An official car flying the South African flag is seen before South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at Stansted Airport on November 21, 2022 in Stansted, England. The South African president is the guest of honour at the UK's first state visit in over three years. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) 
The cost of the yearlong deployment will be just over 2 billion rand ($106 million), the South African Presidency said in a statement on Monday.
The deployment of troops from SADC comes as United Nations peacekeepers, which included South African soldiers, prepare to withdraw from the troubled region and an East African force exits after tensions with Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi.
“The obligation to contribute troops is borne by all SADC member states,” the presidency said. SADC is a 16-member group of countries including Congo.
The presidency didn’t say how the deployment, which will be in place until 15 December, will be funded but said it won’t affect the usual operations of the South African National Defence Force.
Tanzania and Malawi are also contributing soldiers to the force, known as SAMIDRC.
SADC troops began arriving in December and are already involved in operations against the M23 rebel group, Congo has said.
Congo says M23, which is led mainly by Congolese members of the Tutsi group, is supported by neighboring Rwanda. United Nations experts say members of the Rwandan Defence Force also provide support to the group in Congo. Rwanda denies backing the group.
M23 says it’s protecting Tutsis from discrimination in Congo and fighting Rwandan rebels in the country who have links to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.