South Africa’s Deputy Defence Minister, Major-General Bantu Holomisa, has attributed the deaths of 13 South African soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the collapse of allied forces and chronic underfunding of the South African military.
The soldiers, part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), were deployed under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to support Congolese forces against the advancing M23 rebels. However, Holomisa revealed that Congolese and Burundian troops fled the battlefield, leaving South African soldiers exposed.
“The South African army was let down by the Congolese and Burundian armies, which fled,” he said, highlighting the difficulties SANDF troops faced in the conflict.
Holomisa also pointed to severe budgetary constraints affecting the South African military, stating that the country allocates only 0.57% of its GDP to defence—far below the global average of 1.98%. This underfunding, he suggested, has left the army ill-equipped for high-intensity operations such as the DRC mission.
The deaths of South African soldiers come amid escalating violence in eastern DRC, where M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, have made territorial gains. The Congolese government has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda, while the conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis, displacing over 400,000 people since the beginning of 2025, according to the UN.
With the situation deteriorating, international calls for peace negotiations and intervention continue to grow, as South Africa grapples with both the human and strategic costs of its military engagement in the region.
