A Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit on Thursday terminated the mandate of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and directed the phased withdrawal of troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo, nearly two months after more than a dozen soldiers were killed fighting M23 rebels.
The Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the SADC was held on 13 March in Harare, Zimbabwe, to deliberate on the security situation in the DRC. It was attended by a dozen heads of state and several senior SADC ministers. From South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa took part.
In a communique following the summit, the SADC said it received the latest updates on the security situation in the Eastern DRC and considered the Report on the SAMIDRC Mandate from the Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit which was held on 6 March.
It noted “with grave concern the continued deterioration of the security situation in the Eastern DRC, including the capturing of Goma and Bukavu, and the blockage of the main supply routes, making it difficult for humanitarian aid to flow.”
After briefly mentioning the termination of the SAMIDRC mandate and “commencement of a phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops from the DRC,” the SADC emphasised its dedication to addressing the ongoing conflict in the DRC and “reaffirmed its commitment to support interventions aimed at bringing lasting peace and security in the Eastern DRC, in line with the SADC Mutual Defence Pact of 2003.”
SADC nations reaffirmed their commitment to continue supporting the DRC in its pursuit of safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, as well as sustainable peace, security and development.
This includes through political and diplomatic solutions with all parties including state, non-state parties, military and non-military in the Eastern DRC.
As part of peace efforts, the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes have been merged, and more facilitators have been added to enhance the peace-building process.
The decision to terminate SAMIDRC comes after weeks of speculation that the mission would be dissolved following the deaths of 18 SADC troops in fighting around Goma and Sake in North Kivu in late January. Fourteen South African soldiers were killed. Malawi announced its withdrawal from SAMIDRC following the capture of Goma by M23 rebels and the loss of several of its troops.
At Thursday’s meeting, the summit “expressed its deepest condolences to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republics of South Africa and Malawi, and the United Republic of Tanzania, and to the families of the deceased soldiers who lost their lives while serving under the SAMIDRC and wished those injured a speedy recovery.”
Hundreds of SAMIDRC troops, including from South Africa, remain under M23 control in Sake and Goma. Efforts to extract them are expected to move forward now that SAMIDRC’s mandate has been officially terminated.
The 16-member SADC deployed its mission in the DRC in December 2023 to help the Congolese army fight rebel groups, but only South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi deployed troops. South Africa also has about 1 000 troops deployed in the DRC with the United Nations’ Monusco mission.
Thursday’s summit comes a day after Angola announced that peace talks between the DRC and the Rwanda-backed M23 would begin next week. Angola’s presidential office said, “Following the steps taken by the Angolan mediation… delegations from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 will begin direct peace talks on 18 March in the city of Luanda.”
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi had previously refused to engage in dialogue with the M23 as demanded by Rwanda. Rwanda is estimated to have at least 4 000 troops in the DRC supporting the M23.
Pikkie Greeff, South African National Defence Union (Sandu) National Secretary, acknowledged the SAMIDRC withdrawal “with relief, particularly for the SANDF personnel who remain in a precarious situation. Over the past two months, they have endured immense hardship, and we welcome any steps that will ensure their safe return.”
Sandu said it trusts that concrete plans and negotiations are underway to facilitate an orderly and secure withdrawal. “However, we caution that this phase of the process is highly sensitive and must be handled with the utmost care.”
African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier also welcomed the SAMIDRC withdrawal. “In my view, although this has taken far too long, South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi did the right thing to ignore knee-jerk calls for immediate withdrawal while bringing SAMIDRC’s ongoing status into the EAC-SADC negotiation process along with a formal SADC mandate termination.”
“As I and many others have said several times, it has been clear ever since M23 captured Goma that SAMIDRC’s mandate was no longer viable and that the mission should be ended and the troops withdrawn. A mandate termination was all but inevitable.”
He believes that the SADC will want an orderly withdrawal, with equipment and weaponry intact, as part of the overarching East Africa Community-SADC negotiations process. “That would likely also require repairing the Goma Airport runway, as most equipment can only be airlifted out. M23 and Rwanda have previously signalled opposition to re-opening the airport and allowing a full withdrawal with equipment intact, so their response to this is crucial.”
The Department of Defence was allocated R5 billion for South Africa’s SAMIDRC contribution over the next five years, “but that was contingency funding until it was clear what the outcome of the SADC process would be. With the withdrawal happening, some of the R5 billion will be used for that and the rest re-allocated by Treasury away from defence,” Olivier stated.
