African leaders call for DRC ceasefire and dialogue

The joint summit of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and its East African counterpart, the East African Community (EAC) has resolved to withdraw all “uninvited foreign soldiers” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

A communique released at the end of Saturday’s joint summit did not name the “uninvited foreign soldiers”. But the vast mineral-rich country is full of militias and foreign armies all protecting various interests.

The Sadc mission in the DRC, mandated to safeguard citizens and help disarm warring factions was authorised to have 5,000 troops from Malawi, SA and Tanzania. But the actual deployment has fallen far short of this number as only about 1,300 troops had been deployed.

Despite facing a backlash over the soldiers who remain trapped in the eastern DRC, Ramaphosa, who headed the SA delegation to the joint summit, has reiterated his commitment to keeping peace in the region.

Calls for the return of the SA troops heightened a week ago after the death of 14 of its troops during the fall of the eastern DRC town of Goma to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. 

The remains of the 14 soldiers arrived in Uganda on Sunday and are expected in SA sometime this week, a statement from the SA National Defence Force said.

“The joint summit directed that modalities for withdrawal of uninvited foreign armed forces from the territory of the DRC be developed and implemented,” the communique of the joint summit held in Tanzania on Saturday said.

This was the first time for the two regional groupings to meet in a joint summit. 

“The joint summit reaffirmed 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.”

According to the communique, the heads of state from the Sadc and the EAC who attended the summit called on all parties in the eastern DRC, including M23 rebels, to return to the negotiating table and urgently chart the path to a ceasefire. 

DRC President Félix Tshisekedi was among the heads of state who met in Dar es Salaam on Saturday to discuss the ongoing conflict, which has killed 3,000 people and injured at least 2,800 others since January 26, according to the UN. 

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni were part of the summit that had 16 member states from Sadc and eight from the EAC.

The crisis has claimed the lives of numerous soldiers from Sadc members, including SA, Tanzania and Malawi, who have been assigned to a peacekeeping mission in the region, including the 14 SA soldiers.

After the weekend’s summit, EAC-Sadc chiefs of defence have been instructed to meet within five days to provide technical direction for key objectives, including an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities and the provision of humanitarian assistance to the region. 

They have also been ordered to provide technical direction to develop a securitisation plan for the DRC city of Goma and surrounding areas, as well as the immediate reopening of Goma airport and to advise on other related facilitative interventions. 

International relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola said he was optimistic after the “historic” meeting though the M23 were not present.

The joint summit resolved that the ceasefire must engage state and nonstate actors. 

“This means that everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in the conflict will be engaged in the ceasefire and will also be involved in the long-term peace processes,” said Lamola. 

“We believe that the outcomes [of the joint summit] have bridged the gap in that region and will help to steer the ship towards peace,” he said. 

The defence force chiefs will now be responsible for engaging forces on the ground to negotiate a ceasefire, a process that Lamola said must happen immediately, given that “the situation is deteriorating rapidly on a day-to-day basis”. 

The summit said focus had to be on the neutralisation of the Rwandan armed rebel group FDLR. 

According to the communiqué, EAC and Sadc ministers will meet within 30 days to discuss the report on the defence chiefs ceasefire strategy and establish a “secretariat level technical co-ordination mechanism” to monitor implementations of the decisions made on Saturday. 

Update: February 9 2025
This story has been updated throughout.

websterj@businesslive.co.za