Defence analyst: SANDF domestic deployment bill could cost hundreds of millions

By Akani Nkuna

The domestic deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will cost taxpayers at least R10 million a month but could rise to hundreds of millions, depending on the size of the troop deployment, defence analyst Darren Olivier has said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last week that the army would be deployed to assist police in combatting violent crime in the Cape Flats and illegal mining in Gauteng.

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Olivier told Inside Politics that the projected monthly cost was a poor use of public funds at a time of weak growth, strained state finances and high unemployment.

“When you take a soldier and deploy them outside their jurisdiction, in this case to police civilians, you are required to pay them certain allowances, which bloats the budget. [The cost is] projected