South Africans have been calling for answers after the deaths of troops stationed in Sake and Goma on a Sadc peacekeeping mission. South Africa, along with Tanzania and Malawi, deployed troops to the region after ongoing conflict between Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the DRC.
Motshekga said SA's army initially thought they were under attack by the Rwandan army last week when their troops were killed during the conflict. She said when South African generals investigated, they found that the shooting came from the DRC into Rwanda, and that Rwanda was defending itself and retaliating.
“That is what changed the complexion and the tension that arose, because our view was that because they were shooting in our direction, our sense was that they were shooting at us,” she said.
Once it became clear the Rwandans were returning fire, it became apparent the South African troops were caught in the middle of shooting between the two sides.
“Unfortunately we were in that direction because DRC was shooting from behind us.
“In terms of relations, the situation is so volatile I don't think there is time for emotions; you can only deal with things rationally in a way that will ease the situation,” she said.
However, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame made his own statement in response to South Africa, claiming Ramaphosa had “confirmed to me that M23 did not kill the soldiers from South Africa — FARDC did”.
SA's dead troops were let down by Burundi and DRC, claims Holomisa
Defence minister Angie Motshekga says DRC forces were fighting Rwandan forces 'over our heads' and SA soldiers were caught in the crossfire
Image: Freddy Mavunda
Deputy minister of defence Bantu Holomisa fell short of saying the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) had no capability for war when he and minister Angie Motshekga addressed journalists on Wednesday.
This as the two failed to clarify which army fired the shots which killed its peacekeeping soldiers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday afternoon on the sidelines of a cabinet lekgotla, Holomisa said South African troops were let down by other troops, including those of Burundi and the DRC.
“The troops of [DR] Congo surrendered. The troops of Burundi were supposed to cover another flank, they also disappeared. And all of a sudden these troops of South Africa ended up being attacked. I think they acted with speed but I'm awaiting the UN to come up with stats as to how many rebels were shot at in that incident so as to see if our troops were fighting effectively.”
Motshekga said South African soldiers were caught in the crossfire when DRC soldiers fired at Rwanda's troops, forcing the latter to retaliate.
This is as the South African government has been dragged into a diplomatic conflict between the two neighbours in east Africa.
Bantu Holomisa blames budget cuts for 'decades' of deterioration in SANDF
South Africans have been calling for answers after the deaths of troops stationed in Sake and Goma on a Sadc peacekeeping mission. South Africa, along with Tanzania and Malawi, deployed troops to the region after ongoing conflict between Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the DRC.
Motshekga said SA's army initially thought they were under attack by the Rwandan army last week when their troops were killed during the conflict. She said when South African generals investigated, they found that the shooting came from the DRC into Rwanda, and that Rwanda was defending itself and retaliating.
“That is what changed the complexion and the tension that arose, because our view was that because they were shooting in our direction, our sense was that they were shooting at us,” she said.
Once it became clear the Rwandans were returning fire, it became apparent the South African troops were caught in the middle of shooting between the two sides.
“Unfortunately we were in that direction because DRC was shooting from behind us.
“In terms of relations, the situation is so volatile I don't think there is time for emotions; you can only deal with things rationally in a way that will ease the situation,” she said.
However, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame made his own statement in response to South Africa, claiming Ramaphosa had “confirmed to me that M23 did not kill the soldiers from South Africa — FARDC did”.
The office of the president is yet to react to Kagame's statements.
Motshekga said she arrived in Kinshasa last week on Wednesday, the day South African troops were attacked, and was in Sake, where the situation had escalated to complete hostilities. She then flew to Goma, where she was briefed by Sadc forces.
“At that stage our priority was to ensure we retrieved the injured in Sake. With support of the UN, we flew in and removed the deceased and the injured and they were taken to Goma. That is when we lost the 11 [sic]. From Goma we went to Monusco to get a sense what happened. There are still lots of loose issues,” she said.
“When we were at Goma, DRC forces were fighting Rwandan forces over our heads. That is where we lost the three people. We had to quickly communicate with M23 to say 'we are not part of the battle so don't fire over our heads'. We agreed with them that we would hoist our flag to say we were not part of the battle and did not want to be dragged into it.”
She said there were two-hourly updates from the troop force contributing countries.
“The general posture that we are taking as Samidrc (Sadc Mission in the DRC) is to force the parties to go into a peaceful negotiation. Our sense is that the war would not be won through arms; only if people sit down and negotiate. We have called for a ceasefire.
“I can assure South Africa that our camps have not been attacked for the past 48 hours,” she said on Wednesday.
Defence minister Angie Motshekga denies SANDF troops in DRC are under-resourced
Motshekga said information from South African troops indicated there had been intense fighting in Goma between M23 rebels and DRC forces.
“The place is completely tense and there are difficulties. That is why we are communicating after every two hours to check the situation. From our side there have been no activities, no attacks.”
The killing of the South African soldiers has exposed the under-resourcing of the military.
Holomisa said as far back as 15 years ago, there were signals the SANDF was struggling with the government continuing to defund the army.
"Defunding of the SANDF led to us to say the state of readiness for our defence force, we cannot guarantee that we are ready because you are aware that we were struggling to even maintain the aircraft like the helicopters, which normally give aerial cover for our troops when they are under attack,” he said.
“We hope that the defence department, National Treasury and the cabinet will rearrange some of the priorities.”
Holomisa said Ramaphosa and the ANC government focused more on social security as opposed to military security.
Contradictions between government officials have been apparent in the past 24 hours as Holomisa and Motshekga had opposing views on the resourcing of the troops.
Holomisa said the army generals indicated to Pretoria last week Thursday that they were running out of ammunition and needed reinforcements, while Motshekga, who spoke after him, said no such call had been made.
“I personally went to Goma and got a briefing from the generals. At no stage did they say they had no ammunition. We reinforced on the basis that there have been these escalated hostilities. We spoke with the national council of arms to say the situation is very problematic, it's going to be very important for us to reinforce to make sure we don't reach a stage where we don't have [ammo].
“At no stage did any of the generals, even the force leader, say to me we have run out of ammunition. Even Tanzania was reinforcing. But because of the intensity we felt that we need to reinforce because we don't know how long it's going to last.
“On the first day they fought the whole night. We were not armed to go and fight; we were armed to go and keep peace [and] because we were caught in the crossfire it's going to be important for us to reinforce.
“I've also heard that we ran out of food — no, none of the generals told me that,” she said, adding that the South African generals were highly skilled, experienced and were camped on the ground.
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