Southern Africa grouping backs DRC government amid escalating conflict
February 4, 2025
MEMBER countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have given strong support to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo as Goma, the capital of its mineral-rich North Kivu, fell to the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group.
SADC leaders met at an extraordinary summit in Harare on January 31 to discuss the escalating violence that has led to the deaths of 16 soldiers from the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), 13 of whom came from South Africa.
The SADC backed the deployment of peacekeeping troops to the DRC in May 2023.
In the aftermath of the killings in the Eastern DRC, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda engaged in a war of words, compounding the long-standing diplomatic tensions between both countries.
A communique after the Harare summit said that the SADC “reaffirmed its solidarity and unwavering commitment to continue supporting the DRC in its pursuit of safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as sustainable peace, security and development”.
They condemned “in strongest terms the attacks on the SAMIDRC troops by the M23 operating in the Eastern DRC as such actions violated the ceasefire that was brokered through the Luanda Process on July 30, 2024 and undermine peace and security of the DRC and the SADC region”.
The communique added: “Summit expressed solidarity with the DRC and extended its appreciation to the men and women deployed in the SAMIDRC for their dedication, resilience and service to the preservation of peace and security in the region.”
Kagame has justified the presence of Rwandan troops backing the M23 as a necessity to protect ethnic Tutsis living in the Eastern Province of the DRC.
But DRC President Félix Tshisekedi does not buy this argument, saying that Rwanda continues “to openly violate the fundamental principles of the UN Charter as well as regional agreements”.
The Harare summit expressed concern that the recent attacks continued to worsen the security and humanitarian situation in the DRC and called for immediate restoration of essential utilities such as water, electricity, means of communication and supply lines for food and other essential commodities.
The SADC leaders stated that they supported diplomatic efforts to bring peace to the Eastern DRC through the Luanda Process, led by Angolan President João Lourenço and the African Union Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa and the Nairobi Process, led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The leaders called for an immediate joint summit of the SADC and the East African Community on the security situation in the DRC in line with a proposal by EAC heads of state on January 29.
Hits: 0
