The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has extended the presence of the country's military in Cabo Delgado province until December 31, in order to combat the armed groups operating in the region, according to a communication from the head of state to the South African Parliament quoted by the SAVANA newspaper.

"I have informed the National Assembly that I have decided to extend the deployment of 1,495 members of the South African National Defence Force [SANDF] in the service of fulfilling South Africa's international obligation to the Southern African Development Community to combat acts of terrorism and violent extremism affecting areas of northern Mozambique," reads the note that Ramaphosa sent to Parliament on April 15.

According to the same publication, this extension is based on legal cover for the contingent still in Cabo Delgado, whose mandate ended on April 15.

"Technically this is not an extension of the mandate of the South African troops in Cabo Delgado. Basically, President Ramaphosa sought to find legal cover for the forces that are still on the ground," he said.

The presence of the South African military is part of operation "vikela" - a Zulu language expression meaning "defend" - notes the South African head of state in his text.

"The deployed SANDF members will continue with their responsibilities to combat terrorist acts and violent extremism in northern Mozambique under operation 'vikela' from April 16, 2024 until December 2024," Ciryl Ramaphosa told South Africa's National Assembly.

Ramaphosa notes that the deployment of the force is taking place under section 201 (2) (C) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and is budgeted at 984,368,057 rand.

The South African head of state said in the same statement that he would also inform the National Council of Provinces of the decision to extend the military presence in Cabo Delgado.

Cyril Ramaphosa's decision is a reversal of the decision by the SADC Military Mission (SAMIM), which has already begun withdrawing its contingent in Cabo Delgado, in accordance with a timetable set last year.