Financial Mail comments that a condensed version of SA’s latest military misadventure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is that the troops were outgunned, outmanoeuvred, out of luck, and out of the Congo.

Yet, the ignominious withdrawal had nothing to do with the calibre of the SA troops, who had been fighting with one hand, and sometimes both, behind their backs. With no money in the pot to keep the Rooivalks battle-ready, sending troops to make peace in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in Africa without air support was never going to end well. In the early days, when the peacekeepers could count on a single Rooivalk gunship overhead, M23 were the ones doing the melting away. It was not just about gunships, though. With military expeditions to faraway lands, it’s the supply chain that matters most, along with the quality of the supplies. Because there was no money for the new Airbus heavy-lift transport aircraft, the army depended on third-party civilian operators flying Russian-built “vodka burners” to carry everything it needed to and from the DRC. Such long supply lines into hostile lands are said to be a fast track to military disappointment and humiliation. The humiliation, however, will be most keenly felt by SA’s troops as they travel, by road, through M23-backing Rwanda to a staging base in Tanzania. Some will fly home from there, while their equipment returns by sea. Since the navy supply vessel SAS Drakensberg is still out of commission, the vehicles, artillery and impedimenta of battle will come home on a rented ship.

• Read the full original of the commentary in the above regard by Paul Ash at Financial Mail

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