On Tuesday, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) began the phased withdrawal of its recruits and equipment from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as part of a directive from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and government.

The SANDF said the Summit, held in March, as well as meetings between SADC Defence Ministers and the Chiefs of Defence Forces (CDFs) of the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs), endorsed the SAMIDRC withdrawal plan.

The withdrawal will take place via road, through Rwanda and Tanzania.

Earlier this year, South African opposition parties expressed sadness at the loss of 14 members of the SANDF in the eastern DRC, calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga to account.

The SANDF members were killed during combat and several others were injured, while stationed in the DRC as part of SADC and the UN peacekeeping deployments. They were engaged in intense combat over two days with the M23 rebel group near Goma, the provincial capital of the eastern DRC.

The SANDF explained that a reconnaissance mission, which included representatives from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania and the SADC secretariat, was conducted in April, to assess and confirm the withdrawal route from Goma through Rwanda to Chato in Tanzania, towards the respective TCC home countries.

The SANDF said it would provide regular updates to the public regarding the safe return of soldiers to South Africa.