Parliament, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 – The Joint Standing Committee on Defence has received a letter from President Cyril Ramaphosa, dated 08 January 2021, on the employment of 2 122 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in support of other government departments in the fight against Covid-19. The letter is as per Section 201 (3) and (4) of the Constitution that compels the President to inform Parliament of any deployment of the SANDF.
The letter informs Parliament that the deployment will run from 29 December 2020 to 31 January 2021, at a cost of R95 666 944. It is intended to preserve life, health and property in emergency or humanitarian relief operations in support of other government departments and in cooperation with the South African Police Service, to prevent crime and enforce restrictions under the adjusted Level 3 lockdown regulations.
This most recent Covid-19-related deployment follows an initial deployment of 2 820 SANDF members on 25 March 2020, 76 000 deployed on 21 April 2020 and 20 000 deployed on 30 June 2020. “These deployments have contributed greatly to the fight against Covid-19 and the preservation of life,” said committee Co-Chairperson, Mr Cyril Xaba.
These forces join those already deployed on various other missions, namely 200 SANDF personnel on maritime patrol mission in the Mozambique Channel (dubbed Operation Copper), the peacekeeping effort in the Democratic Republic of the Congo involving 1 165 soldiers forming part of the United Nations Organisation’s Stabilising Mission, and 15 companies (Operation Corona) which serves to safeguard South Africa’s borderline, especially now that 20 ports of entry have been closed to the general public.
The committee expresses its support for all efforts aimed at safeguarding the lives of South Africans as they are force multipliers in the fight against Covid-19. The committee will discuss the President’s letter in its next meeting.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE, MR CYRIL XABA AND MR MAMAGASE NCHABELENG.
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