President Cyril Ramaphosa Keeping 10k Members of SANDF Deployed Until September

• President Cyril Ramaphosa will be reducing the number of soldiers deployed in South Africa to 10 000
• Ramaphosa stated that boots will remain on the ground until 13 September after they were deployed last month
• The deployment of the South Africa Defence Force will cost South African taxpayers close to R255 million

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made a decision to pull back some of the members of the South African Defence Force that have been deployed in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Last month, Ramaphosa made the decision to deploy soldiers in areas heavy impacted by the violent protest.

It has been revealed that Ramaphosa has written an official letter to Amos Masondo, the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, informing Masondo of the decision to keep only 10 000 soldiers deployed in various parts of the country, according to TimesLIVE.

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Ramaphosa also estimated that keeping the remaining soldiers deployed will cost the state close to R255 million.

“The expenditure expected to be incurred for this extended employment is R254,914,500,” stated Ramaphosa.

Soldiers will remain on the ground until 13 September and will continue to assist the South African Police Services to keep law and order and prevent crime across the country, according to Ramaphosa.

South Africa currently has soldiers deployed in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal as well as Mozambique to assist the country fight jihadist insurgents that have infiltrated the Cabo Delgado province, according to News24.

In Mozambique, around 1 500 soldiers have been deployed for a period of roughly three months and this deployment will cost over R980 million.

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Defence Minister's final act in office, asks President Cyril Ramaphosa to decrease number of soldiers deployed

Briefly News previously reported that on Thursday evening, 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 said the soldiers that would still be deployed would be focusing on parts of the country that may still be calm but are unpredictable, according to a report by SowetanLIVE.

Source: Briefly News