The South African National Defence Force said that 5 SA Infantry Battalion was finalising its Jungle Warfare Training at Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape.
In a statement on Wednesday the SANDF said that “the soldiers have been there since the beginning of April 2017 to receive training in preparation for their deployment to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).”
Spokesperson, Captain Jaco Theunissen, said that 5SAI will form part of the Force Intervention Brigade of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
“The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) must, in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations (UN), supply forces for deployment under the UN flag in the DRC,” he said.
“Therefore the SANDF are in the process to prepare for its next rotation of an infantry battalion as part of its contribution for this deployment,” he said.
Captain Theunissen said “to better equip the deploying forces, the soldiers are prepared in a forest environment where it is necessary to adapt the current battle tactics to suit the circumstances that they will operate in the DRC.”
“The only area in South Africa that allows the SANDF to achieve this objective is the Port St Johns area,” he said.
“From Port St Johns 5 SAI Bn will move to the SANDF Mobilisation Unit in Bloemfontein to receive Mission Readiness Training and to mobilise before they will start the rotation to the DRC around June 2017,” said Captain Theuissen.
“They will be deployed for a twelve month period”.
