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The GOOD Party echoes the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in vigorously condemning the offensive on the North Kivu regional capital of Goma by the M23 rebels and the support given to them by the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF). 
We send our sincerest condolences to the families of the nine South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops who have been killed, as well as their Malawian and Uruguayan counterparts.
 
While the Minister of Defence, Angie Motshekga, had a previously arranged trip to assess the welfare and operational conditions of the deployments, this trip only further contributed to the unstable situation. Troops in combat should be focused on the job at hand, not providing safety and security to non-military personnel. 
 
The GOOD Party similarly echoes calls by various political parties for an urgent briefing on the dire situation in the North Kivu region. What was a noble peacekeeping effort by MONUSCO and the South African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) threatens to become part of a full-scale regional war. 
 
Characterization of the situation as a civil war is incorrect, considering the role of Rwanda in supporting the M23 and the reports of RDF soldiers crossing into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), continuing to threaten their territorial integrity. The forced closure of the local civilian airspace and the M23 order to lay down weapons within forty-eight hours indicate a serious escalation, and the military spokesperson of the DRC’s threat that “the war has not yet begun” only serves to further worsen the situation. 
 
SANDF cannot continue to operate in combat without sufficient military resources, with ammunition running out and little to no air support. The state of defence funding requires that significantly more resources be spent, coupled with increased transparency by the Ministry and SANDF, or operations be scaled back. Sending well-trained soldiers to die without sufficient support is a travesty.
 
All state parties to the conflict in the Great Lakes region must be forced back to the negotiation table to allow the Luanda Peace Process to run its course in search of a genuine cessation to hostilities. In addition, we call for the immediate increase in capacity for the peacekeeping forces or their withdrawal from the combat zone until such time as this capacity is secured. 
 

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General