News24 reports that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) has denied a report that it will cut up to 16,000 jobs.  

The Sunday Times reported that the SANDF was forced to start with retrenchments following Finance Minister Pravin Gordan's announcement in February that the wage bill would apparently be decreased by at least R25 billion over the next three years.  However, on Sunday SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini denied that mass retrenchments would be carried out.  He said:  "Whether the budget is cut or not there will be no retrenchments in the National Defence Force.  The defence force is not planning to discharge 16,000 soldiers."  In Gordan's budget speech in February he said that the force's "expenditure ceiling" would be cut by R25 billion by curtailing personnel spending, but no mention was made that the wage bill would be decreased.

• This short report by James de Villiers is at News24
• Read too, Defence force told to cut troops by 16,000, at Sunday Times

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