Kelvin Jakachira
Attempts by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and authorities in Pretoria who are touting the Southern African development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a success, have been slammed by defence experts who have described the mission as a disgraceful failure.
The experts, who are quoted in a South African domiciled defence news portal, DefenceWeb, are accusing the South African government and SANDF of spinning the SAMIDRC as a success.
South Africa’s defence minister Angie Motshekga and SANDF chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya, told a media briefing on 4 May that the mission was a success adding that it contributed to peace efforts in the eastern DR Congo.
The media briefing was aimed at providing details of the return of South African troops and equipment following the termination of the SAMIDRC mandate in mid-March.
But African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier said the mission can only be considered a failure explaining that SADC forces led by SANDF chose to withdraw because it could no longer carry out its mandate or any other mission, as it was surrounded by M23 rebels which had had seized Goma and other key territory.
“The mission failed,” Olivier said.
“Instead, SADC and the three contingent countries approved a high-risk, under-resourced plan of action that blew up in their faces, humiliating them and resulting in the deaths of 17 soldiers, 14 of them South African. What did those soldiers die for? Delaying M23 by a few days?”
Olivier said while South African military chiefs, the Minister of Defence, and other senior personnel are lauding SAMIDRC as a success claiming that it created the space for diplomatic talks, the mission did no such thing.
“It made those talks much harder,” he said.
Olivier called the spin a disgrace. “Trying to spin this positively, rather than acknowledging the failure and learning from it, is a disgrace. The South African, Tanzanian, and Malawian public deserve better. The soldiers, and the families of the dead soldiers, deserve better. The Congolese people deserve better,” he said.
Another defence expert Dean Wingrin evaluated the SAMIDRC mission as a failure since it did not succeed in strengthening the DR Congo military prowess, neutralising the M23 rebels and bringing peace and stability in the eastern DR Congo.
Wingrin’s assessment is that the overall strategic environment in eastern DR Congo worsened with the deployment of the SADC force.
He said that considering the M23’s territorial gains the SAMIDRC mission did not fulfil its mandate to restore peace, prevent loss of life, and stabilise the eastern DR Congo.
“Consequently, it cannot be considered a success,” Wingrin said.
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SAMIDRC was deployed in December 2023 and the mission was terminated on 13 March 2025, after the fall of Goma in February.
The M23 rebels launched a lightning offensive in January, seizing Goma, Sake and Bukavu in February/March.
Following Goma and Sake’s fall, SAMIDRC soldiers were confined to base, under the watch of M23.
The SAMIDRC was terminated on 13 March at the SADC Summit of Heads of State and government who resolved to pursue a peaceful process under a joint EAC/SADC initiative.
SAMIDRC was fighting alongside the DR Congo which was supported by European mercenaries, the Burundian army, the genocidal FDLR and a host of armed militias known as Wazalendo.
In Wingrin’s assessment, the Congolese military remained reliant on SAMIDRC‘s support to defeat the M23 rebels.
