Government will announce a decision on the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft contract in a matter of days, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday.

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu had briefed Cabinet on the matter during its regular fortnightly meeting on Wednesday and Cabinet "took a view on the matter", he told a media briefing.

"Decisions will be taken and we'll make an announcement fairly soon about what's going to happen with that particular matter."

Pressed on exactly when an announcement would be made, Maseko said it would be in "a matter of days, the minister of defence will communicate on the matter".

The purchase price of the eight aircraft has increased substantially from the original R17-billion, although the manufacturers have denied it will be as high as R47-billion.

"The price tag which has been attributed to Armscor's CEO, Mr Sipho Thomo, is wildly exaggerated," Airbus Military said in a recent statement.