South Africa will withdraw its military contribution to the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), marking a significant shift in one of Africa’s longest-running peacekeeping deployments as regional security dynamics evolve.
- •South Africa is among the top ten troop-contributing countries to MONUSCO, with more than 700 soldiers currently deployed to support the mission’s mandate.
- •The withdrawal will be coordinated with the United Nations, with timelines and operational modalities expected to be finalised ahead of a full exit scheduled before the end of 2026.
- •Pretoria said it would continue to maintain close bilateral ties with Kinshasa and remain engaged in multilateral peace initiatives led by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations.
"South Africa will work jointly with the UN to finalise the timelines and other modalities of the withdrawal, which will be completed before the end of 2026," South Africa's presidency said in a statement.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has cited the need to consolidate and realign the resources of the South African National Defence Force after nearly three decades of peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since it was established in 1999, MONUSCO has evolved into one of the UN’s largest and most complex peacekeeping missions, tasked with addressing persistent armed conflict while supporting the DRC government’s peace and stability efforts.
The move comes amid shifting geopolitical and diplomatic developments in the Great Lakes region. In December, the DRC and Rwanda signed the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity, a U.S.-backed framework aimed at ending decades of conflict, advancing regional economic integration and unlocking investment opportunities. The agreements reaffirmed earlier peace commitments signed in Washington in June 2025 and introduced a Regional Economic Integration Framework (REIF) designed to accelerate trade, infrastructure development and cross-border cooperation.
The accords were accompanied by additional bilateral agreements, including a strategic partnership between the United States and the DRC, an expanded security cooperation framework and a U.S.-Rwanda economic partnership aimed at boosting regional growth and stability.
