The South African National Defence Force(SANDF) has confirmed on Saturday that nine South African soldiers killed in a fierce battle with M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on a international mission.
It has revealed that despite losing its members but its soldiers were successfully blocked the advancement of the M23 rebels towards the city of Goma and forced the group to retreat.
The SANDF said after two days of fierce fighting with the M23 rebel group in the eastern DRC,the South African contingent and its counterparts were able to halt the advancement of the rebel group towards Goma,the provincial capital of the eastern DRC.The M23 hostile forces had launched a full-scale attack on our troops with the intention of taking over Goma but were unable to advance due to the heroic resistance put up by our gallant fighters.Our forces were not only able to halt the M23 advancement but were able to push them back.The intention of the M23,amongst others,is also to take over the city of Goma,but it met with heavy resistance from the SANDF contingent,which managed to prevent them from proceeding into Goma.
The South African army has clarified that South African soldiers killed in DRC were deployed under SAMIDRC and MONUSCO missions,and admitted that some of its soldiers were injured in the process.
"In the course of this gallant resistance against M23 rebels,the South African National Defence Force(SANDF) lost nine(9) members by Friday,24 January 2025,after two days of fierce fighting.Seven(7) of these members were part of the South African contingent deployed in the eastern DRC in December 2023 as part of the 16-member regional bloc SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo(SAMIDRC) and two(2) members were from MONUSCO.The number of injured is still to be confirmed,however a few suffered various degrees of injuries.The members put up a brave fight to prevent the rebels from proceeding to Goma as was their intention and were pushed back by the RSA contingent,"said SANDF.
SANDF has confirmed that the process of informing families of the deceased members is currently underway.
The South African contingent has suffered a huge loss against M23 rebels while their leadership was in that country prior an attack.
The attack for South African contingent happened just after few days was visited by South African National Defence Force(SANDF) delegation led by Chaplain General Brigadier General Ernest Thabo Masweu and were hosted by National Contingent Commander,Colonel Thembekile Nqukuva.
Even the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans,Angie Motshekga has been in the Democratic Republic of Congo when the attack occurred because according to her department was expected to spent three days in that country,she arrived two days prior the attack.
The department said during the visit,Minister Motshekga aims to strengthen bilateral relations between South Africa and the DRC,in line with the Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) on Defence Cooperation,while also assessing the operational conditions and welfare of the South African National Force(SANDF) personnel deployed in the region.The Minister's engagement will contribute to the ongoing efforts to promote peace,stability and security in the DRC.