SOUTH Africa will send 2,900 troops as part of its contribution to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) force deployed to tackle armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the president's office said in a statement on Monday. The one-year deployment will cover the period between December 15. 2023 and December 15, 2024, and will cost around 2 billion rand ($105.75 million), the statement said. The 16-member state SADC approved the eastern Congo mission in May last year to help Congo, the world's top supplier of cobalt and Africa's top copper producer, address instability and deteriorating security in its restive eastern…