The South African National Defence Union (SANDF) says the withdrawal of troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo should not be seen as a defeat.

The Southern African Development Community has decided to terminate the mandate of its troops, which include South African soldiers in the DRC. The withdrawal will happen in phases.

The bloc deployed its mission in Congo about two years ago to help the Congolese army fight rebel groups.

Fourteen SANDF soldiers were killed recently as M23 rebels advanced on the city of Goma in eastern DRC.

Sandu National Secretary Pikkie Greeff says, “The DRC and the M23 rebel groupings have announced that they are going to start peace talks. So, I suppose, at a certain level on a geopolitical level, one could argue that the mission was successful in the sense that it brought parties to the negotiation table. And, therefore, there’s no need for them to further stick around. That’s much better than simply saying I’m taking my troops out of there because I’m in a very bad position. It’s not a retreat. It’s a decision to not partake in that operation anymore because the other parties are going into peace negotiations with one another. So, therefore, one’s presence is unnecessary further.”

SADC is to withdraw its troops from the DRC
Why ? What’s next ?
That’s our top story at 3.10pm on #TheNationalPulse @SAfmRadio
I’ll be speaking to Advocate Pikkie Greeff, National Secretary of the South African National Defence Union (SANDU)#SABCNews

— Ashraf Garda (@AshrafGarda) March 13, 2025

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa, welcomed a decision taken by the SADeC Extraordinary summit to withdraw peacekeeping mission troops in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He says a ceasefire and talks in the DRC are the only options that will bring peace.

President Ramaphosa says AU Chairperson and Angolan President, João Lourenço, will lead the negotiations to find lasting peace in the DRC.

“The decision to finally withdraw from the eastern DRC by the three troop contributing countries is also based on the fact that the ceasefire that we have sought to install in that place is now being embraced and we are going to see a ceasefire eventuating and getting the negotiations underway under the leadership of President Lourenço assisted by a number of facilitators,” says Ramaphosa.

 SADC resolves to withdraw troops from DRC: Dr Kingsley Makhubela weighs in