DRC deployment another government disaster
2 April 2024
The DA has written to the Chairpersons of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, requesting that they urgently reconvene the Committee to consider troubling reports over the operational crisis currently unfolding in the SANDF deployment in the DRC.
SANDF’s DRC deployments, as part of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), are said to be operating at severe operational risk due to dire conditions which include a lack of field kitchens, no doctors or nurses to deal with emergencies, no refrigerated cargo containers, lack of ablution facilities and no money to pay for supplies. Only 6 toilets are reportedly available for a contingent of 600 soldiers.
With this dire situation, the Committee should:
- Summon the SANDF command elements to explain why the deployment was authorised when it was clear that the SANDF logistics division did not have the capacity to deploy operational infrastructure like ablution facilities, medical support, and food preparation equipment; and