Defence Minister's Final Act In Office, Ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to Decrease Number of Soldiers Deployed
- Hours before Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was removed as the Defence, Mapisa-Nqakula addressed members of Parliament
- Mapisa-Nqakula told MPs she had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to request that the number of soldiers stationed in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng be reduced
- Mapisa-Nqakula wants the number of soldiers reduced from 25k to 10k so that soldiers could assist in other provinces
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On Thursday evening, now former Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula addressed Members of Parliament.
Mapisa-Nqakula said she had requested that President Cyril Ramaphosa lower the number of South African National Defence Force troops stationed in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng from 25 000 to 10 000.
Mapisa-Nqakula the soldiers that would still be deployed would be focusing on parts of the country that may still be calm but could be unpredictable, according to a report by SowetanLIVE.
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According to IOL, President Ramaphosa issued a directive to deploy 25 000 soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng to assist the South African Police Services to calm the violent protests that had been taking place under the 'Free Zuma' banner.
Additional SANDF members were then deployed to the Western Cape province in the wake of taxi industry violence. Later, Ramaphosa authorised the deployment of 1,495 soldiers to Mozambique to help the country combat terrorism, according to News24.
Mapisa-Nqakula stated the deployment of soldiers to Mozambique has not affected the deployment of SANDF locally.
“That we have deployed troops to Mozambique has not, at all, compromised our deployment internally,” said tMapisa-Nqakula.
SANDF and SAPS work together to prevent looting and stop taxi violence in Cape Town
Briefly News previously reported that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were deployed to Khayelitsha, Cape Town on Thursday. The SANDF is attempting to prevent any outbursts of violence and looting that had occurred in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Members of the South African Police Services (SAPS) were deployed alongside the SANDF. This comes shortly after reports emerged of ongoing taxi violence in the area. Essential public transport routes were also impacted by the taxi attacks.
According to News24, Khayelitsha Development Forum Chairperson Ndithini Tyhido says that the soldiers will be able to put an end to the ongoing taxi association feud. Tyhido stated that the situation was dire.
He explained that the deployment of SANDF has been welcomed by community members as commuters have suffered enough. Tyhido stated that the attack on public transport stemmed from the City's inability to resolve issues with the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations and the MyCiTi bus service.
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Source: Briefly News
