Lamola rejects calls to withdraw South African troops from DRC

Lamola

Cape Town – International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has rejected calls to withdraw South African soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), arguing that such a move would be worse than surrender.

During a parliamentary debate, Lamola responded to the deaths of 14 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in the eastern DRC, saying that an abrupt withdrawal would expose troops to ambushes.

“Abrupt withdrawal as called upon by some in the House is not even a tactical retreat, it is even worse than a surrender as with the number [of] armed groups in the area, there lies ambush,” he said.


He emphasised the importance of continued peace efforts, citing the recent Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and East Africa Community (EAC) summit calling for a ceasefire and dialogue.

“Recognising that a peaceful Africa is crucial for the economic and social development of the continent, we participated in a lot of peace missions in the continent, in Sudan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Sudan, and so on to silence the guns in line with vision 2063.

“Our 2001 peace efforts with the Sun City talks led to a new constitutional order and almost two decades of peace in the DRC. We have been involved in State-building and peace-building efforts,” he told Members of Parliament (MPs).

Lamola highlighted South Africa’s ongoing peace missions across the continent, saying that the country’s involvement in stabilising regions like the DRC is crucial for Africa’s long-term peace and development.

He also paid tribute to fallen soldiers from South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uruguay.

“It is not a tragedy that has only befallen our defence force, it has befallen both the United Nations mission and the SADC mission,” the minister said.

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