The Southern African Development Community intervention force in the mission in the DRC is outgunned and outmanned.

The extraordinary summit was called after the Rwanda-backed M23 group captured most of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo this week in fighting that killed 16 soldiers from South Africa and Malawi deployed as part of regional peacekeeping efforts.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accuses Rwanda of backing M23 rebels behind escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week

Kagame's comments clearly suggested that he wants South Africa to back off from DR Congo, where its military involvement dates back to the late 1990s. It first joined the UN's peacekeeping mission, Monusco, following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.

Ramaphosa welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s recent position on the situation in the DRC, which calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the reversal of territorial expansion by the M23, the withdrawal of external forces from the DRC, and the resumption of peace talks under the Nairobi Process.

"Things are relatively quiet at the moment, and our soldiers are also in a safe place," Ramaphosa said during a press briefing in Pretoria. His statement comes a day after four members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were killed in fighting against the rebel group in eastern DRC.