Mozambique: SA parliament debates sending special forces to Cabo Delgado – Lusa

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Mozambique: SA parliament debates sending special forces to Cabo Delgado – Lusa

8:20 CAT | 03 Mar 2022

File photo: For illustration purposes only. [File photo: DefenceWEB]

The Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) of the South African parliament is debating on Thursday the deployment of a military contingent of around 1,000 troops to the province of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.

In statements to Lusa, the shadow Defence minister, Kobus Marais, of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the biggest opposition party in South Africa, which is part of the parliamentary group for Defence, said that the meeting was scheduled for late afternoon.

Kobus Marais stressed that the South African opposition raised the issue last week, adding that the government and the armed forces had not informed parliament about the South African military reinforcement in the northern region of Mozambique.

“At this moment, all I know from credible sources outside the Defence Force [SANDF] is that the [military] deployment has already been sent. They have not confirmed it, and as I confronted them, it will probably be because of this that it is one of the items on the agenda of the meeting, that is what I can advance, but that it has not been confirmed by the Defence Force,” the South African MP stressed.

“We hope that the official letter of authorisation for the deployment from the president of South Africa will be considered and we will be informed by the CJOPS [Chief of Joint Operations],” Kobus Marais stressed, stressing that by law, parliament should have been informed about two or three weeks ago.

According to the same source, the military deployment is part of operation Vikela of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in Cabo Delgado, as part of South Africa’s participation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM).

In July last year, South Africa pledged to send 1,495 troops to assist Mozambique in fighting terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.

However, according to Kobus Marais, only about 350 troops, mostly special forces, were deployed in the neighbouring country.

The South African MP told Lusa that the new contingent should include three infantry companies from the 2 SAI, a company from the 1st Parachute Battalion, a specialist group from the 44th Parachute Platoon, two commando groups from the 4th Special Forces Regiment, a frigate and several logistics and medical support elements.

“Some [military personnel] may already be in Cabo Delgado, and some may be about to be deployed,” the South African opposition MP stressed.

“We are not opposed to this deployment as part of the SAMIM forces. However, we as DA are convinced that our forces should be fully resourced with SADC funding and equipment, especially ground and air support,” he told Lusa.

“We do not want to see our soldiers returning dead in a body bag again,” he stressed.

Kobus Marais estimated to Lusa at about 1 billion rand (€57.8 million) the cost to the South African state coffers of the deployment for three months of South African military forces in Mozambique.

Since 2017, Mozambique’s natural gas-rich Cabo Delgado province has been terrorised by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 859,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda, which SADC later joined, allowed for an increase in security, recovering several areas where rebels were present. Still, attacks continue in scattered areas of the province and neighbouring regions..

Source: Lusa