Officials confident all SANDF troops deployed to DRC will be back home by end of June
Last month, SA withdrew its troops from the DRC, having lost fourteen soldiers in a battle with M23 rebels in January.
The first group of SANDF soldiers deployed to the DRC arrive at Waterkloof Air Force Base outside Pretoria on 13 June 2025. Picture: SANDF
JOHANNESBURG - Despite initial logistical issues around the transporting of 249 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops back to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), officials are confident to have all personnel back before the end of June.
On Friday, the first batch of SANDF soldiers arrived at Waterkloof Air Force Base outside Pretoria following a six-hour delay due to logistical issues surrounding their flight out of Tanzania.
Last month, SA withdrew its troops from the DRC, having lost 14 soldiers in a battle with M23 rebels in January.
READ: SA blames SADC for the delayed return of 249 SANDF troops from Tanzania
In the coming weeks, hundreds of SANDF troops will return home from the conflict-stricken city of Goma in the eastern DRC, where they’ve been deployed as part of a SADC mission since December 2023.
According to Defence Minister Angie Motshekga, the families of the soldiers are being briefed about the process.
"By the end of June, we will have completed the process, and I think they will spell out what the process is when they arrive, what happens in the first three days, go to their units, go for psycho-social support back at their bases and then be allowed to go home."
SANDF chief of joint operations, Siphiwe Sangweni, detailed plans around repatriating the remaining soldiers.
"With these bigger aircraft, it will now be nine trips bringing our soldiers back to RSA, and the frequency of those aircraft moving it will almost be every second day."
The logistics around the soldiers' return home is being managed by SADC.