Cape Town – Defence Minister Thandi Modise has denied the deployment of the army in Mozambique would have had an impact on the deployment of soldiers in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng after the unrest.
The soldiers were deployed in Gauteng and KZN after the July unrest to monitor the situation and ensure stability.
However, recently almost 1 500 troops were sent to Mozambique as part of the SADC mission to fight insurgents in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to deploy thousands of soldiers in KZN and Gauteng and other provinces after the unrest in July.
However, this was later scaled down and some of the soldiers in other provinces that were not seriously affected by the looting and violence were pulled out.
Modise said the deployment of the army would continue in support of the SAPS in ensuring stability.
There are soldiers that are still on the ground in the two provinces after the violence claimed more than 300 lives and billions of rands in damages to infrastructure and businesses.
Modise, who was replying to written questions from Al-Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks and IFP MP Inkosi Russell Cebekhulu, said the soldiers would remain on the ground in the two provinces.
“The deployment of the SANDF is mandated by the Constitution which envisaged the long-term requirement to support and operate in cooperation with the South African Police Service in situations of internal unrest. Both the Defence Review of 1998 and 2015 has also envisioned these long-term implications.
“In view of the foregoing, the Defence Force is expected to support the SAPS and other state departments, as and when it’s tasked to do so, since maintaining law and order is not the primary mandate of the defence force. As envisaged in the above mentioned policy and statutory documents, these types of employment are likely to persist due to the relative shortage of SAPS personnel,” said Modise.
POLITICAL BUREAU