At least two South African army planes landed at Bujumbura airport in the commercial city of Burundi last Wednesday. They were carrying soldiers who were supposed to reinforce positions of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) forces in eastern Congo. This happens at a time when the Goma airport they were using is no longer accessible after the capture of the North Kivu capital by the M23 rebels.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The South African contingent paid a heavy price during the recent fighting with the M23. At least 13 of its soldiers were killed during hostilities between FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) and their allies and the M23 rebels around Goma, the main city in the east of the vast country of Central Africa and capital of North Kivu, which fell into the hands of the rebels on January 27, who have installed a parallel administration there. According to police sources posted at Bujumbura airport, two South African army planes landed at the only international airport in the small East African nation last Wednesday.

« They headed straight for the Gakumbu camp. Many people thought they were cargo planes but they were full of soldiers, » they said.

The Gakumbu camp is located almost within the grounds of Bujumbura airport. The airport runway extends right up to this barracks.

« It is true that these planes were carrying South African soldiers. We learned that they would then have to take the Gatumba-Uvira road to pass through South Kivu in order to reinforce positions of the SADC force, » said a Burundian army officer. However, Burundian and Congolese agents posted at the Gatumba-Kavimvira border, between the provinces of Bujumbura (Burundi) and South Kivu (DRC – Democratic Republic of Congo) told a reporter from SOS Médias Burundi that « we did not see any South African soldiers passing through this border ».

« No one knows the destination of these soldiers, much less the route they took », insisted another officer of the FDNB (Burundi National Defense Force) posted in the Gakumbu camp. However, this officer claims to have seen « these South African soldiers disembark at Gakumbu ».

« In any case, the information regarding their mission and the path they took remains very confidential, » said an officer of the PNB (Burundi National Police) assigned to the office of the Burundian minister in charge of internal affairs.

South African opposition rages against the government

During a session on Monday in the South African parliament, Julius Malema, founder of the EFF party – Economic Freedom Fighters, regretted that « the reckless deployment of South African troops in the DRC … had been presented to us as a peacekeeping effort. However, the truth is that our soldiers are not there to maintain peace. »

Life has returned to normal in a part of the city of Goma not far from a position where South African soldiers are entrenched (SOS Médias Burundi)

« They are engaged in direct combat, fighting against highly armed and strategically superior M23 rebels, » denounced Julius Malema. He accused Rwandan President Paul Kagame of supporting the M23. The same allegations were made in late January by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The conflict in eastern Congo has led to a rise in tensions between Rwanda and South Africa after Kagame publicly accused Ramaphosa of spreading “deliberate lies and distortions” about the crisis in eastern Congo.

Before attending a joint summit of heads of state of the East African Community, EAC, and SADC last weekend, Mr Ramaphosa said in his state of the nation address : “We will make sure that our boys, our soldiers, come home.”

The summit called for « an immediate ceasefire ». Julius Malema attacked the government, accusing it of sacrificing South Africa’s sons and daughters.

« This government continues to send them abroad to die and when they die, their bodies are not repatriated with the dignity they deserve. We are still waiting for the bodies even after the head of defence said the bodies would arrive the next day, » he said in a very stern tone.

According to this South African opponent, « our troops must be brought home immediately ».

« We cannot allow more lives to be lost in a senseless conflict while corrupt politicians continue to plunder and mismanage our defence resources, » he insisted.

And he concluded firmly: « Bring them home now! »

The South African contingent, made up of 2,900 poorly equipped soldiers, is deployed near Goma. Burundian soldiers who were deployed there as part of a bilateral partnership between the Burundian and Congolese governments either returned after the end of their mission, or fled to South Kivu, or were redeployed to the same province where M23 rebels recently seized a few mining towns after driving out elements of the FDNB (Burundi National Defense Force), also poorly equipped, as well as Congolese soldiers and members of local militias maintained by Congolese authorities. South Africa maintains good relations with Burundi, whose authorities closed its borders with Rwanda in January 2024, accusing Rwandan President Paul Kagame of « having a plan to destabilize the sub-region. »

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A combat tank from the Kinshasa coalition in the vicinity of Goma where South African soldiers are stationed (SOS Médias Burundi)