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SA soldiers stranded in Goma as transport home fails to arrive

Details

sandf thumb medium90 89City Press reports that the promised buses that were supposed to transport a group of South African soldiers out of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have still not arrived. The blame for this has been placed, among other things, on a lack of funds.

Approximately half of the military’s equipment in Goma and Sake has already been transported by truck to Tanzania. The latest indication is that the first 200 of the group of nonessential soldiers could begin to move out by Monday. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), under whose banner the SamiDRC forces (from SA, Tanzania and Malawi) were deployed in the DRC, is also responsible for the repatriation of the soldiers. The initial plan was to take the soldiers to Chato by bus and then they would be flown home to the military’s mobilisation centre at De Brug in Bloemfontein. The latest plan involves the soldiers supposedly flying home from Mwanza International Airport (about 720km from Goma) rather than from Chato. A senior officer involved in coordinating the repatriation in Tanzania indicated: “Our feedback is that the SADC has not yet hired the buses, and we are also not aware of any flights.” A frustrated officer said: “The problem is that we are completely in the dark, while we just see how the equipment becomes less and less, but we’re not going anywhere.” The officer said some of the soldiers were threatening to protest at SamiDRC’s headquarters, which would be an even greater disgrace for SA.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erica Gibson at City Press (subscription / trial registration required)
  • Read too, What is taking so long? Why SANDF troops can’t get a lift home, at The Citizen


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