DEFENCEWEB
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has asked the South African military to help train Soldiers.
It is not a new task for South African Army instructors, who have been training Soldiers from the DRC’s Army for at least four years as part of an agreement. Operation Thebe, as it is known, is separate from South Africa’s involvement in and commitment to the United Nations Mission in the DRC — MONUSCO — and the mission’s Force Intervention Brigade.
The issue of more training was raised in August 2015 when Congolese Army commander Gen. Etumba Didier called on South African National Defence Force chief Gen. Solly Shoke in Pretoria. One of the points on their agenda was the training of recruits to the DRC Army, known by the abbreviation FARDC, at Mura Base near Likasi, DRC. Earlier in 2015, Operation Thebe had trained and handed over more than 9,000 recruits and Soldiers for the DRC.