The mortal remains of the 14 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers who were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last month are on their way back to South Africa following delays in the repatriation process.
Originally expected home on Wednesday 5 February and then Friday 7 February, the Department of Defence said in a statement that the movement is now underway, and is being carried out by the United Nations (UN).
“It is expected that by tomorrow [Saturday 8 February] afternoon East African Time (EAT), they will arrive in Entebbe and the bodies will be prepared for transportation by air to South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania,” Department of Defence Head of Communication Siphiwe Dlamini said on Friday.
Dlamini explained that there were delays encountered for the movement of the remains of the deceased from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the UN Logistics Base in Entebbe, Uganda. He added that further updates will be communicated.
On Friday, photos emerged showing the remains of the 14 South African as well as four Tanzanian and Malawian soldiers being transported by road from Goma via Rwanda to Entebbe. The soldiers were killed between 23 and 27 January during the Rwanda-backed M23 advance on Sake and Goma.
The United Nations said Entebbe was chosen as a transit point because its base there has a Level III hospital that services its missions in the region.
Defence expert Dean Wingrin pointed out that the easiest option for repatriation would have been to fly the soldiers out of Goma Airport, which is controlled by M23 rebels and Rwandan forces, but instead Rwanda is extracting “every opportunity for propaganda purposes.”
African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier said that “forcing the use of Kigali as an exit is blackmail for optics, as there’s no reason Rwanda and M23 could not re-open Goma Airport and allow repatriation via that route.”
“Holding foreign contingents hostage and giving them just enough food and water to survive is not benevolence,” he added in reference to South African and other Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) forces being held against their will in Goma.
On the sidelines of the annual Presidential Golf Challenge (PGC) held at the Atlantic Beach Golf Estate in Melkbosstrand, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday said authorities were working around the clock with the United Nation and the South African Defence Force to bring back the remains of those who fell in the DRC.
“We’re working fervently, and when we get to Tanzania to have the summit tomorrow, I’m hoping that we will not only deal with what has happened in the recent past, but we will deal with issues that revolve around a ceasefire and finding a permanent solution to the problems that have dogged the DRC for the longest time,” he said.
Ramaphosa will be off to Tanzania on Saturday 8 February to participate in the joint Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) – East Africa Community (EAC) Heads of State and Government Summit on the security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We want our soldiers to come back. We want peace to prevail in that area in the part of our continent, so that the people of DRC can live in peace. And all of us can be in our own countries advancing development of our own people,” he said.
The Heads of State and Government of SADC and the EAC agreed to meet urgently following their respective extraordinary summits held last month to deliberate on the way forward regarding the security situation in the DRC.
