President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday, that South Africa’s military will extend the deployment of its troops in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo to boost regional stability.
With this extension, 1,198 personnel of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo, who are part of the U.N. peacekeeping force will assist in the fight against rebel groups in Congo.
In a similar vein, 1,495 SANDF members would continue their operations in Mozambique, where they have been supporting the government’s fight against violent extremism in the northern region since 2021.
South Africa’s military deployments abroad have come under domestic scrutiny this year after two SANDF soldiers were killed and three wounded by a mortar bomb in Congo in February. One of South Africa’s opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance accused Ramaphosa of sending troops into a conflict region without adequate provision