Motshekga blasted: ‘Blood on her hands!’

Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance (DA) has launched a blistering attack on Defence Minister Angie Motshekga, holding her directly responsible for what it calls the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) disastrous deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In a statement released on Wednesday, DA member of Parliament (MP) Nicholas Gotsell accused Motshekga of “spinning political fairy tales” while South African soldiers died and suffered injuries during what the party describes as a failed regional intervention under the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).

“The death of 14 South African soldiers and a further 174 injured in battle – brave men and women sent into an unstable conflict zone without air support, adequate equipment, or a coherent operational mandate – is not a success story. It is a national tragedy,” said Gotsell. “Their blood is on Minister Motshekga’s hands.”

The DA’s comments come ahead of a scheduled briefing by Motshekga to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence this Friday.

The party says it will use the opportunity to demand answers on operational failures, financial irregularities, and what it describes as the Minister’s attempt to whitewash the mission’s outcome.

Gotsell said the SANDF’s inability to stop the M23 rebel advance — with key towns falling despite the presence of South African troops — marked a humiliating retreat. According to reports cited by the DA, South African soldiers were forced to seek refuge at UN bases and were ultimately escorted out of the conflict zone by Rwandan forces.

But beyond battlefield shortcomings, the DA is raising alarm over a major financial discrepancy.

Gotsell claims that while the SADC allocated R108,000 per soldier per month during the mission, South African troops received only R32,000 monthly — a shortfall of R76,000 per soldier with no official explanation.

“Making this worse is a financial insult to the troops,” Gotsell said. “Tanzanian and Malawian soldiers on the same mission reportedly earned nearly double what South Africans were paid. Where did the rest of the money go?”

The DA has pledged to demand a full audit of the mission’s funding and has called for Motshekga to take political responsibility for what it terms “a catastrophic failure” of the ANC’s regional security ambitions.

Compiled by Betha Madhomu