President Cyril Ramaphosa has unexpectedly extended the deployment of SA soldiers to Mozambique until December 31, while the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (Samim) has already wound down its operations.
Ramaphosa announced the deployment of its troops in conflict-hit Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week for an unspecified period of time, keeping 1,198 personnel of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) in eastern DRC for stabilisation operations. The regional intervention force, SamiDRC, is aimed at fighting the rebels, while SA also contributes to the UN peacekeeping operation.
SA’s military deployments abroad have come under domestic scrutiny this year after two SANDF soldiers were killed and three wounded by a mortar bomb in the DRC in February. Military experts have raised alarm over these international deployments as they could jeopardise local operations.
If Ramaphosa’s announcement means adding additional forces for Mozambique, the SANDF will be stretched even further. The president earlier committed 2,900 soldiers to the regional intervention force in the DRC.
About 3,300 SANDF soldiers have been actively engaged in countering illegal “zama zama” mining operations since December 2023. The initial mandate for the operation in support of the police was for six months, which effectively ends the interventions at the end of this month.
According to military sources, this contingent — as well as the soldiers guarding Eskom facilities — will have to double up their tasks to ensure safety and stability in the run-up to the national elections in May and in future. Additional reserves will have to be called up for election duty.
Defence analyst Helmoed-Römer Heitman said the SANDF would have to call up extra reservists and juggle all available manpower to ensure safety during the election. “Alternatively, the external deployments will have to be paused until after the election. The alternative is to hope for a peaceful election,” Heitman said.
Samim’s mandate expires on July 15. Troop-contributing countries such as Botswana and Lesotho have already withdrawn their soldiers. Most of the SA forces have also withdrawn. Yet Ramaphosa stated in his announcement that up to 1,495 soldiers would remain in Cabo Delgado in Mozambique. The SANDF’s Combat Team Charlie has not been actively involved in any operations against extremist insurgents since February.
According to Ramaphosa, the extended deployment will cost taxpayers R984.3m. This amount is the same as the cost of the whole deployment of the full force in its first year in 2022.
Even the Mozambican government has confirmed that Samim will end its presence in the country by July 15. A farewell parade for the South Africans was held on April 7.
The SANDF still has a force of 1,200 committed to UN peacekeeping operations in the DRC. Kinshasa has already notified the UN that it wants the blue helmets out of the country this year.
At home, the SANDF keeps one company (about 200 soldiers) in each province on standby for emergencies and in support of the police when necessary. About 1,800 soldiers are also deployed on SA’s borders with Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana.
According to military experts, the government seems to carry on committing more troops to more areas while the SANDF’s resources, and its equipment in particular, are in a dire state. None of the Rooivalk helicopters in the DRC have been flying for the past two years and will have to be shipped back to SA in containers. Only one Oryx helicopter is in service with the UN force, while the rest is unserviceable or shot up in rebel attacks.
In Mozambique only five out of 36 Casspir mine-protected armoured personnel carriers are serviceable. Most of the 200-plus vehicles in Cabo Delgado are not in a state to drive due to damage and will also have to be shipped back, as will about 160 shipping containers with equipment.
“Without any medical support or vehicles, all operations in Mozambique have come to a standstill in February this year, despite a massive resurgence of violence committed by the militants,” one military source in Mozambique told Business Day.
Rwanda Defence Force soldiers deployed after a bilateral agreement between Rwanda and Mozambique “are protecting the liquefied gas fields in the north. They do not become involved in counterinsurgency operations because it is not part of its agreement,” the source said.
Ramaphosa also extended the deployment of 200 defence force members in fulfilment of SA’s international obligations to conduct anti-piracy patrols in the Mozambique Channel until March 31 2025. However, the navy has not conducted any patrols in the past two years due to the unserviceability of its vessels. This maritime extension will cost a further R35.3m.
“The SA government keeps throwing money at operations without proper planning or vision of what it wants to achieve in the region in the long run. In the process, the overall state of the SANDF and its equipment is just deteriorating further,” said a senior military officer.
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