‘OUR SOLDIERS ARE DYING’
DEFENCE Minister Angie Motshekga is facing calls for her head to roll as the death toll of South African soldiers in the DRC rose to 13.
SANDF troops deployed near Goma were involved in battles on Sunday and Monday, as M23 rebels retook the provincial capital of North Kivu, with footage showing troops waving white flags.
Four more soldiers fell in the onslaught on the UN peacekeeping mission yesterday.
EFF Member of Parliament Carl Niehaus called for Motshekga to resign in the aftermath of the latest deadly attack.
In an interview with IOL, Niehaus who serves on Parliament’s portfolio committee on defence and military veterans and the joint standing committee of defence said Motshekga has turned a blind eye to SANDF’s state of affairs and operational capabilities for demanding missions like the DRC.
He says: “She must go, she must resign. She spoke on SABC last week, where she told us that everything is fine and that the SANDF is capable of dealing with anything that it can be faced with, it can protect the nation and everything is fine in the DRC.
“At that time, this tragedy we are now aware of, was already playing out.
He adds: “The sad thing is that the M23 rebels are far better equipped, with technical equipment and training than what the SANDF troops are.
“This is not something we learned yesterday. We knew it all along, so to have sent the troops there, was to send them to a killing field.”
“For the minister to have recently said on an SABC show that all is well, it is misleading and a lie. The minister is out of her depth, she is incompetent and she must resign.”
To make matters worse, a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence meeting with Motshekga scheduled for today was postponed indefinitely.
The cancelled meeting was to discuss issues relating to the committee’s first term of office as well as the issues affecting the SA Military Health Services’ pharmacies reports.
Neihaus adds: “I want to register my outrage with and strongest possible opposition to this unacceptable request for a postponement of the meeting.
“The meeting should not be postponed as the situation in the DRC is a dire crisis. Goma has fallen, our SANDF soldiers are hoisting the white flag, surrendering, and getting killed.
“Obviously the original agenda for the Wednesday meeting could not go ahead.
“That agenda had to be cleared and a new agenda adopted to deal with the crisis in the DRC. Literally every minute now counts!”