SADC troops would not be sent to DRC due to financial issues.
When
southern African leaders met in May 2023, it was assessed that the force of
some 5,000 troops, was budgeted to cost about $554 million for its first year
of operation in DRC. The bloc’s member states disagreed on providing the funds
as Kinshasa failed to pay its annual remittance to SADC of $10 million.
It is
unclear how much funds SADC managed to provide so far, but sources from the
bloc’s Secretariat say financial wrangles regarding the regional troop
deployment persist.
Sources
from the UN Security Council say that during the organ’s meeting on February
12, it was revealed that there were ongoing discussions for SAMIDRC to be the
first African peacekeeping mission to receive UN funds in line with the UNSC
resolution on financing AU-led peace support operations.
Unfortunately,
key members, China and Russia, opposed the request, saying the UN cannot afford
to finance two peacekeeping missions on DRC’s territory. The UN mission in DRC,
MONUSCO, is the most expensive UN mission historically, with an annual cost of
about $1 billion.
Sources
from Kinshasa say South Africa is the only country pushing for the UN to
finance SAMIDRC. But, the UN Security Council "is divided" on the
deployment of SAMIDRC, as some members continue to question the role of the
SADC mission.
Having
lost hope from the UN, sources say, "South Africa is now approaching the
AU seeking advocacy" and support for financing SAMIDRC.
SAMIDRC
was initiated by SADC but South Africa has been turning every stone to nurture
the mission, as Pretoria has a hidden agenda behind the deployment: mineral
deals.
Right
after the SAMIDRC deployment, the South African National Defence Force’s first
mission was to fight off the M23 rebels from their captured territory in Sake,
some 25 kilometers north-west of Goma, and precisely attempting to take control
of Rubaya mine in Masisi, North Kivu Province.
The
Rubaya mines are a series of coltan mining sites near the town of Rubaya in
Masisi Territory where tons of the strategic mineral have been, for years,
extracted and exported.
The
SANDF’s mission in Rubaya was clear, from the very start. The South African
army is protecting its country’s interests, disregarding the plight of the
Congolese people who are suffering.
For
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, there is a personal catch in securing
Rubaya.
In
this regard, the more SAMIDRC is strengthened and stays in eastern DRC, the
more South Africa will extract and export minerals from the volatile mineral
rich country.
Since
their deployment, SADC troops have backed inhumane activities targeting Kinyarwanda
speaking Congolese being carried out by the Congolese army coalition of
Burundian troops, Eastern European mercenaries, Wazalendo militia, and FDLR, a
Rwandan terrorist group formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
In
October 2023, South Africa ordered home eight soldiers accused of sexual
misconduct in DRC. They were part of the present UN peacekeeping mission,
MONUSCO, in the troubled country.
The UN
said the men were linked to "systematic widespread violation" of the
organisation's rules.
SANDF
has never been in DRC to protect Congolese nor fight negative armed groups. The
South African armed forces deployed in eastern DRC to protect mines "so
that President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cronies can plunder minerals in the east
of the country with ease," a South African lawmaker who preferred
anonymity said.