Ramaphosa honours fallen soldiers who fought for peace in the DRC

South Africa will not weaken in its resolve to realise an Africa that is free of war and conflict, poverty and underdevelopment and which is at peace with itself and the world, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday evening.

He was speaking at a memorial service at the Swartkop Air Force Bas for the 14 SANDF soldiers who were killed in fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo last month.

“We say from the time our country became free, we have participated in many missions to bring about peace on our continent. We have succeeded in bringing peace to a number of countries on the continent.

“We have lost heroic soldiers in the course of doing so in many missions that our soldiers have been involved in. This is one of those missions,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa offered his profound and deepest sympathies to the families of the fallen soldiers.

“They lost their lives in defence of the defenceless.”

He said the SANDF was capable of defending the people of South Africa and of intervening in the interests of peace and security for those who need it on our continent.

“We intervened recently when Mozambique was threatened by negative forces. We knew as we intervened that we were not intervening on behalf of Mozambican people but on our behalf as well.

“What had befallen Mozambique through the incursion of insurgents could easily befall us. We acted in defence of our own country and in defence of the people of Mozambique and our own region.”

He said South Africa, which was a troop-contributing country to two peacekeeping missions in the DRC, remained firmly committed to supporting all processes to bring peace in the region and to bring an end to the conflict that has been raging in the DRC for almost 30 years.

Earlier, chief of the SANDF Gen Rudzani Maphwanya said the deceased soldiers aimed to achieve lasting peace and security in the DRC.

“Each member who answered the call to serve in the DRC carried out the mission with a spirit of selflessness and sacrifice, they fought gallantly against the M23 rebels who threatened the fragile peace.” 

He said theybelieved in the power of peace and the importance of their role in creating a safer world.

“Our fallen heroes would be asking: is it the right time to be opening a debate on defence funding? We as SANDF have on several occasions acknowledged the challenges of insufficient funding.”

Maphwanya said the SANDF had done as much as it could in circumstances it found itself in.

“Our people were armed, resourced and capable of meeting the challenge they faced.”

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