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SANDF troops.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has stated that the deployment of its members to peacekeeping missions in regions such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) cannot be used as the sole measure of the challenges faced by the country’s military.
This statement follows extensive research on SANDF peacekeeping operations conducted by the University of Stellenbosch. It found that the lives of deployed soldiers had been negatively affected.
SANDF Chief General Rudzani Maphwanya has welcomed the research project but cautioned that they should not be evaluated on their recent performance in the DRC.
“Missions are different, unique and they have a different dynamics. What we discovered in various reports that we received is that the terrains must be appreciated differently. Therefore, it is important to note that the dynamics in the DRC were different from the dynamics in Darfur.”
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