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SANDF soldiers plan to march for payment of their full DRC allowances

Details

protestCity Press reports that soldiers, including wounded personnel, who recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are furious because they still have not received their full allowances. About 1,400 soldiers are now planning to march to Pretoria to submit their grievances.

The Department of Defence (DOD) initially promised that negotiators would be in contact with the SA National Defence Union (Sandu) and that the issue regarding allowances would be settled in the military’s bargaining chamber, as legally required. However, at the first meeting, the DOD sent a negotiator without any mandate. The second meeting was unilaterally and indefinitely cancelled by the military. Last week, the military issued a statement assuring soldiers that all outstanding allowances had been paid out and thus resolved. Yet, a military spokesperson said in the same statement that the chief of human resources was still conducting an investigation into discrepancies with the payments.

Soldiers received R7,000 and R12,000 over the past two months in allowances. Their main grievance is that the military’s agreement with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo regional force authorised an amount of about R25,000 per month in danger pay and other allowances per soldier. The soldiers want to know what happened to that money if, according to the military, they are only entitled to a fraction of it. The SADC agreement further provides for a daily payment rate for food, while the soldiers had to fend for themselves to obtain food for long periods. This particularly applied during the nearly six months they were held captive at their bases by M23 rebels.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erika Gibson at City Press (subscription / trial registration required)
  • Read too, Soldier threaten to sue over DRC wages, on page 4 of Sunday World of 14 September 2025
  • En ook, DRK-toelae: Motshekga se teenstrydighede hoop op, by Maroela Media


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