The third group of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops is expected to arrive on Monday at the Waterkloof Air Force Base, Pretoria.

This follows the termination of their deployment to eastern DRC as part of a peacekeeping mission by the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Major-General Godfrey Thulare of the SANDF elaborated on the demobilisation process, stating the group will be aided with reintegrating with their communities and their families.

“We will give them time to rest, and then after breakfast, we can take them through the demobilisation for three days. The process is the same for all the groups, and at the end we will send them back home with the intention that they are ready to be reintegrated into their communities and their families,” said Thulare.

Demobilization

Two hundred and forty-nine SANDF members who arrived from the DRC on Friday have completed demobilisation at the Tempe military base in Bloemfontein and are set to return to their base camps on Monday.

SANDF Chief Rhudzani Maphwanya addressed the media at Waterkloof Air Force Base during the arrival of the second batch of soldiers, acknowledging the difficulty of the withdrawal process.

"It has been a collective effort from SADC. From the political level, as commanders, we have been coming together more frequently because we were concerned that our young stars must come back,” Maphwanya stated.

He revealed that extensive consultations were held with various entities, including the M23 rebels, and a decision has been made to withdraw all foreign troops to facilitate peace talks in the DRC.