BuaNews (Tshwane)
Michael Appel
30 October 2008
Pretoria — Government has raised grave concern over the situation unfolding in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where rebel attacks have worsened the already existing dire humanitarian situation there.
Director General in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba, told media on Thursday that government had been hopeful that the Goma Agreement would have ushered in peace and stability in that part of the country.
"But we are concerned that what started as occasional skirmishes seems to be changing into more significant attacks. I think the worst of our fears have been born out by the events of the past few days and we know that what we can refer to as full-scale engagement started on Saturday or Sunday."
President Kgalema Motlanthe, together with various ministers, will be travelling to Kinshasa, DRC, for a two-day visit later on Thursday.
Reports indicate that there has also been a dislodging of people living in refugee camps which has significantly worsened the humanitarian situation in the country.
"We believe that there is a humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in the eastern part of the DRC; we are also worried that the situation has opened up wounds between Rwanda and the DRC.
"There has been a lot of international attention paid to what is happening in the DRC and the United Nations Security Council [UNSC] has had a discussion and there is a statement that has been released," Mr Ntsaluba highlighted.
He said government was aware that there had been attacks on the way to the town of Goma and a number of villages had been taken by National Council for the Defense of the People (CNDP) forces loyal to General Laurent Nkunda.
He highlighted that according to intelligence received, General Nkunda's forces were a mere six kilometres from the town of Goma, which is one of the larger cities in the DRC.
The most urgent matter is to appeal to all parties in the conflict to abide by the obligations of international humanitarian law, in order to minimise the unfortunate civilian incidents, he said.
The South African government is of the view that a political solution needs to be found, difficult as it is, as all attempts at a military solution have not resolved the situation.
Although DRC is home to the largest deployment of United Nations peacekeepers, there are calls for the 17 000 strong force to be strengthened as they are struggling to deal with the intensification of fighting in recent times.
"We share the view that as soon as you have high level re-engagement between leaders of Rwanda and the DRC, the better will be the prospects for us arriving at a solution that holds," said Mr Ntsaluba.
There is speculation at the moment that General Nkunda's forces that were in hiding in the forests bordering Rwanda are currently being reinforced and supplied by the Rwandan government.
An unfortunate consequence of the problem in the east has been the response of the civilian population to the United National mission in the DRC known as MONUC.
"Our view is that MONUC needs to be strengthened, South Africa is a contributing country and we join those that are appealing for a reinforcement of MONUC," he said.
South Africa currently has 1 250 peacekeepers stationed in the DRC, he said, and although South Africa is calling for the reinforcement of MONUC, it is unlikely that South Africa will be sending anymore troops.
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