African leaders have announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, who were sent to fight insurgents in mineral-rich eastern Congo, where M23 rebels have killed peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said on Thursday that a summit of regional heads of state had terminated the mandate of its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo and decided on a "phased withdrawal".

The troops were sent two years ago to support the Congolese army fight the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. But at least 17 soldiers from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania were killed when the M23 captured the key city of Goma in January.

South Africa's budget may be tweaked further as more talks between political parties will try to overcome differences over a contentious plan to raise value-added tax, the country's finance minister told Reuters.

South Africa has entered unchartered waters following deep divisions in the coalition government over the national budget that has finally been tabled after a month-long delay. This is the view of analysts after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's budget drew a backlash from various quarters,