Ramaphosa extends deployment of SA troops in Mozambique

04 March 2022 - 11:58
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the deployment of SA soldiers in Mozambique. File photo.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the deployment of SA soldiers in Mozambique. File photo.
Image: Alaister Russell/The Sunday Times

President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially extended by three months the deployment of SA soldiers to the northern parts of Mozambique, which have been ravaged by terrorists.

This extension is costing almost R1bn, he said.

“This serves to inform the National Assembly that I have extended the employment of 1,495 members of the South African National Defence Force for a service in fulfilment of an international obligation of the Republic of South Africa towards SADC,” Ramaphosa said in a letter dated February 28 to National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

He said the extension covered the period from January 16 to April 15, at an expected cost of R984,368,057.

SA soldiers have been in Mozambique since July last year and were initially deployed for three months. In October last year, Ramaphosa extended their deployment by three months, which lapsed on January 15. 

Mozambique was besieged in March last year by insurgents allegedly linked to Islamic State who overran the gas fields town of Palma, killing dozens of people and displacing many.

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