Nearly 3,000 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) are preparing for a legal battle against the Department of Defence over outstanding financial benefits owed from their recent deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The troops were part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission, which has since been terminated. The dispute centers on special allowances paid by SADC to the South African state, a portion of which is meant to be distributed to the deployed soldiers as compensation beyond their normal salaries.
Pikkie Greeff, national secretary of the South African National Defence Union (SANDU), confirmed the union’s intention to pursue litigation if the matter is not resolved. He stated that the core issue is a lack of clarity and transparency from the defence department regarding what exact amounts are owed to which soldiers.
“There’s a lot of a lack of clarity as to what is actually owed to the members partly because the department has been very vague about what amounts should be distributed,” Greeff said. He explained that the problem stems from the department’s failure to negotiate the terms of these SADC payments with the union from the outset, leading to the current confusion.
According to Greeff, the payments in question are separate from the soldiers’ normal salaries. When deployed, soldiers receive two streams of income: their standard SANDF salary and additional allowances funded by SADC. The dispute involves the latter, with soldiers alleging late payments, partial payments, or in some cases, no payment at all.
Greeff estimated that the number of affected personnel is “in excess of 1,500 soldiers,” though he noted that SANDU is still trying to ascertain the exact figures and amounts due. He revealed that the department has provided some documentation but not the full set required to calculate the precise debts, describing its cooperation as not “very forthcoming.”
The Department of Defence, when approached for comment, stated that it was unaware of the story until it appeared in the media and would not comment further as it did not have the full facts.
Greeff emphasized that the union is first seeking a cooperative resolution and has not yet set a formal deadline for the department to respond before proceeding with court action. He advised affected soldiers to formally log their inquiries with the department to create a paper trail for potential future litigation.
SANDU is expected to issue a more detailed statement or hold a press conference on the matter later this week.