The SANDF denied that US military personnel are in South Africa to protect government officials.
PHOTO: Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images
- The SANDF has rubbished allegations that the US Army is protecting government officials.
- US Army personnel are currently participating in an exercise with the SANDF.
- The training exercise is taking place in Richards Bay.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has denied that US military personnel are in South Africa to protect government officials, following a post on Twitter making the allegation.
The SANDF dismissed the post as "fake news", adding that it was a "ludicrous statement".
SANDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Andries Mahapa, said:
The SANDF would like to state clearly and unambiguously that the US Army Southern European Task Force is in South Africa to conduct a joint and multinational peace support operation and humanitarian relief exercise with the SANDF under the operational code name 'Exercise Shared Accord 2022'.
This is the fourth time the exercise is taking place in South Africa. The last exercise took place in 2017, as all joint exercises were suspended after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Mahapa.
The last exercise was conducted in the Northern Cape at the SA Army Combat Training Centre Lohatlha.
The current exercise is taking place in Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mahapa added:
The South African National Defence Force would like to reiterate that the US Army is in South Africa for a joint exercise, and not for any other agenda as speculated on social media platforms. The SANDF wants to assure all South Africans that the multinational exercise named 'Shared Accord' has nothing to do with protecting any government official in South Africa, but rather pure joint training.
"The SANDF dismisses this Twitter post as fake news and an attempt to spread misinformation."
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
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