FAREWELL TO A MAN OF INTEGRITY

On 14 March 2025 many of us gathered at one of the Johannesburg cemeteries to bury a South African whom many speakers hailed as a person of integrity, who dedicated his life to the betterment of his fellow human beings. This was the businessman, Khomotso Jacob ‘Bobby’ Makwetla, who, among other engagements, was a distinguished member of the well-known National African Federated Chamber of Commerce, NAFCOC.

The homily at the funeral service preceding the burial was delivered by a patriot and liberation fighter, now Reverend Molefe Tsele, who based himself on two verses in Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy. These verses in 2 Timothy, Chap 4/v6&7 say:

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

Rev Tsele spent time explaining to us the true meaning of the words – “I have kept the faith”.

Among other things, to have kept the faith meant that the individual concerned had shown by her/his deeds that she was an honest, selfless, humble and principled person of integrity. And so was Bobby Makwetla. He had kept the faith!

Rev Tsele emphasised that, of course, this was expected particularly of people who chose to be pastors. Historically these were even prepared to live in conditions of poverty, owing to their striving to keep the faith. However, said Rev Tsele, things seem to have changed quite radically during the contemporary period.

Now, there are pastors who are among the wealthiest in society. These even own private jet planes which ferry them to any destination of their choice, no longer obliged to travel using the commercial airlines. Obviously, this was difficult to understand as it amounted to a radical redefinition of what it meant to be a pastor. It also had the necessary implication that we should expect from the wealthy pastor behaviour not normally associated
with a pastor.

However, Rev Tsele advised that we should not be surprised in this regard because such development had been foreseen.

In his epistle in the First Book of Timothy, Paul had foreseen a time or circumstance when the pastor would indeed fall victim to the temptation of the love of money, with the unacceptable consequences of such frailty.

Rev Tsele regretted that politicians seem to have learnt from these wealthy pastors and themselves lost the conviction ‘to keep the faith’, motivated to pursue the goal of self-enrichment rather than service to the people.
Many a time the innocent citizens could only understand the behaviour of the politician once they understood that love of money had come to dominate the value system of the politician concerned.

At least two of the people who spoke at the funeral service are politicians. Quite correctly, these thanked and commended Rev Tsele for what he had said concerning the absolute imperative for those in the public service,
including and especially politicians, to respect and work in a manner consistent with the value of personal and professional integrity.

As I have said, the proceedings I am talking about occurred on Friday, 14 March. As I sat listening with great interest to Rev Tsele’s homily, I could not shake off the feeling that for me this was a bitter-sweet day. It was bitter because we were saying a final farewell to a good and valued friend, Bobby Makwetla.

But it was also a sweet day. This was because we got the very good news that a day earlier, a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) virtual Summit Meeting had decided to withdraw the military mission it had
sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, as the SAMIDRC, to support and work with the Congolese Armed Forces, the FARDC.

The SAMIDRC was deployed in December 2023 with the specific mandate to “work with the Congolese Army, the Forces Armees de la Republic Democratique du Congo (FARDC), in fighting armed groups operating in
the Eastern DRC.”

For over a year, some of us had been urging for the termination of the SAMIDRC mandate, arguing that the security problems in the Eastern Congo required a political solution and that no military intervention would
ever help in this regard. Strangely, this pleading fell on deaf ears as nothing was done to respond to
our proposal.

This was strange because of all the SADC countries, South Africa has the most extensive experience of working with the DRC governments to help the country recover from the disaster that befell it after the overthrow and
murder of its very first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba.

We knew that where the SADC referred to “armed groups operating in the Eastern DRC”, essentially it meant the militia called the M23. To understand what the M23 is, we have to say something about the Congolese population in the Eastern DRC.

Because of the colonial borders decided at the 1885 Berlin Conference, significant numbers of Rwandese-speaking people live especially in the two Eastern DRC Provinces of North and South Kivu. These are Congolese
citizens. However, ever since the times of Mobutu, the governments in Kinshasa have refused to recognise these Rwandese-speakers, who are Tutsi, as Congolese citizens. Rather, even armed militia, like the Mai Mai, were
formed in the Eastern DRC to drive these Congolese Tutsis, called the Banyamulenge, out of Congo into the neighbouring Rwanda.

To protect themselves, the Banyamulenge constituted the armed militia, the M23 in North Kivu and the Twirwaneho in South Kivu. Central to ending the conflict in the Eastern DRC is the absolute imperative
for the DRC government to accept the Congolese Tutsis, the Banyamulenge, as Congolese, protect them as it protects any other Congolese citizen, and ensure the equivalent and all-round integration of the Banyamulenge in Congolese society.

This is the required political solution. The military option is a perfect non- starter. And yet SADC chose this non-starter when it constituted and deployed the SAMIDRC. As I have said, when some of us conveyed this assessment and recommendation to our own leaders, based on a detailed understanding of various matters in the DRC, having worked on these for some years, we received no response.

The absurdity of this situation was demonstrated in a striking manner recently. When he presented the 2025/26 National Budget, the Minister of Finance announced that significant sums of money would be provided to finance the SAMIDRC and similar operations, which had not been done before.

Exactly two days later, a SADC Summit Meeting terminated the SAMIDRC operation! This can only mean that for some unknown reason, contrary to general opinion within the SADC, the South African government felt that the SAMIDRC should continue on what in terms of conflict resolution is called a ‘peace-enforcement’ mission!

Among the strange goings-on with regard to the SAMIDRC is that our government continued to insist that these troops, which included members of the SANDF as the largest component, were on a ‘peace-keeping’ mission. This was absolutely false, given what the SADC mandate says specifically and given what the SAMIDRC did once they were in the DRC 14 SANDF soldiers died earlier this year as a result of conflict with the M23, the conflict SAMIDRC had been mandated to pursue. Correctly, our Government and country paid the necessary tribute to these fallen combatants.

What was strange, however, was the perfect silence about the fact that the SANDF lost more than 14 of its members serving in the SAMIDRC. At least 5 other SANDF members of SAMIDRC died in operations during 2024. Altogether SANDF lost at least 19 of its members in SAMIDRC, not I do not know what tributes were paid to these additional combatants.

Similarly, the country does not know how many of our soldiers suffered serious injuries, requiring long treatment. SADC has spoken of a phased withdrawal of the SAMIDRC troops. In the meantime, M23 has told its SANDF prisoners of war that they are free to leave on any day and that it would guarantee their safe passage out of the Congo, to fly out of Rwanda, whenever they are ready to leave.

It is difficult to see why the return of the SANDF units home should be delayed through some process of phasing, when, in the first place, they should never have been deployed in the DRC on a counter-productive peace-enforcement mission.

Recently, the radio station ‘Power FM’ broadcast some interviews about the matters we are discussing, the conflict in the Eastern DRC and the role of SAMIDRC in this regard. It was with a deep sense of shame that I listened to some of the interviews.

One of these, conducted by Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi with a Ms Adele Kibasumba, was broadcast on 11 March 2025. Dr Ndlozi described her as a community leader and organiser. She is a Congolese Tutsi, a Banyamulenge.
Here is part of what she said:

“(The SADC forces) did not come to defend Banyamulenge. They did not come to defend anyone. The came to help the Congolese Forces to do whatever they were doing – and what they were doing – the Congolese
Forces – was arming all these militia, all those 100 militias I was telling you about. All of them were solidified (by the DRC government) and made into a force called Wazalendo. And those Wazalendo are the ones who kill the
Banyamulenge. They work with the FDLR which are the remnants of the Rwandese genocidaires…They harbour the genocidal ideology against the Tutsi people whether in Rwanda or the Congo. Those are the allies…those
hundred militias join forces with the Congolese government, they join forces with the SAMIDRC, they join forces with the Burundian…to fight the M23, to fight the Twirwaneho in South Kivu…Not once have we heard a declaration from South Africa to say, yes we are with the DRC government for our own interest, but we are against the persecution of minorities. Not once have we heard that. And I think, growing up we had South Africa with the moral authority. It has helped DRC with the past conflicts to bring DRC together, to mitigate all these conflicts. But it has lost that leadership. It is now drawn into war, literally (no longer) against ethnic cleansing, and one might say genocide against the Banyamulenge people.”

Dr Ndlozi followed up with an interview of a representative of M23 on 14 March 2025.

The M23 representative said in part:

“The town of Goma had to be liberated from the carnage, the horrible hell of massacres happening in this town, created by the DRC government, supported by the South African Forces. This was not acceptable anymore
because many people will recall many countries in the world supported South Africans to free South Africa from apartheid. Today we see South Africa coming to support a government that suppresses people and apply
and implement apartheid within the country.

It was really controversial, we could not believe that people who fought, the people that saw themselves working hard to get rid of apartheid, and today they call themselves a rainbow country where they have everybody there.
Why not us who don’t have white, yellow as citizens, but all blacks. But they separate us because of our size and nose, or the way we look. And this was unacceptable in the way our fellow Africans, for example a country like South Africa will send troops to kill Congolese to implement the apartheid plan of Mr Tshisekedi, to work around mercenaries, while South Africa itself fought mercenaries in Angola (UNITA), fought mercenaries in Mozambique, and today is fighting alongside mercenaries to just implement an apartheid programme.

Just because of interest of countries, the politics of countries. This really shook us and we could not understand this. So the town of Goma – we had to do everything to actually liberate our people…This problem is actually a
political problem, not military, but the DRC government choose a warmonger’s plan and to get South Africa and all the countries of SADC to put Forces to come to suppress civilians that are calling for help. That is why the town of Goma had to be liberated…

Peace has now returned (to Goma). People are going to work. Children are going to school…The town of Goma is living now…We are Africans. South Africa are our brothers. Our brothers were misled the same way many people were misled against the ANC in South Africa when they were fighting to free South Africa, to have the country they have today. Mr Mandela and others who fought for freedom were also betrayed by other South Africans…For us the South Africans (soldiers) are our brothers. They were implementing a mission given to them by their leaders.

As an army they have to obey and go to fulfil the mission…But when they found the mission was not what it was supposed to be, they (sent) a report back home that these are not Rwandese. They are Congolese that are
fighting for their freedom like we fought for freedom back home…So we have no problem with (the) South Africans. They are our brothers. Anytime they want to leave, they can leave and go home.”

Like other South Africans who listened to these Power FM broadcasts, I could not but ask myself the question –
how did it come about that we ended up in this completely unacceptable situation that we sent our soldiers to fight a segment of the Congolese population that is being persecuted and discriminated against on the basis
of the most crass ethnic chauvinism?

Earlier I reported that Rev Tsele educated us as we celebrated the life of Bobby Makwetla that in his epistle in 1 Timothy, Paul had foretold of the phenomenon of a wealthy pastor, which naturally encouraged us the
congregants to find out for ourselves what Paul had said. Here is some of what appears in 1 Timothy: Chap 3/v1-13, & Chap 6/v6-10, KJV.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre…not covetous…;
One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) …
Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued…not greedy of filthy lucre…
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows…
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor
trust in uncertain riches…

Rev Tsele lamented that some people in public service, particularly politicians, have followed in the footsteps of the wealthy pastor. Perhaps the strictures which Paul in 1 Timothy imposed on bishops and deacons, including and especially against ‘greed of filthy lucre’, should also be made to apply to the equivalent political positions.

Because of this context, it is now possible for us to explain why some in the political sphere and in political terms have ‘erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows’, by realising the role of the love of money in this regard.

This might help us to understand the otherwise inexplicable but ignoble behaviour concerning our country’s recent involvement in the Eastern DRC as part of the SAMIDRC forces. Or does it?