The saga of the South African military deployment in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is stuttering to an end in the same shambolic way it was conducted. The mission was called off following a disastrous attack by M23 rebels in and around Goma in January, in which 14 South African troops were killed.
So when defence minister Angie Motshekga announced five months later that the first of the returning troops would finally arrive home from Tanzania at a Bloemfontein airbase on Friday, their loved ones must have been relieved.
But as with all things this Motshekgampara touches, even Operation Welcome Home dissolved into chaos. There was a mix-up with the aircraft involved, and various other logistical issues, so the first returning party arrived 10 hours late and at Waterkloof in Pretoria, not Bloemfontein.
If this is how the minister runs a peacetime mission, no wonder things go so badly wrong when the bullets are flying.
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