The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, has become the latest South African politician to call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw the country’s soldiers from the war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Malema said that South African soldiers should serve as the first line of defence for the country’s people, not for mining companies and their capitalist counterparts.
“Our soldiers must withdraw from the DRC, not only because they have not been given the necessary equipment to pursue the so-called peace they are there for, but because the motivation to send our forces to the DRC are dishonest. Our children, our sons and daughters of the South African National Defence Force had been sent to their death because of the mineral interest of the multinational corporations and individuals must be secured,” he said.
According to Malema, the DRC mission has exposed the poor state of South Africa’s military.
“Our soldiers have been sent to be glorified bodyguards of the mines in the DRC and this mission has been disguised as a pursuit of peace and defence for democracy. Bring our soldiers home because our army should not be pawns in a game of capitalists which has now exposed the weakness of our military capacity.
“Bring them home because every day we see the consequences of the deliberate destruction of our arms manufacturer Denel and we see the consequence of the year on year budget cuts to the defence department. Bring our soldiers home because they are our first line of defence for our people, not the first line of defence for the interests of capitalists and mining corporates,” Malema said.
Malema made this call while addressing the EFF’s plenum in Bela Bela, Limpopo.
Calls to withdraw South African soldiers from the DRC intensified after 13 SANDF members were killed last week while fighting M23 rebels in Goma, eastern DRC. Reports later emerged that the soldiers were poorly equipped and that a request for reinforcements was ignored by authorities.
Deputy Minister of Defence, General Bantu Holomisa, recently confirmed these claims. However, his assertion was publicly disputed by the Minister of Defence, Angie Motshekga.
Malema also advised President Ramaphosa not to fall for provocations by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. On Wednesday night, Kagame accused Ramaphosa, via X (formerly Twitter), of distorting their phone conversation regarding the situation in Goma.
Kagame further claimed that Ramaphosa had twisted their discussion and told lies. He went on to say that Rwanda would not hesitate to confront South Africa if necessary.
Malema warned that leaders who have lost public support often resort to war as a distraction.
“Those who over the years in modern societies lost the popular mandate of the people have embarked on senseless wars, sacrificing soldiers in an attempt to unite the nation behind one common purpose and one common cause.
“The President of South Africa ought to be careful to not allow fanatics to incite him to war simply because it will give the people who have lost hope in him a common enemy to unite against. The dignity and pride of our army is not harmed because our African counterparts do not respect us. It is harmed because we have interfered in a conflict we do not understand and sent our soldiers to fight rebels who are more equipped than us,” he said.
He added that South Africa has become embroiled in a conflict it does not fully understand, leading to national humiliation.
“We are being humiliated in DRC and threatened with war by the President of Rwanda because our role of peace in the DRC is questionable because there is no peace that has ever been achieved through the deployment of soldiers” Malema advised Ramaphosa.
