On Tuesday in Uganda’s capital Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa held bilateral talks that centred on the Security crisis in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The South African Presidency said earlier on Tuesday, “President Ramaphosa is on a working visit to Uganda to discuss bilateral issues between the two countries as well as regional peace and security, including the situation in the eastern DRC and South Sudan.”
On his trip to Kampala, President Ramaphosa was accompanied by Naledi Pandor South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation .
South Africa has over 2,900 troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) force to help DR Congo’s military in “fighting” armed groups especially the M23 fighters.
South Africa’s two biggest opposition parties – the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), are not happy about the deployment and not convinced about the effectiveness of the troops.
At a press conference on Thursday, EFF leader Julius Malema called for the immediate withdrawal of South African soldiers from DR Congo.
“They [South African troops] are sent there to be killed because they are not properly trained,” he said.
“We just don’t have the army. The ANC has collapsed the army,” Mr Malema added, referring to the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC).
South African troops in the DRC have suffered fatalities including; two soldiers killed and three injured after a mortar bomb landed in their base recently.
On Tuesday in Uganda’s capital Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa held bilateral talks that centred on the Security crisis in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The South African Presidency said earlier on Tuesday, “President Ramaphosa is on a working visit to Uganda to discuss bilateral issues between the two countries as well as regional peace and security, including the situation in the eastern DRC and South Sudan.”
On his trip to Kampala, President Ramaphosa was accompanied by Naledi Pandor South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation .
