The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema has criticised the government of South Africa for keeping soldiers in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the de@ths of 13 SANDF soldiers. The opposition leader cited that South Africa does not have enough capacity to engage in warfare at the moment.
While Malema commended the SANDF soldiers who are deployed in the region, he has lambasted those who are responsible for deploying South African soldiers in that region.
“The conflict in the DRC, therefore, does not require a Head of State who suffers from a desire to be a hero at the expense of the lives of our soldiers without the appreciation of the condition that informs the conflict, it is when you do not appreciate the condition that informs the conflict the DRC that you speak in fork tongues when you communicate to the President of Rwanda and you communicate a different message to the people of South Africa, lies have short legs Mr President and we demand clarity from you because you sent our soldiers to their death.”
‘Bring our soldiers home,” Malema said.
Julias Malema, the commander in chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters is pleading for the safe return of the soldiers.
“Bring our soldiers home because our army should not be a pawn in the game of capitalists which has now exposed the weakness of our military capacity. Bring them home because every day they pass away, we see a deliberate destruction of our arms manufacturer Denel and we see the consequence of the year-on-year budget cuts to the defense department. Mr President bring our soldiers home and desist from meddling in the affairs of DRC and Rwanda,” he added.
Addressing EFF party structures in Bela Bela following its third National People’s Assembly last year, Malema has once more reiterated his stance regarding the ongoing conflict in the DRC.