SANDF again hits back at criticism about DRC deployment of troops
The second contingent of soldiers touched down on home soil on Sunday, two days after the first group landed back in South Africa.
General Rudzani Maphwanya addressed the annual global commemoration of the International Day of United Nations (UN) Peacekeepers in De Brug Army Base in Bloemfontein on 29 May 2025. Picture: Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN
CAPE TOWN - The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has again hit back at criticism about the deployment of troops during the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as soldiers return home for the first time since 2023.
The second contingent of soldiers touched down on home soil on Sunday, two days after the first group landed back in South Africa.
READ: SANDF top brass welcome home second group of soldiers from DRC deployment
They were part of a peacekeeping mission in the conflict between the M23 rebels and the DRC military, in a war that saw thousands killed and displaced from their homes.
Earlier in 2025,14 South African soldiers also died when they were caught in the crossfire, sparking a national outcry about the deployment.
The SANDF and troops from Malawi and Tanzania have since been withdrawn following a ceasefire agreement.
Chief of the SANDF Rudzani Maphwanya was at the Waterkloof Air Force Base on Sunday, where more than 250 troops were given a heroes’ welcome.
“You have contributed, we have managed, through your efforts to have made the adversaries to come together and speak. You don’t talk to your friends when you want peace, you speak to your adversaries and when they engaged, the leadership of SADAG saw that there is a semblance of peace and therefore let us give peace a chance.”