Motshekga hopes SA troops' bodies who perished in DRC will arrive on Thursday
Shifting the arrival date during a debate in the National Assembly on Monday afternoon - Motshekga says it doesn’t appear possible to meet Tuesday’s expected arrival announced over the weekend.
The National Assembly held an urgent debate on a matter of national importance relating to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who died in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Picture: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament.
CAPE TOWN - Defence Minister Angie Motshekga is hoping the bodies of soldiers who died in the Democratic Republic of Congo will arrive in South Africa by Thursday.
Shifting the arrival date during a debate in the National Assembly on Monday afternoon - Motshekga says it doesn’t appear possible to meet Tuesday’s expected arrival announced over the weekend.
The Democratic Alliance backed by Action SA has called for Motshekga to fall on her sword over the deaths of those who died on the peacekeeping mission in the eastern (Democratic Republic of Congo) DRC where they have been stationed since December 2023.
With the names of fallen soldiers on display in a floral tribute in the National Assembly chamber, Minister Angie Motshekga took to the podium dressed in black to honour those who have died.
She has told the house they will be buried with full military honours.
READ: Some families of SANDF soldiers killed in DRC say they've had no word on repatriation efforts
But more than two weeks since their deaths their bodies are still in Uganda after being transported by road from the DRC- over the weekend.
"Currently from the reports we are receiving, that they are still in Uganda undergoing all the medical processes, and which we are also pressing very hard to get our deceased. We were hoping that we would get them by today, but the latest we are told, is that by Thursday, they will be here."
Motshekga says the soldiers came under attack by M23 rebels at their operational base near the Goma airport - and not because they were involved in fighting on the ground.
She says food supplies are on the way to the area amid reports of the deplorable conditions the soldiers are living in - and is expected to arrive there soon.