Why the SANDF is withdrawing from DRC after 27 years

South Africa has announced it will withdraw its troops from the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), ending nearly three decades of continuous peacekeeping involvement in the conflict-ridden country.

The Presidency said the decision was driven by the need to consolidate and realign the resources of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after 27 years of support for United Nations peacekeeping efforts in the DRC.

South Africa is currently among the top 10 troop-contributing countries to MONUSCO, with about 700 soldiers deployed in support of the mission’s peacekeeping mandate.

MONUSCO was established by the UN Security Council in 1999 to support the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement and help stabilise the volatile central African nation.

Difference between MONUSCO and SADC mission

Speaking on 702, SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini clarified the distinction between MONUSCO and the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which was terminated last year.

“The UN mission is called MONUSCO, which is a UN-mandated mission in the DRC to deal with all security issues that are destabilising that region,” Dlamini said.

He explained that SAMIDRC was a regional intervention under the Southern African Development Community (SADC), mainly comprising South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.

“MONUSCO is much bigger and larger; it has close to 20,000 members from various countries, including South Africa, and it’s purely a United Nations-sanctioned mission, whereas SAMIDRC is a SADC mission,” he said.

While their mandates differed, Dlamini said both missions aimed to restore security and stability in the region.

Funding and cost of deployment

Questions have been raised about the financial implications of South Africa’s long-standing deployment in the DRC, especially amid ongoing budget pressures within the SANDF.

Dlamini said funding arrangements for UN missions differ from regional deployments.

“The UN is responsible for financing the entire mission,” he said. “If we bring in our equipment as we’ve done, the UN then reimburses us in relation to what we’ve brought into the mission.”

He declined to provide specific figures on how much South Africa had spent over the years, noting that financial matters fall under higher offices.

Operational pause and resource pressures

The Presidency said the withdrawal was influenced by the need to address capacity constraints within the SANDF, including financial pressures.

Dlamini described the decision as part of what the military terms an ‘operational pause’.

“Operational pause simply means you stand back and look at how things have been going over a period of time,” he said, adding that it was time to reflect on the country’s long-standing involvement in the DRC.

The withdrawal marks a significant shift in South Africa’s peacekeeping role on the Continent, as the government reassesses military commitments against domestic resource constraints.

For more details, listen to Dlamini using the audio player below: