Southern African leaders have pledged to push for a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following a high-stakes summit in Zimbabwe, as fighting intensifies in the country’s east.
Meeting in Harare on Friday, heads of state from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) called for “all state and non-state parties to the conflict to commit to a ceasefire process to protect lives and facilitate a smooth flow of humanitarian support to people and communities affected by the armed conflict.”
The urgent discussions come as the M23 rebel group seizes more territory, including the key city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, after days of fierce clashes with Congolese government forces and allied militias.
The offensive has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
SADC leaders expressed deep concern over the escalating violence, specifically condemning “the recent attacks by the M23 armed group and the Rwandan Defence Forces (Rwandan Army) against the Government Forces of the DRC, the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and the civilian population.”
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who chaired the summit as the current head of SADC, denounced the attacks on SADC peacekeepers, calling them a violation of the ceasefire brokered through the Luanda Process in July 2024.
Since December 2023, 16 SADC peacekeeping troops—mostly from South Africa—have been killed in clashes with M23 rebels.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country has deployed forces to the region, was among the leaders attending the summit.
The 16-member SADC bloc is now pushing for an “immediate joint summit” with the East African Community (EAC) to strategize on stabilizing eastern DRC.
The DRC is a member of both regional organizations. President Felix Tshisekedi participated in the Harare summit remotely.
Tensions between the DRC and Rwanda have escalated, with Kinshasa accusing Kigali of backing M23 rebels—a claim supported by UN reports.
Rwanda, in turn, alleges that the Congolese army is collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group linked to perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
The UN has also documented this cooperation.
M23, a Tutsi-led militia, re-emerged in 2021 with a series of rapid offensives, taking control of strategic locations across North Kivu.
The group briefly occupied Goma in 2012, and its recent advances are raising fears of another prolonged occupation.
Eastern DRC has been plagued by conflict since 1998, fueled by rebel groups, government forces, and foreign involvement, despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping mission.
As SADC leaders push for a ceasefire, the region remains on edge, with millions caught in the crossfire of an increasingly complex war.
