The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) commitment to curbing rebel attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has initiated its reconnaissance and planning stage.

Dubbed SAMIDRC (SADC Mission in DRC), the deployment witnessed its force commander, South African Major General Monwabisi Dyakopu, and an undisclosed number of staff officers participating in a reconnaissance and planning conference in Goma from November 17 to 24.

The SADC statement, disseminated by the Joint Operations Division of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), indicates that the same group deployed on December 15.

SAMIDRC's approval took place over nine months ago during a SADC special summit in Windhoek, Namibia, with the primary objective to address insecurity and restore peace in the region.

The deployment aligns with the principle of collective security outlined in the mutual defence pact of the organization, emphasizing immediate collective action in response to armed attacks on member states. This is significant, because the current deployment distinguishes itself from past peacekeeping efforts in the area, and aims for a warfighting campaign against Rwandan proxies in the region. The recently re-elected DRC president promised to go to war with Rwanda in his campaign pledge in elections in December.

This runs the risk of sucking South Africa into a protracted interstate war, including Rwanda, DRC, and Burundi. It is not yet clear what Uganda's role will be, though ties between the Rwandan and Ugandan regimes go back to the 1980s, when they were both fighting in exile against the dictatorship of Milton Obote.

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Broken ceasefires, ethnic tensions

In a short interview with the BBC on the 18th of January after a meeting with the leaders of the South African army, Lieutenant General Fall Sikabwe, the head of the ground forces of the DRC, said that the forces of the SADC are now ready to help them start the fight on the M23.

Hours after the announcement, military airstrikes on M23 were launched in the Kitchanga area, and M23 confirmed that two of its commanders were killed. Airstrikes by government forces were also reported in Masisi region on Wednesday in areas including Karuba in Masisi territory.

DR Congo's military has not announced anything about the attacks.

In an audio message, M23's military spokesman, Major Willy Ngoma, was heard to say that what happened on Tuesday was a "premeditated massacre" of people "who were not at war, they were going to visit the people".

This is happening despite the warring parties accepting the ceasefire requested by the United States of America, and are still working hard to stop the fighting.

The M23 may not have forgotten the soldiers of South Africa and Tanzania who helped the FARDC defeat them and dislodge them from their position in 2012, only 10 years ago.

FARDC is known to comprise many of the forces that committed the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 under the Hutu Power movement, and M23 is a largely Tutsi force, composed of the ethnic Rwandans found in the Congo when colonial borders were drawn in the late 19th century.

Major Willy Ngoma of the M23 promised to hit back at the DRC forces, and make them pay for the airstrike.

Burundi has also taken the side of SADC in backing the FARDC forces, and various rebel groups united together called Wazalendo, which includes the FDLR against the Rwandan government. .

The governments of Burundi and Rwanda - now not on good terms - deny that they are helping the parties in question.

Until the end of last year, the UN counted about 5.59 million people who left their homes in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces due to fighting and rebel activities, in North Kivu alone there were 2.8 million people who left their homes.

The number of civilians killed in these wars is also in the thousands.

General Fall Sikabwe told reporters: "Their [SADC forces] mission is to attack... 'operations' have started, they are professional people in this, they are people who are well equipped, well trained, and visiting their units are people who can make a difference things. [The mission includes] taking back the areas that were illegally captured by the enemy. [SADC troops] came to help the troops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo",

Gen Sikabwe's words make it clear that this mission is different from that of the recently departed East African Community, who were tasked with handling the same peacekeeping mandate as the UN. Military attacks on the M23 group may be intensifying in the coming days, after the relative calm that was there.

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Is South Africa ready?

The exact number of SADC troops in DR Congo is not known, but reports say that last December South Africa sent about 400 soldiers and equipment.

The SADC forces are led by Brigadier General Monwabisi Dyakopu, who was once the head of the SADC forces that joined forces with the UN to fight M23 in recent years.

South Africa's opposition has criticized the deployment of troops, saying they were "unprepared", "ill-equipped" and "unfamiliar with the battlefield".

The government of Pretoria said that it has a responsibility to help the country belonging to the common economic community to respond in the event of an attack in accordance with the principles governing that community.

The region has experienced ongoing fighting of varying intensity for the past 30 years, as a result of ethnic spillover from Rwanda into the Kivu provinces, where elements of Hutu and Tutsi militants (the two main ethnic groups of Rwanda) vie for control.

This conflict zone has claimed millions of lives in several major wars during this period, dragging in most major countries in the Bantu-speaking parts of Africa.

The SADC regional force, comprising troops from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania, alongside elements of the DRC Armed Forces, aims to support the Congolese Army (FARDC) in eliminating negative forces and illegal armed groups disrupting peace and security in the DRC.

The deployment, however, unfolds against a backdrop of challenges for South Africa. The country is grappling with overextended logistical supply lines to Mozambique, where the SANDF is involved in a security operation in Cabo Delgado against Islamic militants. Moreover, South Africa's military hardware is perceived to be in a precarious state, characterized by limited air support and insufficient technical expertise to operate the available machinery.

Financial constraints and allegations of corruption further plague the SANDF, reflecting broader issues within the South African civil service. The implications of these risk factors on the South African operation remain speculative, including the potential need for an expanded budget.

Additionally, the massive investment efforts by Standard Bank and the Chamber of Mines, who signed a deal for expanding mining operations in DRC's Katanga Province, tie South Africa's economic elite interests into the conflict, and place the government in a difficult position.

As SAMIDRC unfolds, South Africa faces multifaceted challenges that will shape the success and limitations of its involvement in the complex dynamics of the eastern DRC.

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