In fulfilling South Africa‘s international obligation towards the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to support the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the employment of 2900 members of the South African National Defense Force to assist in the battle against illegal armed groups in the Eastern DRC.
The employment will cover the period from 15 December 2023 to 15 December 2024 and it was authorised in accordance with the provisions of section 201(2) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
The budgeted expenditure to be incurred for the employment amounts to just over R2 billion. This expenditure will not impact provisions for the defense force’s regular maintenance and emergency repairs.
The obligation to contribute troops to the SADC mission in the DRC is borne by every SADC Member States.

Unseen
Fun South African Fact: Mandela’s house on Vilakazi Street is now a museum. The man who the street was named after, Dr BW Vilakazi, was a poet, novelist and intellectual. He helped develop the written form of both isiZulu and siSwati and helped put together the isiZulu dictionary.
Cosmic Presence
A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at Pick \’n Pay, but couldn\’t find one big enough for Christmas dinner.
She asked a packer, \”Do these turkeys get any bigger?\”
He replied, \”No madam, they\’re dead.\”