Johannesburg, South Africa (AFP)—The Democratic Republic of Congo’s defence minister began a visit to South Africa Monday aimed at strengthening “strategic defence capabilities” between the two countries, South Africa’s government said.

The visit, due to last until Thursday, comes against the backdrop of an escalating conflict in the mineral-rich east of the DRC, where South African troops deployed with a mission of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have suffered severe losses.

“This visit aims to further strengthen and enhance the longstanding bilateral defence relations between South Africa and the DRC,” South Africa’s defence ministry said in a statement.

The talks between Congolese Defence Minister Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita and his South African counterpart Angie Motshekga will focus on “key areas of defence cooperation and bolstering strategic defence capabilities”, it added.

The partnership is “crucial for fostering peace, security and stability across the region”, the ministry said.

Fourteen South African soldiers were killed in January in eastern DRC, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has launched a lightning offensive, seizing large swathes of land and key cities.

Most of the soldiers were from the SADC mission sent in December 2023 to help the government of the DRC — also a SADC member — to restore peace and security.

At least two of the troops killed were deployed as part of a separate United Nations peacekeeping force.

Following the deaths, a row erupted between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, with the latter tweeting that the southern African troops were “not a peacekeeping force” but were “engaging in offensive combat operations to help the DRC government”.

“If South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day,” Kagame posted on X.

The SADC announced mid-March that it would end its military deployment, of which the bulk of the troops come from South Africa.

On March 18, Qatar unexpectedly announced it had hosted the Rwandan and Congolese presidents for talks in which they “reaffirmed the commitment of all parties to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire”.

But despite the announcement, the M23 last week took control of the mining hub of Walikale, the farthest west the group has advanced into the interior of the DRC since 2012.