Johannesburg – South Africa will withdraw its 700 troops deployed under the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in the conflict-plagued Democratic Republic of Congo, the presidency said on Saturday.
Pretoria last year repatriated hundreds of troops deployed under another military mission from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) after 17 of its soldiers were killed in escalating conflict between government forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group.
President Cyril Ramaphosa informed the UN’s secretary-general Antonio Guterres of the South African government’s decision to “withdraw its contribution of soldiers”, the presidency said in a statement late Saturday.
They were withdrawing their soldiers from the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), the statement added.
The decision was influenced by the need to “consolidate and realign the resources of the South African National Defence Force” after 27 years supporting UN peacekeeping efforts in DRC, it said.
The withdrawal of South African forces – among the top 10 troop contributors to MONUSCO – would be finalised before the end of the year.
The conflict in eastern DRC escalated in early 2025 as the M23 seized large swathes of territory and key cities.
There were mounting calls in January 2025 for Pretoria to pull out of the resource-rich region after several of its soldiers were killed, including at least two deployed under the UN.
In another escalation, the M23 on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a key airport in Kisangani, several hundred kilometres from the armed group’s usual area of operations.
The United Nations has said it would soon send a mission to the volatile region to help enforce a ceasefire.
Qatar has been mediating between the Congolese government and the M23 for several months, and a commitment towards a ceasefire was signed in July.
In a parallel effort, the DRC and Rwanda formalised a US-brokered peace deal in December in Washington.
In its statement Saturday, South Africa said it would continue supporting other “multilateral efforts” by the SADC, the UN and the African Union to bring “lasting peace” to the DRC.
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Source: AFP
