/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

South Africans awoke this morning to disturbing footage of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers raising a makeshift white flag to the M23 Rebels.

Unconfirmed reports this morning indicate that troops have been captured, after being surrounded M23 yesterday following heavy fighting. This includes alarming accounts of four more South African fatalities, with numerous others wounded.

M23 now controls the airspace and making evacuation efforts perilous.

We call on the President to address the nation immediately.

Since the recent deaths of yet more troops, SANDF Commander in Chief, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has yet to address the nation to provide comfort to families grieving and assure South Africans of the safety of our Defence Force.

With the conflict now before the UN Security Council, Mr Ramaphosa has also entered South Africa into a diplomatic crisis.

The President has failed to provide leadership in an operation he authorised. Instead, more bodies are returning home and more taxpayer funds gone.

The deafening silence from the President and Minister of Defence & Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, shows a lack of compassion and deliberate withholding of information.

The President’s tenure as CiC has only seen the rapid decline of our nation’s defence capabilities.

The DA wishes to honour and commend the unwavering courage and dedication of our soldiers, who have demonstrated extraordinary bravery and the indomitable spirit for which South African troops are renowned, despite the lack of essential support.

We express our profound condolences to the families of those lost, in a tragedy that never should have occurred.

Issued by Chris Hattingh MP - DA Spokesperson on Defence & Military Veterans