| Unit Name: | SADC Mission in the DRC |
| Dates: | 15 December 2023 – present |
| Countries: | |
| Role: | Armed peacekeeping |
| Command Structure: | SADC Standby Brigade |
| Colours: | --> |
| Colours Label: | --> |
| Battles: | M23 offensive (2022–present) |
| Current Commander: | Major General Monwabisi Dyakopu |
| Aircraft Helicopter: | Atlas Oryx |
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) is an active regional peacekeeping mission operated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1]
Operation Thiba includes soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi. They will replace the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade in the DRC for 25 years as well as a recent East African Community deployment.[2]
Tanzania and Malawi have committed 2 100 troops to the mission.[3] South Africa has committed 2,900 troops to the mission,[4] of the country's 38 572[5] active army personnel. Based on South African Army standard operating procedures,[6] if 2 900 South African troops are in active combat theatre, 2 900 rehearsing (preparing to replace active duty personnel) and 2 900 in rest and recuperation (R&R), then South Africa has in effect committed 22.5% of its army personnel capacity to the region for a period of 25-years.
In 2023, the escalating conflict between the Forces Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo (FARDC) or Congolese military and rebel groups displaced over 6.38 million people in the eastern provinces of the DRC.[7]
The resurgent M23 rebel movement seized swathes of territory, and neither the United Nations peacekeeping mission nor the East African regional force could help the FARDC stop their advance.[8]
In December 2023, Congo said SADC troops were mandated "to support the Congolese army in fighting and eradicating the M23 and other armed groups that continue to disrupt peace and security."[9]
Troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawian started deploying in Sake and surrounding areas near Goma in December 2023.[10]
Malawi
South Africa