MOZAMBICAN LOCALS ‘PLEADING’ FOR SADC INTERVENTION AGAINST INSURGENTS

The SANDF says Mozambican locals are pleading for SADC's intervention to stop insurgents in that country following attacks on communities.

FILE: A woman walks through the central market in Pemba on 25 May 2021. Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, has taken in tens of thousands of people fleeing from violence wreaked by Islamist insurgents across the northern province of Mozambique for over three years. Picture: JOHN WESSELS/AFP

Masechaba Sefularo 

JOHANNESBURG - South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Andries Mahapa said Mozambican locals were pleading for SADC's intervention to stop insurgents in that country following attacks on communities in the gas-rich north region.

SANDF soldiers are part of the SADC mission in neighbouring Mozambique fighting rebel groups.

On Monday a South African soldier was killed in an ambush.

Corporal Tebogo Radebe's body was returned to home soil and handed over to his family by army officials.

Meanwhile, Mahapa said they had made strides in combatting the insurgency in northern Mozambique, saying it was in the interest of SADC nations to act against the attacks.

Mahapa said while their stay had been extended to next month, they would await direction from the region on how long they were expected to remain on the ground.

The Democratic Alliance said it would write to Defence Minister Thandi Modise to request details of how long SANDF members would be deployed to the area and how the deployment would be funded.