Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula: SADC and UN Meeting on Position Paper of Monusco Force Intervention Brigade Reconfiguration in Pretoria

RSA Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Ms NN Mapisa-Nqakula input at the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the United Nations (UN) Meeting on the Position Paper on the Monusco Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) Reconfiguration, held on the Vitrual Plafform on 26 May 2020, Pretoria

Ministers of Defence and International Relations
Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of SADC, Professor Kabudi
Chairperson of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Lieutenant Generals (Retired) Dr. Moyo
Chair of the SADC Ambassadors Group, Ambassador Kennedy Gastorn and all the SADC Permanent  Representatives.
The Executive Secretary of the Southern Africa Development Community, Dr. Tax Generals of the Troop Contributing Countries

I would like to express my profound gratitude and appreciations to Mr Antonio Guterres the Secretary General of the United Nations on behalf of the Republic of South Africa and its President Mr Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa.

More gratitude to the Secretary General, SRSG and MONUSCO for the continued support to facilitate and strengthen the interaction between the SADC and the UN and indeed the immense contributions towards the relative peace in the DRC.

I further convey my appreciations to the UN HQs for their trust and support to the South African deployment of our Military personnel and equipment in the UN Missions.

1. South Africa welcomes the initiative to have convened this session against the background of the COVID-19 global pandemic afflicting our region, continent and the world. It also comes timeously, a day after celebrating the 57th Anniversary of Africa Day and our current Chairship of the African Union, whose theme for this month is “Silencing the Guns”. How do we silence the guns in the DRC, the Great Lakes and the continent as a whole against the background of the challenges and threats to the very instrument meant to silence the guns, the FIB?
    
2. Indeed South Africa is looking forward to the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution No 2502 (2019) which extended MONUSCO Mandate for one year and the report of the UN Independent Assessment Mission led by Lt Gen Santos Cruz on the protection of civilian in the eastern part of the DRC.
    
3. The Force Intervention Brigade (FIB). Without bordering on the historical necessities that led to the creation of the FIB, it is worth noting that FIB was formed in the spirit of partnership that SADC as one of the guarantors of Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the DRC, presented to support the regional and international efforts in achieving the lasting peace and security in DRC.
    
4. This gesture was adopted by the UN, ICGLR and SADC under the PSC Framework, underlining the need to use both military and political/diplomatic actions to address the crisis, and entailed several initiatives including the need for a more robust mandate for MONUSCO.
    
5. The current security development concerns. South Africa took note of the brief outlines on MONUSCO as presented by the Under-Secretary General and wishes to register the following concerns, comments and recommendations for your humble considerations:
    

• That the proposal to replace one FIB battalion with a composite battalion will undermine and dilute the good spirit and good political intent for the region to have a coordinated and coherent approach to achieve peace and security in the Eastern DRC.
• That the Secretariat’s unilateral decision to reconfigure FIB, despite several attempts by the FIB TCCs to engage with UN at various levels, is not consistence to the founding principles of the PSC Framework.  This approach will serve to defeat the partnership spirit to achieve long lasting peace in the DRC.
• South Africa holds a firm view that there are no compelling operational reasons to replace one FIB battalion with a composite battalion. In this regard, she recommends that FIB should not be expanded through reduction of one FIB Battalion.
• Equally, the decision to overhaul and reconfigure FIB HQs by non–FIB/SADC officers will negatively impact on the Command, Control and Coordination of the FIB offensive operations. Since the region is fully committed to address common training issues for FIB HQs Staff Officers, it is our profound wish that the UN will consider the allocation of additional posts at the FIB HQs to the SADC Member States (FIB TCCs). However, FIB TCCs are willing to accommodate Non-FIB Officers as Attachments for specific operational tasks.

6. We acknowledge and appreciate the agreement reached with the Office of  the Military Assistance (OMA) regarding $1 Letter of Assist proposed and on the retention of the Rooivalk attack helicopter with its provisions.

Recommendations

7. I would like to reaffirm South Africa’s commitment and the continued close cooperation and partnership between the UN and SADC in the context of subsidiarity towards total peace in the DRC, and therefore wishes to recommend the following: -

• That SADC and FIB TCC enjoin the Secretariat, to resuscitate the UN-SADC Joint Task Team for joint implementation of the outstanding SADC-UN JTF recommendations and the General Santos Cruz Report including the conclusion of MoUs/LOA as agreed in 2018 to allow deployment of additional capabilities to enhance combat capabilities of FIB battalions.
• The Secretariat to reconsider the decision to replace one FIB battalion and FIB HQ reconfiguration by non-FIB TCC/SADC Staff officers, so as to maintain regional coordination and coherent approach to achieve peace and security in the Eastern DRC.
• That South Africa reaffirms that FIB is an integral part of the MONUSCO and appeals that SADC be considered for the position of the Chief of Staff for inclusion in the MONUSCO decision making process so as to bridge the divide between the Force (MONUSCO) and the FIB

8. Concluding remarks. As we conclude, we wish to concur with the position of the DRC, which is supported by our SADC Permanent Representatives, that ‘elements of the FIB should be the last to leave the DRC’, and that, ‘when the frameworks are reduced, the capacity of the FIB must not be touched until negotiations between the TCC to the FIB and the UN.’

9. The DRC itself, as host nation, has supported the principle of increasing the operational capacity of the FIB, and does not support the withdrawal of the FIB. They have also indicated the necessity for the equipping of the FIB with special units adapted to asymmetric warfare.

10. South Africa is also seized with other related security developments issues in the region, namely Mozambique and Lesotho that directly impact on its internal security stability. In all these instances, it is our wish that together we will overcome these security challenges and afford our region and the continent stability and prosperity.

11. South Africa looks forward to work in close relations with the UN, SADC and the FIB TCCs, she remains open to further suggestions and proposals that will make FIB a dependable offensive capability to MONUSCO to combat Armed Groups in the DRC and fulfil MONUSCO Mandate. Let me assure you that South Africa is fully dedicated to provide all necessary support to the UN in promoting peace and security.

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