{"id":49983,"date":"2024-02-13T15:14:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T15:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/what-is-behind-south-africa-s-troop-deployment-of-in-drc\/"},"modified":"2024-02-16T09:26:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T09:26:15","slug":"what-is-behind-south-africa-s-troop-deployment-of-in-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/what-is-behind-south-africa-s-troop-deployment-of-in-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"What is behind South Africa\u2019s troop deployment of in DRC?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This mission, grounded in SADC&#8217;s principle of mutual support, has attracted participation from only three countries: South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi, to aid the DRC in its struggle against the M23 rebel forces. Notably, South Africa has contributed the largest contingent, dispatching 2,900 troops for a year-long mission, funded by a substantial 134 billion Rwandan francs budget.<\/p>\n<p>The mission&#8217;s declared aim is to foster peace and security within the region. However, recent disclosures by South African officials have revealed a secondary agenda: advancing Pretoria&#8217;s economic interests in the DRC. <\/p>\n<p>The South African Ambassador to the DRC, Mxolisi Shilubane, highlighted the dire climatic challenges his country faces, such as drought-induced food shortages. He pointed out the DRC&#8217;s abundant rainfall as a vital resource for agriculture, suggesting that South Africa could leverage this for its benefit and that of the broader SADC region.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Shilubane advocated for a strategic focus on agriculture, proposing that South African regions affected by drought could benefit from the DRC&#8217;s year-round rainfall. He explained that this necessitates exploring collaborative avenues, be it through Congolese initiatives or South African assistance, to harness this agricultural potential.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, South African businessman Robert Gumede emphasized the DRC&#8217;s wealth in natural resources, particularly its mineral riches. South Africa&#8217;s interest seems especially keen on the Rubaya mineral reserves in North Kivu province, aiming to bolster its mining operations there. <\/p>\n<p>This ambition aligns with recent bilateral economic agreements, underscored at an investment conference in Kinshasa attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa. <\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa highlighted opportunities for cooperation in the mineral and oil sectors, envisioning a partnership that leverages the complementary resources, expertise, and technology of both nations to foster industrial synergy and economic growth for both countries.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the portrayal of South Africa&#8217;s involvement in the DRC as a gesture of solidarity and mutual development, this deep engagement prompts scrutiny of the true motives\u2014balancing humanitarian objectives against economic interests. <\/p>\n<p>While Pretoria professes a commitment to regional peace and stability, its actions also suggest a strategic focus on securing key economic footholds in one of Africa&#8217;s most resource-abundant regions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-63625\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/38471.jpg\" alt=\"South Africa has contributed the largest contingent, dispatching 2,900 troops for a year-long mission in DRC.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{Since December 15, 2023, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has embarked on a mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), initiated by the regional bloc&#8217;s leaders in Windhoek, Namibia, on May 8, 2023.} <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000063624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-49983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000063624,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/38471.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/38471.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/38471.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/38471.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/38471.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/38471.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000063624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49983"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=49983"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=49983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}