Their alleged offences include running brothels.

Eight South African soldiers in the UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo were detained or suspended earlier this month for alleged sexual crimes, including running brothels named Soweto, Bloemfontein and Cape Town near their military base in the east of the country.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) said in a statement this week that it had taken "immediate and robust action in response to reports of serious misconduct by UN peacekeepers."

These "initial measures include suspension from duty, detention, and confinement to quarters of concerned peacekeepers, pending receipt of additional information on the allegations, including through the conduct of a full-fledged investigation."

Monusco said these measures had been taken in line with the UN Secretary General's "zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse and other forms of misconduct."

The UN statement did not reveal how many peacekeepers had been detained or suspended or their nationality but the French news agency AFP reported that it had seen internal Monusco documents identifying them as eight South Africans.

Daily Maverick approached the SANDF to confirm this on Thursday but it had not replied by the time of publication on Friday. Democratic Alliance...