Unarmed. Hungry. Far from home.
That is the desperate plight of South African soldiers this weekend after their “peacekeeping” mission in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) turned sour, leaving 13 of their comrades dead and a host of questions about just how prepared — or not — South Africa was for the mission.
An SANDF soldier in the town of Sake just outside Goma told his Northern Cape family in a series of sporadic voice notes that his unit was getting only one meal a day, as M23 rebels were taking some of their food.
It is one of the cornerstones of warfare that you always aim to be the side on the higher ground. In this case the enemy had the higher ground and that made it possible for them to put our guys under serious fire
— Intelligence source
He said the rebels had seized their arms and ammunition and were guarding them and monitoring their movements. There had been no word about what would happen next.
The soldier’s wife, who asked that neither her name nor that of her husband be published, told the Sunday Times the uncertainty of their predicament was hard for the troops to bear.
“He said what is frustrating him is that after something happens, they usually have a meeting. Everyone gets together and is briefed about what happened and what’s going to happen next,” she said.
“But since things have calmed down, they haven’t heard anything. He says what stresses him is that they thought they’d be able to go home by now. He says they are only eating once a day because they have to make the food last.”
An aunt of the soldier, said he had described how he and his comrades were being guarded and escorted by M23 fighters.
“They must share all of their stuff with the rebels. I don’t even know if they have water. If they move or want to move somewhere, the rebels have to move with them all the time. It seems there is no plan and no ammunition.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa must bring the troops back.”
The situation points to a force that was ill equipped for its mission. The Sunday Times has established that South African soldiers never stood a chance, as the operation has been marked by poor planning, apathy from the top levels of the military and chronic equipment shortages.
As Sadc looks to send defence ministers and generals from the regional bloc to the DRC to negotiate safe passage for the beaten forces, details have begun to emerge that suggest a toxic blend of failures doomed the Sadc security mission from the start.
Of the South African fatalities, 11 were in the Sadc force and two in the separate UN-led Monusco mission. At least three soldiers from Malawi and one from Uruguay have also been killed in the past week.
They were killed because of a failure of planning
— Senior SANDF officer
“The defence force is trying to spin this thing on the basis that it was underfunded, but those soldiers were not killed because of that,” said a senior SANDF officer with direct insight into the mission’s planning and implementation. “They were killed because of a failure of planning.”
The officer, who is not authorised to discuss operational matters with the media, summed up the mission as a “military failure”, saying troops on the ground had stood no chance since they landed in the DRC.
Those responsible for planning and implementation had not taken into account the terrain in the staging area in Sake, a small town about 25km northwest of of Goma, the biggest city in the region.
Troops in the Sadc force, whose mandate includes supporting DRC armed forces in engaging and suppressing M23 rebels, set up base at the bottom of a mountain range in the area, with M23 on higher ground, the officer said.
This gave the rebels a territorial advantage.
“Deployment without taking the high ground, irrespective of how you are funded or equipped, is a basic tactical blunder,” the officer said.
“The main problem has always been that we were pinned down and could not initiate anything because they had a tactical and strategic advantage.
“We [the Sadc force] were deployed in the valley, and M23 had taken the high ground. Every time we wanted to do an operation, M23 just lobbed mortars to repel us. So the game was over irrespective of whether we were fully resourced or not.
“The fundamental problem was a military failure to plan for the mission.”
The source said military commanders from the troop contributing countries — South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania — had failed to come up with a strategy to neutralise M23’s advantage. The South African Air Force had not lived up to a promise it made in June last year to provide air support “within three months”.
Another insider, a general in the SANDF, confirmed the soldiers were deployed without air support, and did not have backup from Rooivalk attack helicopters.
“The Rooivalk has been used before to defeat the same M23, and now it cannot be used due to mismanagement of funds. The death of our colleagues cannot be attributed to anything other than the absence of a force multiplier, which is air support,” said the general, who also cannot be identified.
“One does not need to be a military expert to know that the base in Sake is not fortified as a military base and as a result there is not enough place to take cover.”
Pundits have been tracking flights between Waterkloof airbase and Kinshasa this week amid rumours that the planes are transporting more troops for an offensive to try to recapture Goma.
However the general said the remaining soldiers in the Sadc force were essentially hostages in the hands of the rebels.
Our soldiers are pretty much leaderless at the moment after a senior commander fled on a UN plane
— Source
“The main problem now is that once we start engaging [militarily] those that are outside the bases, their people are going to start killing the ones inside. It is a stalemate.”
The Sunday Times understands discussions are under way with M23 leaders about allowing the repatriation of dead and injured troops. The rebels are said to be offering safe passage through neighbouring Rwanda, but this is being resisted by the South Africans.
“Can you imagine how embarrassing it will be, especially after these guys also raised the white flag and surrendered, the general said.
Rwanda supports the M23 rebels, and diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Kigali plunged to a new low this week.
On Friday, a Sunday Times intelligence source citing people on the ground in Goma said a unit of about 30 South African special forces, or recces, had acquitted themselves well in the fighting.
“When the initial assault came it happened in the form of a mortar attack. That is what took our people out. The enemy were shooting downhill,” the source said.
“But that did not stop our recces. There are G5 artillery pieces, mortars and rockets being used in this skirmish. When it started and everyone bunkered down, the recces held position and fought like lions.
“We are talking real bravery and knowledge of objective. A soldier would be wounded, and it would literally be a case of putting a bandage on and continuing to fight. We can be proud of what these fighters accomplished.”
The source said command and control was a real challenge. “Our soldiers are pretty much leaderless at the moment after a senior commander fled on a UN plane.”
He said M23’s control of the high ground had been decisive.
“It is one of the cornerstones of warfare that you always aim to be the side on the higher ground. In this case the enemy had the higher ground and that made it possible for them to put our guys under serious fire. One Rooivalk would have won the battle for us hands down.”
The Sunday Times reported last year that the dramatic deterioration in the SANDF’s fighting capabilities was due to ageing equipment, an R8bn backlog in maintenance, over-expansion of its mandate, constraints on the national fiscus and lack of financial controls.
Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke sounded alarm bells over the state of the navy and air force when briefing parliament’s portfolio committee on defence last month.
“The decline in available capabilities has had an impact on training and development,” she said.
Responding to the claims, defence department spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said the white flag was raised as "a sign of a truce after our base was approached by the M23 members requesting to collect their dead and our members demanded that our base not be attacked. Therefore the white flag was to indicate the position of base.
"No member of the SANDF surrendered or escaped the DRC in the United Nations plane. This smacks of serious propaganda. Furthermore our members are not hostages."
He said the process of repatriating the bodies of those who died was ongoing. "Sadc is sending emissaries to that part of the world to ensure the injured and deceased are repatriated soonest.
"Once again it is sad that we have to keep answering the same question about leadership. We have been in various peacekeeping missions like Burundi, Darfur and many others including DRC, since 1999 and have gained immense experience. Some of these were led by South Africans and it is sad that some think we are not up to the task."
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