Legoete calls for more SANDF funding amid ‘security lapse’ in the DRC

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The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) Dakota Legoete has said South Africa is facing a ‘security lapse’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the deaths of 13 soldiers, and consequently is ‘becoming a joke’.

In an interview with eNCA, Legoeta on Tuesday said the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is in the DRC in line with United Nations and Southern African Development Community efforts to bring peace. “Any destabilisation of the DRC can create instability in the whole region,” with a potential refugee crisis affecting South Africa, he said.

The Department of Defence on Tuesday confirmed that another four soldiers have been killed in combat against Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, bringing the total to 13 in the last week. Dozens more have been injured.

When asked if the SANDF is adequately resourced to handle the M23 rebels, Legoete told eNCA “we’ll only be able to make a call and do a cost benefit analysis once briefed by the minister.” Defence Minister Angie Motshekga and the Chief of the SANDF General Rudzani Maphwanya visited the DRC last week and are due to brief President Cyril Ramaphosa on the situation there. The PCDMV is due to receive a briefing on Wednesday.

Pushed for an answer on whether the SANDF lacks the resources and training to deploy to the DRC, Legoete said, “indeed we need a budget. Many self-respecting nations they put almost 2% of their GDP towards their defence forces and that’s a model that we want to adopt in this country.

“You know the whole country, every point of our territory, every part of our sovereignty, needs to be guarded by the national defence force and that is going to be costly and does not come cheap. And we are at war. Nations throughout the world are preparing for war. We cannot be waiting.

“We expect the President to push for more budget for the defence force. We are also meeting with the finance appropriation committee as the portfolio committee on defence to request more funding because you expect us to fight zama zamas, you expect us to protect the oceans, air, skies, everything…and to keep the peace in Africa. They don’t come cheap. So we expect for more push in the increase of the defence force. Because we’re becoming a joke now.

“We are becoming a joke because we are just about to create a security lapse and it’s not on. We are calling on treasury to stop their austerity measures when it comes to defence and allow us to defend the nation and defend the continent,” Legoete concluded.

SANDF soldiers in the DRC are hamstrung by a lack of air support, particularly attack helicopters, as no Rooivalks are available. When the Rooivalk was first deployed against the M23 in 2013, the rebels ceased fighting within a week. The situation today has been compounded by Rwandan deployment of surface-to-air missiles and other sophisticated equipment, making air support challenging even if it was available.

Sensible option is withdrawal – Sandu

South African National Defence Union (Sandu) national secretary Pikkie Greeff told IOL that, “we are now between the devil and the blue sea as the saying goes. We are isolated there; we have no capability to go and rescue our members with a quick air extraction. Anything we would attempt now; we do not have the air capability at this stage to lift people out of any place.”

He said the only sensible option at this stage is to negotiate a ceasefire with the M23 and arrange safe passage out, even though this would be very embarrassing.

Economic Freed Fighters’ Member of Parliament Carl Niehaus told IOL that Motshekga should resign over the events in the DRC. “We do not have an air force to speak of. Our army is under resourced, without necessary equipment which can protect SANDF soldiers in the DRC. The sad thing is that the M23 rebels are far better equipped, with technical equipment and training than what the SANDF troops are. This is not something we learned yesterday. We knew it all along, so to have sent the troops there, was to send them to a killing field,” he said.

South Africa has over 1 100 troops deployed with the UN’s MONUSCO mission in the DRC and over 800 with the SAMIDRC deployment. Only Tanzania and Malawi have contributed troops to SAMIDRC, something which experts have criticised, saying that if other SADC nations do not contribute, it makes it difficult for South Africa to shoulder responsibility when its military is already stretched to breaking point.

SANDF clearly overstretched

Dr Jakkie Cilliers, Head of African Futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies, told the SABC that “very clearly the SANDF is amongst others is overstretched…the SANDF forces don’t have a logistic, air and other support. Many of their vehicles and equipment are no longer serviceable.” This meant that the troops around Goma and Sake in North Kivu province were eventually driven back by the M23 to Goma, which is partly under rebel control.

“This is an old story of the SANDF, which is underfunded and poorly led from a political perspective,” Cilliers said. Having to help secure South Africa’s borders, fight illegal mining, and engage in peacekeeping activities, “it is completely overstretched and underequipped and doesn’t have the means really for the deployments that are being authorised.”

“We can’t support our forces from south Africa. We don’t have the aircraft and the ammunition and other stocks in area,” he said of the DRC deployment. “The Rooivalk helicopters and other support equipment are no longer serviceable.”

Cilliers told the SABC that it’s unlikely the defence budget will increase substantially so South Africa has to scale back its ambitions. “We really have to scale down on a top heavy structure and train and equip the military for roles such as peacekeeping and border security.”