The South African National Defence Force(SANDF) leadership has decided to recalls eight soldiers which are linked with allegations of serious acts of ill-discipline and misconduct in Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).
These South African soldiers are deployed there under the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(MONUSCO).
According to SANDF,it is alleged in the UN report that on Sunday,01 October 2023,eight(8) SANDF soldiers deployed in Beni were apprehended by the United Nations Military Police(UN MP) for being in direct breach of the curfew time and other regulations related to Sexual ExploItation and Abuse(SEA).
The SANDF leadership which is responsible for South African soldiers who are deployed there is very disappointed that they learnt about these allegations and misconduct through media.
SANDF said it is unfortunate that the RSA,as a Troop Contributing Country(TCC) was not informed of these allegations as is normal procedure but first learnt about such in the media.The reporting procedure was not followed by the United Nations because the RSA Defence Advisor nor the RSA United Nations Representative were not informed as per the Standard Operating Procedure for all TCC's.
SANDF emphasized that due to the serious nature of the allegations,the SANDF took a decision to recall the implicated soldiers back to South Africa to answer to the allegations and to give account of events that transpired on Sunday,01 October 2023 in Beni.Furthermore,National Investigating Officers(NIOs) have been dispatched to the MONUSCO deployment area to conduct a formal investigation.Upon completion of the investigation,the SANDF will pronounce itself.