Withdrawal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), terminated in mid-March, is finally underway.
Equipment and personnel from the three SAMIDRC troop contributing countries (TCCs) – Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania – are being withdrawn from bases in Goma and Sake.
The regional bloc mission was deployed to the eastern DRC in December 2023 with a 12 month mandate, later extended by a further year before calling a halt to operations in the wake of a fatality and casualty filled January.
Business Day reports sources in the South African contingent saying the order to start packing came just ahead of last weekend. The publication further reports equipment and personnel will move in multiple convoys via Burundi and Rwanda to Chato in north-western Tanzania. The Lake Victoria port town, 500 km from Goma and Sake, will be the staging point ahead of force contingents splitting for repatriation to their respective home countries.
“We are leaving nothing behind,” a South African soldier is reported as saying, with another on record as saying “As far as we know, the group’s quick reaction force (QRF) will leave last to provide protection for the tail of the entire convoy.”
The QRF was reportedly in the vanguard of the January battle to maintain control of Goma airport. The QRF, again according to Business Day, “sowed havoc” among M23 (Mouvement du 23 Mars) rebels killing more than 700 in “fierce fire fights” at and around the airport.
There was at the time of publication no update from either SADC, the East African Community (EAC) or the Directorate Corporate Communication (DCC) of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) on the withdrawal. This was further illustrated by an unidentified South African soldier saying “as far as we know, we will be flown out of Chato to Bloemfontein”. He had no information on movement of armoured vehicles and heavy equipment.
“Our orders say by May 30 everyone and everything needs to be out of Goma and on its way. It was chaos over the weekend, but nobody is complaining because we’re finally going home,” one soldier is reported as saying.
defenceWeb understands that the move has begun, with artillery being moved as from Tuesday 29 April. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels controlling Goma and Sake have apparently been inspecting outgoing SAMIDRC equipment, much to the irritation of soldiers.
The pack up and go orders correspond with the plan the defence chiefs of the three SAMIDRC TCC proposed at an 11 April meeting in Dar es Salaam with SADC representatives. The chiefs voiced frustration about the delay in SADC repairing and preparing the Goma airport runway still held by the rebels.
They proposed the withdrawal, earlier agreed to by M23 senior military hierarchy, continue by road. The SADC secretariat had to obtain Rwandan approval for safe passage through the country. It was later reported in Rwandan media that President Paul Kagame approved secure passage for SAMIDRC.
A technical advance team from the three TCCs was assembled to ensure which route troop convoys were to take as the safest and fastest. The team included operations, intelligence and logistic experts who also had to provide reconnaissance while the withdrawal was under way. According to soldiers, a contingent of South African and other forces is in Chato to co-ordinate repatriation of troops and equipment.
Seventeen SAMIDRC soldiers, including 14 South Africans, died in what has become known as the Battle for Goma in late january. Numerous own forces were seriously injured in the three-day battle.
The SAMIDRC deployment was criticised by military specialists and soldiers for the seeming haphazard and ill-prepared way in which South African forces, as the leading country, were sent to eastern DRC, without air support and proper logistics.
