The Defence department could not explain to Parliament how the cost of sending 510 soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal jumped from R18.5 million to R34 million on the morning of the briefing.
Lieutenant General Siphiwe Lucky Sangweni, Chief of Joint Operations, told MPs he could not give a breakdown during the meeting.
DA MP Chris Hattingh spotted the change in Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence on Friday. The presentation MPs received that morning priced the deployment at R18 564 124. The one presented in the meeting said R34 082 720.
“The Minister explained that there was an error that was rectified overnight. Yet the report that we got this morning reflected totally different figures on the slide. It reflects that the total cost would be R18 564 124, with the cost of employees at R5 million and goods and services at R13.5 million. Now, this must have happened this morning, because we only received what I presume is the amended presentation this morning, and then it was amended again, Minister. Can we get some explanation for this haphazard dealing with a very important issue? So it appears that after the presentation was sent to us this morning, it was realised that, no, there’s some more money to be made out of this.
“A proper process should go into determining the cost and fitting the cost into the budget, as was announced by the President. After that was done, presumably we arrived at R18.5 million. But in the last few minutes before we started this meeting, something must have happened that just aligned everything with the President’s letter. So I would like to know the thought process, and the process that’s behind this,” Hattingh said.
The final figure of R34 082 720 matches the amount in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s letter to Parliament. In the final version, compensation of employees rose from R5 million to R11 604 520, and goods and services from R13.5 million to R22 478 200.
Hattingh said the new figure made this the most expensive deployment per soldier this year.
“If we look at the new amended amount of R34 million for 510 members over 53 days, it costs about R1 261 per authorised member per day. Earlier this year, with the combined illegal mining and gangsterism deployment under Operation Prosper, that cost was R945 per member per day. I would like to know what explains the higher daily cost per member. I also need to understand that not all members are deployed all the time. Can we get an explanation of what planning process was behind this to arrive at this figure?
“So I want a breakdown. How do we arrive at this cost? And why is there almost a 33% difference, a third, between the previous deployment on gangsterism and zama zamas, which is much cheaper, and this one, which appears to be a much less complex deployment?” he said.
Sangweni said he could not answer. “Chairperson, I will not be able to provide feedback. It speaks about a detailed breakdown per person, and I don’t think I will be able to give feedback today. We’ll try our best, maybe in seven days,” Sangweni said.
Hattingh was not impressed. “Chairperson, I can understand if the calculation of the cost can take a few days, specifically if we jump from R18 million to R34 million in 20 minutes. I’ve asked a simple question. If General Sangweni needs seven days to respond to this simple question, then there’s something seriously wrong. I’ve asked whether the soldiers are properly prepared and properly equipped to deal with the situation. If the General needs seven days to respond to that question, I’ve got serious doubts about the preparedness of our SANDF and the risk that we expose our soldiers to. This is simply not acceptable,” he said.
Defence Minister Angie Motshekga admitted the figures were wrong.
“We’re not refusing to give you the breakdowns and details. That’s why even last night, when we were looking at the presentation ourselves, we saw that there were discrepancies. It’s because of the pressure we are finding ourselves in. But again, it’s not an excuse,” said Motshekga.
The department says the money will come from reprioritising its 2026/27 budget. It did not say which programmes will lose out.
The committee’s report, adopted at the end of the meeting, records that MPs asked for clarity on the actual expenditure “given the different figures” they received.
The soldiers have been in KwaZulu-Natal since 9 October and will stay until 30 November. Earlier this year, a 550-member Operation Prosper deployment in Gauteng was budgeted at R80.74 million over three months.