PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has notified the parliamentary presiding officers of the deployment of 1 495 soldiers for service in fulfilment of the country’s international obligation to the SADC.
National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo communicated this in the parliamentary communication session today.
In his letter, Ramaphosa said the members of SANDF were deployed to support the Republic of Mozambique to combat the acts of terrorism and violent extremists that affected the area of Caba Delgado Province.
He said the deployment of members of the SANDF was for the period from July 15 until October 15.
“The expenditure expected to be incurred for this employment amounts to R984 368 057,” Ramaphosa wrote in his letter dated July 23.
“I will communicate this report to the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces as well as to the co-chairpersons of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, and wish to request that you bring the contents hereof to the attention of the National Assembly.”
The deployment of SANDF to Mozambique comes hot on the heels of deployment of 25 000 soldiers members to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng in the wake of unrest that caused untold damage to property and mass looting.
The role of the SANDF will be to assist the police and law enforcement agencies in restoring calm to a very volatile KZN from July 12 to August 12, to the tune of R615 665 500.
The number of soldiers was increased from 2 500 to 25 000 as a compromise after Ramaphosa wanted 10 000 and opposition parties wanted 75 000.