South Africa troops to stay in Mozambique three more months, at cost of nearly R1bn

President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the deployment of South African soldiers to Mozambique's terrorist-ravaged Cabo Delgado province by another three months, at a cost of almost R1bn.

“This serves to inform the National Assembly that I have extended the employment of 1,495 SANDF personnel for service in fulfilment of an international obligation towards Sadc, to support Mozambique to combat the acts of terrorism and violent extremists in Cabo Delgado province,” Ramaphosa said in a letter dated October 15 to National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

He said the extension will be for three months from October 15 to January 15 2022.

He said the expected cost would be R984,368,057.

South African soldiers have been in Mozambique since July 15 and were initially deployed for three months. They joined a Rwandan contingent of soldiers that had arrived a few days earlier.

That deployment was expected to cost the same as the latest one [R984,368,057].

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