DA MP Chris Hattingh says it is time for the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga to go.

He was speaking during an urgent debate under way in Parliament on the death of the 14 South African soldiers in the DRC.

The debate has been called as a matter of public interest.

President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a directive for all ministers to take part in the discussion in person.

“One day we will know the real reasons that President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Angie Motshekga as the Minister of Defence. For now, it’s simple, it doesn’t make sense. We agree that they are right, it doesn’t make sense. Let me make this clear. We need to withdraw from the DRC immediately and that Minister Motshekga must go. Honourably or otherwise. The time for excuses is over,” says Hattingh.

The theme for the discussion is, “The recent casualties incurred by the South African National Defence Force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and their implications for the defence force.”

The South African soldiers were killed in fighting between the M23 rebels and the Congolese military in eastern DRC. Their bodies are in Uganda in the process of their repatriation.

The president has directed that the national flag be flown at half-mast at all flag stations around the country until Friday.

The soldiers were deployed to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a peacekeeping mission in defense of the Congolese people.

Aside from Monday’s urgent debate, Parliament is yet to decide how else to commemorate the 14 soldiers.

Since their deaths in Goma in January, Members of Parliament have called for clarity on the wellbeing of SANDF soldiers in the DRC.

While MPs have again criticized the on-going underfunding of the SANDF, saying the capacitation of deployed members is sacrosanct.

The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, and the Joint Standing Committee on Defence have called for an investigation into what led to the loss of so many lives as well as a closed meeting to enable the SANDF to give more details on operational matters and defence intelligence.