APA-Pretoria (South Africa) Some 2,900 South African troops are being sent to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s deployment to the troubled region, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office has announced.
In a statement released in Pretoria on Monday, the office said the troops’ deployment would cost over US$106 million for the stay in the DRC, where M23 rebels have wreaked havoc in the mineral-rich region.
“The obligation to contribute troops (to the DRC) is borne by all SADC member states,” the presidency said.
The SADC troops are taking over from United Nations peacekeepers who are preparing to withdraw from the troubled region, and from an East African force which has left the area following tensions with DRC’s President Félix Tshisekedi.
The presidency did not disclose how the deployment, which would be in place until 15 December, would be funded.
Tanzania and Malawi would also contribute soldiers to the new force known as the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), the presidency said, without citing the two nations’ figures.
SADC is a 16-member group of countries, including the DRC.
NM/jn/APA