The South African contingent of the three nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a new commander.
Colonel Thembekile Nqukuva is reported by the Public Information Office of the South African contingent as an officer with hands-on experience having been deployed in the troubled central African country previously. He is said to be “an experienced commander who has established some missions before”.
He was welcomed to the DRC by another South African, Major General Monwabisi Dyakopu, SAMIDRC (SADC Mission in the DR Congo) Commander, and the South African contingent command group. The welcome was used as an opportunity to brief the newcomer on what the South African contingent is doing in its area of responsibility – in and around the North Kivu capital Goma and Sake.
The mission, according to the Public Information Office of the South African Contingent, has been operating with Malawian and Tanzanian deployments “since the first man hit the ground in January 2024”. The three SADC troop contributing countries (TCCs) have worked alongside FARDC (Forces Armées de la Republique Democratique du Congo) to “drive” the M23 rebel group from the mountains around Sake.
“Despite a lot of challenges encountered the Republic of South Africa Contingent conducted robust patrols and few operations in conjunction with FARDC. In this pursuit unfortunately the Republic of South Africa Contingent lost a few members of the SA National Defence Force [SANDF]. This however did not discourage this force from continuing fighting. It is now 11 months down the line and the Republic of South Africa Contingent is still standing its ground in its area of responsibility,” the Public Information Office has it.
The South African contribution to SAMIDRC, as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa late last year, is 2 900 military personnel at a cost of R2.4 billion for the 12 month deployment, set to end on 15 December.
