South Africa has recently deployed additional troops and military equipment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following the deaths of 14 soldiers in battles with Rwanda-backed rebels last month.
In response to the escalating situation, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has urgently dispatched an infantry battalion and a paratrooper quick response force to the eastern DRC to bolster their presence on the ground.
This reinforcement comes amid concerns that the fighting in eastern Congo could ignite a wider conflict in a region that has seen genocide, cross-border wars, and numerous uprisings over the past three decades.
According to flight data reviewed by Reuters, transport aircraft have been flying from South Africa to Lubumbashi in southern Congo. An airport employee confirmed the arrival of military planes last week.
Chris Hattingh, a South African lawmaker, indicated via text message to Reuters that there has been a troop build-up in the Lubumbashi area, estimating that 700-800 soldiers had been flown in. Hattingh, the defense spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance, mentioned that it was challenging to determine the exact situation as parliament’s defense committee had not been briefed.
A spokesperson for SANDF stated on Friday that they were unaware of the deployment to Lubumbashi and declined to comment further on Monday. A spokesperson for the Congolese army also could not confirm or deny the deployment.
Lubumbashi is located about 1,500 km (930 miles) south of Goma, an eastern city near Rwanda’s border that was seized by M23 rebels last month. The offensive in Goma has resulted in over 2,000 deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
South Africa is believed to have approximately 3,000 troops deployed in Congo, serving both as part of a UN peacekeeping mission and a Southern African regional force assisting the Congolese army in combating the M23 insurgency.
The intervention has faced criticism at home, especially after the fall of Goma left South African soldiers surrounded without a clear exit strategy.
“They’re extremely poorly resourced and equipped,” said Kobus Marais, who previously served as the DA’s shadow defense minister before the party joined a governing coalition last year. “This is not our war.”
Marais, now a defense analyst, mentioned that the flights to Lubumbashi carried medicine, ammunition, and consumables. The additional troops are intended to assist in case of further clashes and act as a deterrent as negotiations to end the fighting begin.
An IL-76 cargo plane with the tail number EX-76008 made five round-trip flights from Pretoria to Lubumbashi between January 30 and February 7, according to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24.
An employee at Lubumbashi airport informed Reuters that several rotations of aircraft bringing troops and equipment had been observed. Three diplomats and a minister from a regional country confirmed the deployment.
With M23 rebels controlling Goma’s airport, South African troops there are cut off from resupplies.
The conflict in the region has roots in the Rwandan genocide, which led to two successive wars in the 1990s and 2000s, drawing in multiple neighboring countries and resulting in millions of deaths, primarily from hunger and disease.
Uganda and Burundi, already with thousands of troops in eastern Congo, are reinforcing their positions.
The current SANDF deployment as part of SAMIDRC is not the first time South Africa’s military has faced the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. M23, named after the defunct 23 March 2009 peace agreement, re-emerged in late 2021 after nearly a decade of dormancy. The group, mainly composed of Congolese Tutsis, has long been accused of receiving covert support from Rwanda, which argues that its involvement is a defensive response to Kinshasa’s alleged harboring of Hutu génocidaires linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Rwanda and Uganda denies accusations of supporting M23 with troops, while African leaders have urged both parties to engage in talks.
South Africa’s initial involvement dates back to 2013 when SANDF troops joined the UN’s Force Intervention Brigade to suppress M23’s first uprising. The operation was temporarily successful, but the rebels regrouped with better tactics and weaponry. By 2023, M23 had seized key mining towns like Rubaya, significantly affecting Kinshasa’s revenue streams and advancing their territorial ambitions.
South Africa has about 1,200 personnel deployed as part of SAMIDRC, including infantry, mechanized units, special forces, and Rooivalk attack helicopters. This multinational intervention focuses on North Kivu province, where the conflict intertwines ethnic strife, resource exploitation, and regional power dynamics.
The United Nations mission in the DRC has activated Operation Springbok III in response to M23 rebels advancing on Goma. Led by UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Special Representative, Bintou Keita, the operation involves two battalions, a Special Forces platoon, and an artillery battery as part of a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) to counter the offensive.
Non-essential UN personnel have been temporarily relocated for safety, while those remaining in Goma continue essential UN operations. The relocation does not affect the UN’s commitment to providing humanitarian aid and protecting civilians in North Kivu.
