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SANDF DRC Calamity Continues

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance calls on the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, to urgently brief Parliament on the deteriorating and calamitous situation in the DRC, with 9 soldiers killed in action and many more wounded in the past two days.

As our hearts go out to their families, we will not rest until we get answers and we hear a plan from the Minister to safeguard the SA base and personnel on the ground.

It is unacceptable that while SA soldiers are marched to their deaths, while the President, who ordered the deployment, sit locked in internal party scuffles, fighting internal party battles, at the ANC Lekgotla.

It is just as unacceptable that the Minister of Defence, Angie Motshekga and her generals, in stark contrast to the plight of the wounded SANDF soldiers, flew out of Goma yesterday in a luxury VIP Falcon jet, leaving behind wounded soldiers with no SANDF air support available for them.

President Cyril Ramaphosa sent the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the full knowledge that our troops were unprepared; that the mission could not be won; and that our fiscus could not afford it.

The crisis has now escalated to the United National Security Council, where South Africa’s recklessness in this conflict will damage our reputation.

A report to Members of Parliament in both Houses will help determine how best we withdraw the SANDF from eastern DRC and engage with regional and international partners to seek a solution.

While frontline services face budget cuts, the Department was still allocated an additional R2bn in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). This is despite the Department’s disastrous financial management, with unauthorised expenditure of R3.4bn in their latest audits.

With additional funding, our troops were still surrounded by rebels and killed.

The SANDF crisis in the DRC is as a result of a political decision by the Commander in Chief, Mr Ramaphosa, costing lives, our international reputation, and critical government resources.

Regards

Chris Hattingh MP
DA Spokesperson on Defence & Military Veterans

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