Defence Minister Angie Motshekga accepted the criticism levelled at the defence challenges that were highlighted by parliamentarians on Thursday.

Responding during the budget vote debate in the National Assembly, Motshekga said they have taken copious notes on some of the points raised.

“I am happy members acknowledged the challenges we are confronted with as a department. Indeed, underfunding is an existential challenge for us and we do need to speak in one voice in ensuring the Department of Defence gets more resources and more importantly, its baseline is increased,” she said.

Motshekga commented when she presented the department’s budget.

She used the occasion to announce that all the 2,215 soldiers who were deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have returned home after the withdrawal of the SADC Mission in the DRC.

“I want to thank our men and women for their sacrifice and hard work in contributing to peace and stability in the region. Their efforts will never be forgotten. We welcome all of them back home,” she said.

Motshekga also said all the prime mission equipment has been withdrawn from the eastern DRC to Chato, in Tanzania.

“Once verified, it will be loaded by air and sea back to South Africa. As we had promised in our engagement with the media, no equipment has been left in the eastern DRC.”

The minister thanked the Government of Rwanda for allowing them passage through their territory into Tanzania, as well as the governments of Tanzania, Malawi, and all parties involved in the safe withdrawal of the soldiers.

Motshekga said the Department of Defence has been allocated R57 billion and the Department of Military Veterans R878 million.

“Despite our ongoing financial constraints, which badly affect our planning and operations, we will continue to reprioritise and do more with the little we have at our disposal,” she said.

Motshekga said efforts were under way to rejuvenate the SANDF’s human resource profile, modernise, maintain, repair and overhaul the prime mission equipment.

“I cannot over-emphasise the importance of ensuring effective governance and accountability of the entire defence portfolio.”

She said they would continue to engage with the Defence Force Service Commission to re-examine its mandate and would make a pronouncement once all legal requirements were in place.

ANC MP Dakota Legoete said there was a need to ensure the defence was well-resourced, properly structured, and fully prepared to navigate complex security challenges.

“We can’t allow fiscal challenges to undermine the capacity of this crucial institution in our democratic order,” said Legoete.

He lamented that the budget currently stands at 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product.

“The defence force requires long-term fiscal certainty to do necessary strategic planning given the complexity of military procurement and development projects,” he said.

MK Party MP Mzikayise Ntshingila said the budget was not aligned with the urgent developmental needs of the country.

“It fails to directly confront the crucial issues of the welfare of our former armed freedom fighters and our national security. It exposes a systematic failure of a state in retreat from its constitutional obligations,” Ntshingila said.

EFF’s Carl Niehaus lashed out at the 2015 Defence Review document that was unimplemented and was gathering dust.

“The EFF demands a national defence summit to update the 2015 Defence Review and forge 10-year plan for a capable defence force,” he said.

DA’s Chris Hattingh said the dire situation in the defence force called for urgent prioritisation for a cleared force design aligned with the South African defence force’s needs and to secure the required funding.

“Minister, we will support you in achieving this, but if the minister and military leadership can’t put boots on our soldiers, honourable chair, they must step aside,” he said.

Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi said in the absence of a national security strategy, it was difficult to back significant additional funding when the SANDF doesn’t manage the little they get.

“We will back a significant increase in defence when the security cluster tables a coherent national security strategy before Parliament,” Zibi said.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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