Here's when the next group of SANDF troops may return to SA
On Friday, 249 troops touched down at the Waterkloof Air Force Base outside Pretoria.
Another group of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) members previously deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are reportedly expected to arrive in the country on Sunday.
The officers were in the DRC as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission. They were on the frontline of a conflict between the Congolese army and M23 rebel fighters, which raged for three years in the East of that country until a ceasefire was called in April.
On Friday, 249 troops touched down at the Waterkloof Air Force Base outside Pretoria. They have been transported to Bloemfontein to be debriefed, demobilised, assessed, receive counselling, and be reunited with their families.
WATCH: The 249 troops arrive in SA
WATCH || The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is the Air Force base Waterkloof to welcome the first batch of Soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo.#SANDF #MODMV #JointoperationsDivision #SAMIDRC #DRC pic.twitter.com/8SAJHXmnva — SA National Defence Force 🇿🇦 (@SANDF_ZA) June 13, 2025
SANDF chief of joint operations Siphiwe Sangweni said flights carrying troops will land in SA over the next few weeks.
'With bigger aircrafts, it will now be nine trips bringing our soldiers back to South Africa. The frequency of those aircraft moving will be almost every second day.'
According to the SABC News, the next plane will arrive on Sunday.
Around 2 000 troops from SA, Malawi, and Tanzania are reportedly still in the DRC.
It is hoped that all SA military officials deployed to the region and their equipment will be back in SA by the end of June.
'We are fully aware that half the work is done in terms of prime mission equipment. Hence, we are working around the clock with our counterparts in the region to ensure that the process runs expeditiously with minimal logistical risks,' the minister said.
Mission a success, says SANDF
Last month, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) head, General Rudzani Maphwanya and defence minister Angie Motshekga called the mission a success and said it had contributed to peace in the area.
The DA slammed this, calling the deployment a 'national tragedy'.
'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.
'Their blood is on Minister Motshekga's hands. Whilst the returning troops make their way back to South Africa, the minister continues to spin political fairy tales instead of reckoning with the facts.'
It claimed that SA troops were paid less than a quarter of the stipend they were allegedly allocated, while Tanzanian and Malawian troops on the same mission 'earned nearly double'.
ALSO READ: What is taking so long? Why SANDF troops can't get a lift home
Minister a no-show to Parliament – twice
No reason for the discrepancy had been given, but it was among the issues likely to come up when the minister appeared before Parliament on 9 May.
But the minister did not show up. Instead, she was in Russia, on instruction from the ANC, to attend World War II Victory Day celebrations.
While Parliamentarians raged, committee chairperson and ANC member Malusi Gigaba defended the minister.
Motshekga failed to pitch to committee meetings again a week later.
Additional reporting by Jarryd Westerdale and Chulumanco Mahamba
NOW READ: 'A nation that values its military doesn't treat its soldiers as disposable'
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Daily Maverick
6 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
South Africa's environment minister elevates Antarctica as a ‘national priority'
Dion George says he is taking a big, bold step — putting the wild, frigid seventh continent at the heart of the country's agenda: 'It would be extremely short-sighted if we did not pay attention to it.' South Africa has maintained a presence on Earth's southern frontier since becoming the second country to ratify the Antarctic Treaty — symbolically, it did so during the 1960 winter solstice. This year, the country celebrates seven decades since the South African meteorologist Hannes la Grange became the first African to set a snow boot on Antarctic ice as part of the seminal Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. In 2028, another date beckons: Seventy years since South Africa, through La Grange, reached the South Pole. Political leadership has rarely afforded the region more than nominal attention. That will change under his tenure, says Minister Dion George of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. 'I am the head of the South African National Antarctic Programme,' George told Daily Maverick on a ministerial demonstration cruise aboard the SA Agulhas II from Durban to Cape Town in May. That is a statement no previous DFFE minister has made. 'I set the tone, I set the direction, I lead the charge,' he says. Antarctica has been promoted to one of three special projects within his office, alongside carbon credits and anti-poaching. '[Antarctica] has fallen a bit behind, so I thought we need to speed up there,' he says. 'It would be extremely, extremely short-sighted of South Africa if we did not pay attention to it.' Pretoria's envoy scoops leadership role at treaty talks In recent years, South Africa's Antarctic diplomatic performance has lacked imagination and leadership. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) typically receives hundreds of discussion papers submitted by the 29 consultative (decision-making) states, which are tasked with governing Antarctica for peaceful activities like tourism and science. Under George's predecessor, Barbara Creecy, the taxpayer-funded South African delegation submitted no independent discussion papers to the 2023 ATCM in Helsinki, Finland, or the 2024 ATCM in Kochi, India. George received the baton in June 2024 and acknowledges these failures but promises change at the ATCM now underway in Milan, Italy. The South African delegation already seems to have done something right at the 10-day meeting which ends Thursday, 3 July. Last week, Romi Brammer, a legal adviser in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, was elected to chair the ATCM's legal negotiations. The treaty is a benchmark diplomatic and scientific achievement. But this year, the ATCM faces an anniversary it is not likely to mark too publicly: 20 years since adopting an annex to assign responsibility for environmental disasters, which has yet to enter into force. It is now up to the likes of Brammer to negotiate progress on this matter and others retarded by the glacially turning wheels of Antarctic consensus (everyone must agree before anything becomes policy). Quick! The office is melting The DFFE and Birdlife South Africa have spent several years raising funds to tackle what they bill as history's largest mouse-eradication effort on any island — they need to raise at least $30-million to save Marion's albatrosses and other seabirds from all being eaten alive by the invasive rodents. Donors include South African billionaire Mark Shuttleworth, but anyone can still pitch in. 'Climate change is a sensitive biosecurity issue,' says George, citing deadly avian flu and mouse infestations at Marion Island, South Africa's sub-Antarctic research station, as bellwethers. Scientists told Daily Maverick that George and his staff had to streamline fragmented Antarctic management across several government departments — a project that Ashley Johnson, South Africa's lead negotiator in Milan, says he has taken on. And then there are the infrastructure humdingers uncovered by Daily Maverick in April, such as Marion's failed generators, which have since been replaced. Antarctica is, basically, a giant melting office. For that reason, George says the fleet of polar tracked vehicles must be replaced and supported by up-to-date scanning technology to avoid 'a whole piece of ice that's going to collapse underneath you'. But wait — how about the eructing elephant seal in the room? South Africa may want multilateral cooperation in Antarctica — but not everyone seems to be playing nice. Russia has been looking for oil and gas at least since the Antarctic mining ban entered into force in 1998 — and it uses Cape Town for logistics. In February 2020, for instance, it issued a bombshell statement from Table Bay harbour saying that it had found '70 billion tons' of Southern Ocean fossil fuels — enough to power the planet for 15 years. Russia calls it 'science'. Some experts call it 'prospecting'. And London might call it shopping. A recent Westminster inquiry, which released its findings in June, stopped just short of dropping the P-word, but politely raised an eyebrow: Moscow's surveys 'cast doubt on compliance with the Protocol's prohibition and risk undermining its authority', the findings say. 'You're not supposed to go and mine in Antarctica — so why are you looking for oil and gas?' George volunteered. 'When it's cold and you can't go there, it's very easy to say, 'Oh no, we're not going to mine, we're not going to do anything there; we're just going to leave it alone.' 'But when it becomes a commodity, when it becomes a valuable piece of land, for example, the behaviour may well start to change.' At the Copenhagen-hosted ministerial climate meeting in May, George held discussions with Greenland and was struck by the changes in polar currents and ice caps. The more they melt, the more accessible they become. 'Maybe there will be a mad scramble for Antarctica,' he says, 'but I think there has to be some kind of order. You can't just have absolute chaos … Antarctica is a rich asset. The agreement must hold — that we all agree you don't go mining; the region must remain a non-militarised zone, even when it is accessible.' What does South Africa actually stand for? Even cautious commentators have started to fear that the US under Donald Trump may withdraw from the treaty to claim and mine Antarctica. Russia, like the US, has historically maintained a basis to claim parts or all of Antarctica. They cannot do so as long as the treaty lasts (or if they remain signatories). In the period between the world wars, the Union of South Africa did attempt to make some sort of half-hearted claim but botched it in a diplomatic comedy of errors. However, South Africa's 2021 Antarctic strategy rejects the idea of territorial claims — a marked contrast to seven of the treaty's 12 consultative founding parties. Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the UK have staked vast territorial claims that are frozen by the treaty and that most of the world does not recognise. 'We did not make a claim because we don't believe you can,' George says. 'That's the position we take… 'South Africa's position is that we're non-aligned,' he says. 'We have South African interests that we must look after — and we don't get told who we befriend. We're friends with everyone.' This balancing act between BRICS states and the West is what gives South Africa its moral authority in Antarctic diplomacy, he argues. 'When I became a new minister and travelled a lot for the climate, every single country we came across wanted to have a bilateral. The reason is that the voice of South Africa matters… 'When you're looking for the voice of reason, often it's us.' That may be so, but George's Democratic Alliance opposition party is on record as vocally condemning Russia's full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine as well as ' Russian energy prospecting in Antarctica '. Now it is walking a tightrope of tenuous moral ambiguity in a coalition government that has taken Israel to court over atrocities in Gaza, but has hardly squared up to Moscow in a similar fashion. Still, President Cyril Ramaphosa received President Volodymyr Zelensky in April. Both the Russian and Ukrainian fleets use Cape Town as their logistical transit to Antarctica. In George's view, a collaborative ethos defines the Antarctic community. 'It's harsh, it is cold — and if somebody got into difficulty, of course we're going to help.' George says he has also opened diplomatic conversations with China about establishing a marine protected area to the north of South Africa's East Antarctic base — an initiative that has stalled for years due to Beijing and Moscow's opposition. 'I have disagreed with China on a number of things,' he reveals. 'We want the marine reserve. We know what we want and we are clear.' George's Antarctic coup While Pretoria has maintained an unbroken commitment to its treaty obligations throughout the country's political turmoil, its focus has been operational rather than diplomatic. If George actually succeeds in shaping a revitalised Antarctic policy — one that reflects both science and statecraft — South Africa may finally claim a seat as a leading voice for the Global South on the coldest continent. 'Antarctica was not on the radar when I stepped into the department. It is now,' says the minister, who inserted Antarctica into the 2024-29 national medium-term development plan during a Cabinet lekgotla in January. Because we are jaded journalists, we asked his department for proof. Scrutinising the document sent to us, we found George's coup: there, on page 138, sandwiched between sections called 'Increased feelings of safety of women and children in communities' and 'secured cyber space', we spotted the actual frozen continent. Together with wildlife trafficking, George had struck a coup for a place that, to many, seems very far from the national agenda. Here, he had managed to nudge 'strengthened protection and sustainable management of Antarctica' as a priority into the section dedicated to 'effective border security'. In a country of immense social need, South Africa's Antarctic investments may be questioned by some, says George. 'They say, 'Let's rather spend the money on something else. In my opinion, it makes no sense to do that.' 'We are the only African country in Antarctica,' he says. As geopolitical posturing rises, South Africa has to be ready, he adds — singling out China's plans to build a sixth station, as well as Iran, which last year suggested a desire to join the treaty. 'If you drew the line down from Iran, you would actually bump into Antarctica. There's nothing in between. 'Yup,' he smiles. 'I read up about that.' George had planned to travel to Sanae IV earlier this year, but scheduling conflicts intervened. 'I do intend to do that as soon as the weather permits.' DM
IOL News
13 hours ago
- IOL News
Calls for government to create its own tech platforms
GovChat founder Professor Eldrid Jordaan speaking at the Social Media Summit for Government at the University of Johannesburg, in conversation with DeCode Communications CEO Lorato Tshenkeng. Image: Supplied GovChat founder Professor Eldrid Jordaan has implored the South African government to start, own and run its own technology platforms for the benefit of all South Africans. Jordaan has slammed big tech, particularly Meta - which owns the likes of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, saying they posed a threat to the digital sovereignty of countries like South Africa. Jordaan, who was a key figure during the Mxit days and who later founded GovChat, which aims to enhance governance transparency and accountability through the provision of tools for citizens to measure service levels, was the keynote speaker at the Social Media Summit for Government, which is being hosted by the University of Johannesburg. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading His speech was on the topic of Technology, Trust, and Transformation: Bridging the Digital Divide in Citizen Engagement. He said big tech, particularly Meta, wanted to be the player and the referee. This comes after a long standing dispute between GovChat and Meta, which stems from 2020, where the civic organisation was accused of violating the terms of service of the WhatsApp Business API, despite the fact that GovChat had signed agreements with the SA government, allowing it to communicate on the governments behalf. 'The government needs to beware of public private partnerships that profit from public infrastructure,' Jordaan warned. 'Public goods should serve our people, not the private sector. GovChat was built to serve South Africans, it was not built to serve algorithms and shareholders. 'We can no longer afford to be digital tenants. We must use these tools, but not lose the power. We need to partner with big tech, do not depend on them,' said Jordaan. Jordaan said South Africa had 1.5 million public servants who needed to be upskilled to navigate a changing world driven by artificial intelligence. 'We don't need to go to the private sector, we are seeing too many people hand over their responsibilities to the private sector, the private sector should strengthen government, it should not replace the work that is done by the government, there should be a big difference between mandate, scope of work,' he said. Jordaan said it was important that big tech treats Africa with the same respect that it treated countries in the West, including how it harvested data of people on the continent. He said recently, authorities in Nigeria had issued a $200 million fine for the use of people's data without consent. 'We are not saying that the private sector should not profit because that's their model, just like how you have a business model in the government. The private sector is important, we need the private sector, but we must guard against the dependency. 'When you are dependent on something they hold the stick, they hold the power - I'm nervous about that, we need to be careful around what the intentions are,' said Jordaan. Sassa own platform Jordaan said a state institution like Sassa, should have its own platform to administer the millions of social welfare payments it administers monthly. 'The private sector is lucky there is so much inefficiency in government,' he remarked. 'Look at Sassa, if the South African government wanted to own a platform, I would start there. You have more than half population on Sassa, but you choose to use platforms that exist. If I were the government, I would use my own platform and make it mandatory. 'I say it again, the private sector is lucky there are inefficiencies in the government,' said Jordaan. IOL editor Lance Witten speaking at the Social Media Summit for Government. Image: Supplied Earlier, IOL's editor-in-chief Lance Witten urged government communicators to listen to the people in developing narratives and content around their government departments. Witten made the comments during a fireside chat with SABC journalist Bongiwe Zwane at the summit. 'There is a steady decline in audiences engaging with platforms like news websites, which are now seen as legacy media. You can build the best content, but if you are not where your audience is, there is no point in creating that content,' he said. Witten said tailored and platform specific content and messaging was key for audiences. 'What we have discovered is that we need to be where the audiences are… you need to create specific native for the platform you are on, if it is all tailored for the platform, that is where and how the audience will engage with it,' he said. With shrinking revenues, Witten said it was important for communications teams to be clear about their identity, their narrative and to be unequivocal about a political stance. He also said the impact of the changing consumption habits and technology such as AI, had a big impact on news publishers, and content teams needed to be aware of AI optimization, as the AI and search engines like Google became more of answer engines rather than search engines. 'Am I creating the content on my platform? Is it good for the crawler? Is it good for ChatGpt? Are you creating content helping the answer engine? How am I answering the audience needs? 'From a news content provider perspective, it has impacted our concept of how we create content and the credibility, our audiences are on social media, they are good at spotting authenticity, they are less likely to trust a brand,' said Witten. IOL
The South African
13 hours ago
- The South African
Do SA refugee applicants have to make their social media profiles public?
South African applicants for the US refugee status programme are questioning whether a recent directive about making their social media accounts public applies to them. Last week, the US Embassy notified visa applicants that screening and vetting would be extended to their online presences. According to reports, 1000 Afrikaners will be resettled in the US by September as part of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. Last week, the US Embassy instructed all applicants for the F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to 'public.' This was part of their comprehensive vetting, which was extended to include individuals' online presence. The F, M, and J visas are open to students and are intended for educational purposes and not extended stays in the country. According to US intelligence expert Chris Wyatt, the social media clause outlined by the US Embassy is non-applicable to refugee applicants. He said in a clip posted on social media: 'Unless you're told by the Refugee Assistance Programme that you need to open it so they can see it, it's not something that affects you'. He continued: 'Relax, take a deep breath. It's all going to be fine. Do not panic'. @edlin1344 South African Refugees and Social Media Requirements#edlin1344 ♬ original sound – Edlin Wyatt added that there was a possibility that authorities would want to screen social media profiles in selected cases. He added: 'As a former federal law enforcement official, I would definitely want to be looking at people's social media when I'm trying to determine whether they're the right sort of people to come to America. 'Regardless of what programme they're applying for'. According to the US Embassy, applicants for the refugee programme must meet the following criteria. Be South African Be of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa. Must be able to articulate an experience of persecution or fear of future persecution. Applicants who met the criteria were encouraged to complete and submit a Statement of Interest form. In line with US President Donald Trump's claims of 'racial discrimination', applicants must prove that they have been 'persecuted' in their applications. 1000 Afrikaner refugees will reportedly be resettled in the US in the next few months. This forms part of President Donald Trump's Executive Order. Image via Canva In the Statement of Interest form, applicants are required to specify if the 'persecution' was based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership of a social group, or a fear of 'future harm'. Other questions included when the prospective 'refugee' would like to travel to the US, how many family members they would like to bring, and if interested parties have a valid passport. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
