Section 5

Financial expenditure - donor & private assistance

Financial assistance for the various operations has come from a number of sources. These include:

From 1995, with Rachel 1, until the end of 1998, with Rachel 4, the South African Police Service financed all the costs involved in mounting an operation. The SAPS national budget paid for these operations in a neighboring country in order to reduce the flow of firearms and ammunition smuggled into South Africa to be used in violent crimes. This is a good example of proactive policing rather than reactive policing. The total amount of running these first four operations was just shy of 2 million South African rands (exactly R 1 828 854.60)
From 1999 until the end of 2000 the Belgium Government financed seven Operation Rachel operations at a total cost of R 987 408.57
During 2001 the European Union (EU) made R1.2 million available for the carrying out of these operations
During the last operation in 2001 and the three operations in 2002, the South African Police Service again made funds available from its national police budget to successfully carry out these operations. The total cost was R 1 358 234.18

Each operation is getting bigger and distances are getting longer the further north the operations move. Hence, the operations are getting more and more expensive. Due to the financial constraints placed upon the SAPS, as well as other limited resources, Operation Rachel is becoming a hostage of its own success. It is becoming extremely difficult for the SAPS to spend scarce resources in tracking down weapons in the northern parts of Mozambique. It is therefore very important that continued support from international donors continues until all arms caches have been destroyed, no matter how long it may take.

Private sector support

The constant floods and heavy rains during the annual raining season in Mozambique makes it very difficult for the Rachel teams to operate with heavy landmine resistance vehicles in the muddy terrains. The teams also lost a lot of time as the landmine resistant vehicles were time consuming in moving from one cache to the next. A new approach was adopted where a helicopter and single and double cab 4x4 vehicles were used to execute an operation. It is here where the Delta Motor Corporation South Africa came to the rescue. It sponsored 4x4 vehicles to be used during these operations.¹ Delta has since pledged its continued support for future Operations Rachel. This poignant assistance by private sector assistance can only be hailed as a model for others to follow.

Other expenses that take a big chunk out of the operational budget is that of fuel, both for the 4x4's and more so for the helicopter.

The typical costs of an operation are as follows;

Daily allowance: Members are paid a set amount per day besides their normal police salary for the duration of an operation
Transport: This is the fuel for approximately eleven 4x4's and one Samil 50 support vehicle. During Operation Rachel 7(2), 9 144.53 liters of diesel and 702.52 liters of petrol was used
Air support: Estimated cost for one BK 117 helicopter for 30 hours @ R 3 000.00 per hour came to R 90 000.00 in Rachel 7 (2). This is the biggest single expense besides daily allowances for all the members in an operation. This is an area where private sponsorship can play a very big supportive role
Medical: This includes malaria tablets for the whole team as well as medical insurance for the duration of the operation
Rations: The same rations are provided to both the Mozambican and South African police members, everybody eats the same
Communications: This is for the use of satellite phones for operational purposes
Unforeseen expenses: Expenses such as vehicle repairs

Still, during the execution of the operation, the operations leader and management team is focused on making savings as far as possible.

Notes

1. HIS Group Publication, compiled for Delta Motor Corporation by Patrick O'Leary.