A unanimous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) year-long mandate extension for the world body’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) comes as fighting in the country’s east intensifies with renewed offensives by M23 (Mouvement du 23 Mars).

The 19 December decision in New York to extend the mandate of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) came after South African parliamentarians heard a rotation of what is called the RSABATT (Republic of South Africa Battalion) to MONUSCO took place on 7 and 13 December. The Members of Parliament (MPs) were on a hastily arranged one-day oversight visit at the Department of Defence (DoD) Mobilisation Centre following a Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) 5 December meeting that raised unanswered questions regarding the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) rotation.

The RSABATT rotation, with no details made public by the SANDF at the time of publication, has previously been an infantry battalion along with a quick reaction force (QRF) – both detached to the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade (FIB). South Africa’s airborne component to the mission – a Composite Helicopter Unit (CHU) – was withdrawn earlier this year. According to Joint Operations Division Chief, Lieutenant General Siphiwe Sangweni, there is no longer a South African QRF. It appears the SA Army tactical intelligence unit remains part of the South African commitment to the long-running UN peacekeeping mission.

 

The reduction in personnel strength by the SANDF will probably see South Africa drop at least one place in the MONUSCO top 10 troop contributing countries (TCCs) list. Latest available public information has South Africa with 757 at number six on the MONUSCO TCC list. This is 11 more than seventh placed Malawi, also an FIB contributor, and 96 less than Tanzania, the other FIB TCC. Bangladesh (1 825) and Nepal (1 150) top the TCC list.

UNSC resolution 2808 (2025) approved on 19 December extends MONUSCO’s mandate to 20 December 2026. The authorised troop ceiling is 11 500 military personnel, 600 military observers and staff officers, 443 police personnel and 1 270 formed police unit personnel, a UN statement has it.

Under the resolution, MONUSCO’s core area of operations remains North Kivu and Ituri with any deployment linked to ceasefire monitoring in South Kivu subject to security conditions and prior notification to the Security Council (SC).

The mission’s FIB was also renewed on an exceptional basis with the SC emphasising precedent was created. The specialised force was created in 2013 and tasked with disrupting and disarming armed groups.

The resolution highlights what is called a “rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian crisis” in the eastern DRC due to the M23 offensive in North and South Kivu “with the direct support and participation of the Rwanda Defence Forces”.

It condemned the M23 seizure of Uvira, a strategic city in South Kivu on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, warning it risks destabilising the wider region.

The UN urged the M23 to immediately halt and reverse its offensive and Rwanda to withdraw its defence forces from the neighbouring country’s eastern provinces. It further demanded that all parties materialise without delay their previous commitments to establish a permanent, effective and verifiable ceasefire.

The Council authorized MONUSCO to support the implementation of a permanent ceasefire in line with Council resolution 2773 (2025), including by participating in the Ceasefire Oversight and Verification Mechanism agreed by the parties in Doha on 14 October.

MONUSCO’s mandate renewal also comes as the United Nations, together with the Congolese government, pursues a phased departure of MONUSCO, with any further steps depending on security conditions on the ground, the ability of national authorities to protect civilians, and continued support from UN entities and partners after the mission leaves.

The Council noted a pause in MONUSCO’s disengagement in the eastern provinces amid the evolving security situation, strongly encouraging the authorities to take concrete action to ensure the protection of civilians, including women and children.

It expressed its readiness to consider and determine further steps towards a gradual, responsible and sustainable withdrawal from North Kivu and Ituri when conditions permit, considering joint planning by the DRC Government and the United Nations. By