November - Department of Defence

eventsThe first fruitsof Mission ThebeArticle and photos byF Sgt David NomtshongwanaThe South African Government'seffort to assist fellowAfrican countries was againvisible when the first trainedRapid Reaction Battalion wasofficially handed over to theDemocratic Republic of theCongo (DRC).Mission Thebe was initiated by thesigning of a joint declaration on 22August 2007 by the Ministers ofDefence of South Africa and the DRC.Among other things, this agreement isaimed at supporting and assisting thegovernment of the DRC to reform itsarmed forces and training staff inlogistics, finance, intelligence, humanresources and in the medical field.The training of the first battaliontook place in one of the towns that wasnot affected by war in the DRC, vizLubumbashi, at the Mura Base. InFebruary 2008 the DRC Minister ofDefence handed over more than 900members, five of them women, into thesupervision of Col Piet Sereko,Commander of Mission Thebe, to startwith their training.Despite the challenges in terms ofresources and the language barrier,history was made on 3 October 2008when the first of three battalions wasofficially handed over by the newlyappointed RSA Minister of Defence,Mr Charles Nqakula, to the DRCMinister of Defence and WarVeterans, Mr Chikez Diemu.The trained battalion will beexpected to provide security and stability,especially after the withdrawalof MONUC in 2009. The troops fromthe DRC were trained in differentfields, such as light intelligence andlight 120 mm artillery and introducedto the development of the Rapid16Fltr: the Chief of the SA Army, Lt Gen Solly Shoke, the newly appointed RSA Minister of Defence, Mr Charles Nqakula,the Commander of Mission Thebe, Col Piet Sereko, and the Republic of the Congo Minister of Defence and WarVeterans, Mr Chikez Diemu, on the podium during the handing-over parade of the first battalion.S A S O L D I E R • NO VEMB ER 2 0 0 8