Major-general sul-africano Patrick Dube novo comandante da Missão Militar da Comunidade de Desenvolvimento da África Austral (SADC) em Moçambique (SAMIM)
Maputo, 15 Feb (AIM) – South African Major General Patrick Dube is the new commander of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), which has been fighting Islamist terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, since 2021.
He is the second South African to head the force. The first was Major General Monwabisi Dyakopu who, like Dube, is said to have had successful tours of duty in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade (FIB).
The SAMIM force was, at one time last year, under the leadership of an interim commander in the person of Botswana Defence Force Brigadier General Gaboratanelwe Tshweneetsile.
According to the South African DefenceWeb platform, Dube is probably the final force commander of SAMIM before its withdrawal from Mozambique, scheduled for July.
Dube, well-respected in South African and continental defense and military circles, arrived for his second tour of duty and first as force commander in Mozambique last month.
Addressing officers attached to the South African SAMIM contingent and others at SAMIM Force Headquarters in the Cabo Delgado provincial capital of Pemba, he emphasized his commitment to the mission’s strategic objectives, stating that “I would hate it if I made enemies here, except if it’s those that we are searching for out there, who are causing trouble to the people of Mozambique and the people of SADC”.
Dube acknowledged the responsibilities the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) took on when deployed “outside South Africa, saying the force was a symbol of national power and South Africa as a signatory to any international agreements is obligated to play a role”.
In addition to continental tours of duty, Dube has been closely involved in internal operations and any number of training exercises. These include the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) deployment to manage and operate public hospitals during a lengthy civil service strike in 2007, the multi-disciplinary anti-crime Operation Fiela in 2015, and the rural security operation Stipper.
South Africa along with Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia are the troop contributing countries (TCCs) to SAMIM. The July 2024 withdrawal is as per a directive from the regional bloc Organ Troika Summit instructing SAMIM leadership to start a phased drawdown in December 2023 ahead of complete withdrawal in July.
Terrorism in Cabo Delgado, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has caused around 4,000 deaths and has contributed to the displacement of one million people.
(AIM)
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