SA must engage with M23 rebels in DRC to make sure wounded, dead troops repatriated, says retired SANDF general
General Derrick Mgwebu said that the only way through the crisis unfolding in the mineral-rich DRC was not through megaphone diplomacy but talking.
People gather next to some vehicles from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission as they flee the Masisi territory following clashes between M23 rebels and government forces, at a road near Sake on 7 February 2024. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG - A retired South African general with first-hand experience of the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo has called for South Africa to put pressure on M23 rebels as negotiations continue to get SANDF members back home.
General Derrick Mgwebu told EWN that South Africa's challenge in Goma was due to dealing with a non-state actor.
This means normal humanitarian laws that afford countries a pathway to collect their troops who have been injured or have perished.
ALSO READ:
• SADC sending senior members to DRC to facilitate repatriation of 14 SA soldiers killed in Goma
• Rwanda 'welcomes' proposed African summit on DRC conflict
• SANDF officially releases names of soldiers who died in DRC
• SA not the police of Africa, should stop meddling in regional conflicts, says EFF
• Defence Dept denies claims that SANDF troops in DRC ran out of ammo, food
Fourteen South African troops sent to the DRC on a peacekeeping mission were killed in the conflict between DRC army forces and M23 rebels.
In the midst of reports that SANDF members had not been adequately equipped versus claims that SA troops inflicted maximum damage on the M23 side, anxious families await.
Mgwebu said that the only way through the crisis unfolding in the mineral-rich DRC was not through megaphone diplomacy but by talking.
"You need to engage, you don't have to like them. For the sake of making sure that the wounded and the dead to be repatriated. And for that to happen, you need to speak to whoever is in charge of Goma airport."
Gwebu, who served in Goma in 2016, said that what he was seeing was a different and better-equipped M23.
And while some have scoffed at the rebels' threats to march on the capital Kinshasa, he said they shouldn't be undermined.