South African Countries set to Withdraw Support Troops from the Congo

M23 rebels capture Bukava, DR Congo, the second largest city in the eastern region of the country, February 16, 2025.  (Photo: AP Photo/Janvier Barhahiga)

On Thursday, March 13, African leaders announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The troops, sent from South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi, were deployed under the name of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a bloc of Southern African countries aimed at bettering the region’s development, economy, and recently peacekeeping operations. The troops were sent to help the Congolese government fight off insurgencies in the East, where rebels from the group M23 have been overrunning the region.

The SADC troops were part of many forces in the mineral-rich east DR Congo, which has undergone decades of armed violence, including foreign mercenaries, a United Nations peacekeeping force, and Congolese soldiers. More than 100 groups are currently fighting in the region for power, land, and mineral resources, with others fighting in turn to defend their communities. Some armed groups in the region have been accused of mass killings targeted at ethnic groups. The M23 rebels are being supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the United Nations. Rwanda has neglected charges by UN experts and the Congolese government about its involvement with the group.

South African soldiers sent by the SADC stand in Goma, DR Congo as the bodies of two South African soldiers are repatriated to South Africa February 20, 2024.  (Photo: AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

The troops were deployed originally in December 2023, and their deployment was extended by another year this past November during a SADC meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. Opposition to the troops’ deployment has risen significantly since January, when 19 soldiers and peacekeepers from South Africa, Malawi, and Tanzania were killed by M23 rebels during their capture of Goma, the main city in the eastern DR Congo. Since capturing Goma, M23 has also captured the second largest city in the region, Bukavu. Many have grown increasingly concerned about the prospect of South Africa’s involvement in what is on track to grow into a large conflict, including Sandile Swanda, a South African political analyst, who says that “South Africa is hardly ready for any such war”.

The decision was announced after a virtual meeting of the bloc, the third emergency summit held on the situation in the Congo in recent months. No timetable has been given for the retreat of the nearly 3,000 troops stationed in the DR Congo, but the SADC has said the withdrawal would come in phases. The decision came a day after Angola announced it would host peace talks between the Congolese government and M23 rebels next week. Previously, the DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi has refused to engage in direct negotiations with M23, insisting only to speak to Rwanda, who is said to be funding the rebel group.

Congolese women selling chickens at the Virunga market in Goma, DR Congo, one month after M23 captured the city, February 27, 2025.  (Photo: AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a meeting with European Union leaders in Cape Town, South Africa that the withdrawal decision was made because the process of a ceasefire has “now been embraced”. Ramaphosa has expressed confidence in plans of peace talks between the Congo and M23 under Angola’s mediation, but has said that humanitarian support would be needed for the people of eastern DR Congo, a region which has become the host to one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises that has displaced more than 7 million people. He has also called for political support to enforce the ceasefire, should one be drafted. Ronald Lamola, the Foreign Minister of South Africa, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that other belligerents should join them in withdrawal in order to get on the road to a proper ceasefire. Despite the apparent confidence from African leaders about ceasefire prospects, M23 has continued to seize more territory this past week.