SANDF troops prepare for withdrawal from the DRC following peace agreement
South African military contingents are preparing to withdraw from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after a landmark peace agreement was signed between the DRC and Rwanda.
As the lead nation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping mission in the DRC, South Africa has played a crucial role in efforts to restore peace amid persistent conflict.
Since 2022, South Africa has spearheaded the SADC peacekeeping mission, the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC)
The mission's primary objective has been to support the Congolese government in stabilising eastern provinces battered by rebel groups and inter-ethnic tensions.
The operation has involved thousands of troops from member states working alongside Congolese forces to monitor ceasefires, facilitate dialogue, and deliver humanitarian aid.
Despite these efforts, the mission has faced numerous challenges, most notably encounters with the M23 rebel group, which has been active in eastern DRC since 2012.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
DA accuses Simelane of corruption during heated budget vote
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane reminded the DA of its public representative, who was allegedly accused of murdering her sister, whom the party never suspended nor issued a press statement. Image: Hunk Kruger / Independent Newspapers Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane on Wednesday complained of being tried in public by the DA in order to degrade the work she was doing in government. Simelane maintained that she was not amazed by what was happening to her because a person stands in front of a judge when charged with an offence. 'I am undergoing a trial without being charged. You are trying me in public because you think this is the only way to degrade the work I am doing,' she said. Simelane responded to the DA's blistering attacks during the budget vote for her department. The DA, which had its former deputy minister, Andrew Whitfield, dismissed for taking a trip to the US without authorisation from President Cyril Ramaphosa, has vowed not to vote in support of the budgets of departments left by compromised ministers and deputy ministers. On Tuesday, the DA claimed that Simelane was under investigation after it laid charges with the SAPS for the alleged theft of more than R700,000 by fraudulently billing Eskom when she worked for a company named Vitrovian. Speaking during the debate, DA MP Luyolo Mphithi said the Human Settlements Department was saddled with a catastrophic collapse of governance across its several housing entities. Mphithi recalled that Simelane was previously accused of receiving a R575,600 'loan' from Gundo Wealth Solutions, linked to the unlawful investments of municipal funds into the VBS Mutual Bank, while she was the mayor of the Polokwane Municipality. 'It seems that the president does not at all take issue with the fact that a person accused of corruption sits in his Cabinet and will have to look after the budget with R30 billion set aside for South Africans,' he said. Mphithi also said that although the department's budget and department have many challenges, it would under normal circumstances be supported. 'However, we are faced with a minister who has corruption allegations against her and has not been accountable to the South African public, which makes it difficult for us to support this budget,' he said. Mphithi's colleague, Conrad Poole, was more brutal. He took to the podium as he took jabs at Simelane. Poole said that when Simelane was accused, she should be in the dock before a judge and not be an MP entrusted with R33 billion of taxpayer funds. 'I certainly would not bet any money on this minister doing anything to clean up shop. If the allegations of corruption are true, she would rather buy coffee shops. She may, in fact, be planning to convert the Department of Human Settlements for her grand relaunch of her 'coffee' enterprise. 'We cannot trust that the precious taxpayer money allocated to this budget will be implemented or cared for by this compromised minister, who was only redeployed to this department under the darkest of clouds. She simply cannot be trusted with R33 billion of hard-earned taxpayer funds meant to house the vulnerable, when her failures are so stark and so many,' Poole said. In response, Simelane reminded the DA of its public representative, whom she identified as Msebenzi Radebe, who was allegedly accused of the murder of her sister, whom the party never charged. 'In 2016, when I managed to place charges against him, it was only then that the DA suspended him. Even on my calls to get the DA to get a statement of murder against my sister, they did not. In 2019, three years later, she died. 'So good, you can find the nearest door to the police station. Where it matters, you don't even know where the door is,' she said. Simelane insisted that the investigation was about accountability. 'I availed myself of accountability. Now the investigation is done, and you reported the case, but you now can't wait for the investigation to conclude. I fear I am going to disappear after this. I mean really,' she said. ANC MP Albert Seabi pleaded with Simelane not to be distracted by the amount of noise, no matter how loud it may be, including the noise about an allegation not tested in court. 'You have our support minister because of your strong work ethic, your dedication, your diligence, and your consistent commitment to transparency, accountability, and transforming the sector,' said Seabi. Although some of the opposition parties indicated they would not support the budget, they did not launch any personal attacks at Simelane. EFF MP Babalwa Mathulelwa said they rejected the budget not because 'we are extortionists like the DA'. Mathulelwa said the rejection of the budget was based on the empty promise wrapped in inflation and false hopes. She said the department's budget was increased in nominal terms. 'It does not build more homes. It does not address the ever-growing backlogs, and it certainly does not restore the dignity of our people. It does not speak to housing backlog, which now exceeds 2.3m units,' Mathulelwa said. ActionSA's Malebo Patricia Kobe said they rejected the budget not because of who occupies the office, though it was deeply concerning that Simelane was under investigation for questionable VBS loans. 'The budget fails to honour the dignity of millions still waiting for a place to call home,' Kobe said. Rise Mzansi's Makashule Gana maintained that 'I will debate the budget and resist the temptation to debate or play the woman'.
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
US demands on exemption from South Africa's BEE requirements yet to be discussed with Ramaphosa
The Freedom Front Plus delegation in Washington last week. Image: Facebook/FFPlus FF Plus leader Corné Mulder says he has yet to brief President Cyril Ramaphosa on claims that the Trump administration has demanded that US entities be exempted from all Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements as a precondition for normalising bilateral relations with South Africa. There are more than 600 US companies based in South Africa. Mulder made the claims as a FF Plus delegation returned from the US where they met with senior White House officials. This demand is part of a broader set of conditions that include addressing farm attacks, condemning the "Kill the Boer" chant, and ensuring fair market compensation for land expropriation. According to Mulder, the White House officials expressed concern that these conditions have not been adequately addressed. In May President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation embarked on a working visit to the US to meet with US president Donald Trump to help reset strained relations between the two countries and secure a favorable trade deal after a fallout over the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel that had been instituted by South Africa. Mulder, who held a press briefing on Wednesday, said the delegation is committed to normalising relations between South Africa and the US and described Ramaphosa's visit with Trump in May as 'premature'. "We have a clear understanding of the US Administration's expectations," Mulder said. "The delegation has undertaken to communicate these pre-conditions to both the South African government and the broader public in the interest of transparency, accountability, and the restoration of strong bilateral ties,' said Mulder. Mulder added that they had not gone to the US to complain. He said that discussions on claimed genocide did not arise and they did not meet with the 50 white Afrikaners that were granted refugee status by the Trump administration. Southern African Agri Initiative chairman Theo de Jager, and National Employers' Association CEO Gerhard Papenfus were part of the delegation. According to business group Sakeliga's CEO Piet le Roux, this development marks a substantial escalation in international pressure against South Africa's 'race-restrictive economic policies'. "The international backlash against BEE and other race-restrictive policies of the South African government is set to escalate further in the coming months and years," Le Roux said. Le Roux noted that the US demand elevates race-restrictive legislation beyond domestic affairs to the level of international economic and diplomatic relations This could lead to a ratcheting up of US-led bilateral or multilateral pressure opposing restrictive legislation in South Africa. Speaking on BEE, De Jager said there was only one way to avoid economic migrants and that was by improving their livelihoods. "The principle here is that there must be equal citizenship…there must be respective property rights and there must be an environment where we can also do business. 'They (Trump administration) said to us that they had heard us on the BEE matter, that it is a non-trade tariff barrier and they said that they would not restore any trade relationship if these preconditions are not adhered to. 'The biggest war of our generation is poverty and hunger and the only way we can deal with that is to create wealth…So we are gradually losing investment because of the likes of BEE and the threat to expropriate your property without compensation. You cannot invest in a country where you are not safe. 'We need an environment that will safeguard investment whether you are black or white. As Afrikaners we don't have access to production financing anymore. We need that kind of access,' said de Jager. Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told IOL that the group was pursuing its "own agenda". "Our experience is that State actors do not use non-state actors as intermediaries; therefore, Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) visit and subsequent pronouncements will be viewed as nothing more than their ambitions," he said. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya did not respond to questions on how the South African government would react to the US demands. However, Ramaphosa has previously indicated that he would not back down from implementing BEE policies. "BEE is not holding back the economy, but rather the concentrated nature of our economy is," Ramaphosa said. He defended using racial designations as a means to address economic disparities, although he acknowledged that this might not be necessary in the future.
IOL News
2 hours ago
- IOL News
Sports department rubbishes Gayton McKenzie's alleged bias against Cape Town's F1 bid team
They said the BSC was 'vague' about stipulations around the deposit. In order to bid to host the F1, each group had to submit an application motivating their location as well as making a deposit of R10 million. CTGPSA wanted to pay the deposit with a promissory note, which is a legal document outlining their intended loan repayment structure. CTGPSA also raised concerns about the BSC's handling of the R10 million deposit, which was part of the bid application process. Cape Town has proposed a street-style circuit, similar to that of Monaco. CTGPSA, this week, suggested that the Minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie acted in the best interests of Kyalami's F1 bid and labelled the Bid Steering Committee (BSC) as a biased group, who also acted in Kyalami's interests. The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture ( DSAC) has called the allegations made by the Cape Town Grand Prix SA (CTGPSA) team as 'utterly baseless'. 'On 7 December 2024, Gayton McKenzie stated 'the race is going to happen at Kyalami' and this was before announcing the BSC, looking at other bids or doing economic assessments. The fact that minister McKenzie appointed the BSC cannot just be overlooked as trivial, especially given how things played out after this. 'Then, when the bid document was put out, we were given fewer than 10 days to submit our entire proposal, including a R10 million deposit – a bid to host a major global sporting event. Only after we pushed for an extension to encourage a fair process did an extension emerge. 'We respect the BSC and minister McKenzie and we want to work with them. But as a proudly South African bid, we hold fairness, accountability and a legacy for our country in high regard. We believe our plan offers the best shot at a successful, long-term F1 future on the African continent,' CTGPSA said. The group questioned how the BSC used the R10 million deposit, what triggered a refund, the timeframe of the refund, whether or not the funds would be held in an interest bearing account and if there was an audit trail. 'We feel alternative submissions received to be more comprehensive, viable and suited for the purpose,' was the response CTGPSA said it got from the BSC, which raised even more concerns. 'A payment of a deposit of R10 million to support an open bid submission should NOT be the determining factor as to whether a bid is considered or not, particularly when it does not make any changes to the economics of a bid." Stacey-Lee Khojane, spokesperson for the DSAC refuted CTGPSA's claims and said that all bids were judged fairly. 'The bid process was open to anyone who wished to submit a bid. All of the bids were judged fairly and objectively by the BSC. The minister was not a part of that process. Their allegations are utterly and totally baseless,' Khojane added. The BSC has acknowledged CTGPSA's remarks, but have not yet respond to Independent Media's enquiries about the allegations.
