“MY MA, ek is lief vir jou” was the last message SANDF soldier, Staff Sergeant William Eddy Cola, sent his mom before he was killed in combat with M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
SSgt Cola, from Louterwater in the Eastern Cape, is one of the 13 troops who lost their lives in the fighting as part of the peacekeeping efforts near the city of Goma, with DRC forces in conflict with M23 rebels and their Rwandan and Ugandan allies.
A breadwinner in his family, his mother Hermina Heegers told the Cape Argus: “We last spoke on [last] Wednesday. Then the Thursday, he just sent me a message saying: ‘My Ma, Ek is lief jou’, as relatives began to shed tears around her hearing the words.
“He would always tell me he loved me, he was my world, he was my everything.”
With widespread criticism of Defence Minister Angie Motshekga and the government’s handling of the situation, fears of an escalation in the mineral-rich region are growing.
While Motshekga confirmed a call for a ceasefire on Wednesday evening.
She added that President Cyril Ramaphosa has also issued a warning to Rwandan president Paul Kagame, saying continued hostilities against SANDF members would be taken as a declaration of war.
This got Kagame’s blood boiling and he let off a X post, saying: “President Ramaphosa has never given a ‘warning’ of any kind, unless it was delivered in his local language which I do not understand.
“He did ask for support to ensure the South African force has adequate electricity, food and water, which we shall help communicate.
“President Ramaphosa confirmed to me that M23 did not kill the soldiers from South Africa, FARDC did.
“If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator. And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day.”