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South Africa’s Department of Defense (DoD) has once again raised concerns about a lack of funding, which has led to the continued deterioration of its capabilities in recent years.
In a presentation to parliament on Wednesday (Sept. 2), the DoD said it requires an average human resource (HR) force of 77,000.
To ensure a more sustainable defense capability, an average human resource force of 75,000 will be maintained during fiscal year 2020/21, supplemented by a reserve force.
This will result in a projection R3.07 billion budget deficit for 2020/21, He said. The actual endowment of the Department of Defense as of June 30, 2020 was 73,595, well below projected needs.
In a May presentation, the Department of Defense said the defense force is in a “critical state of decline” characterized by an imbalance of force, an inability to afford its main operating systems and an inability to meet current defense commitments.
Left unchecked and with current funding levels, this decline will seriously compromise and further fragment South Africa’s defense capabilities, he said.
Chief among these concerns are constant budget cuts, as well as capping the employee compensation (CoE) ceiling below the existing strength of the force. This has led to a direct decline in actual historical strength, he said.
The Defense Department has also raised ongoing concerns around military training, technology and equipment, prompting opposition MPs to call for a complete restructuring.
The May report shows that there has been a decline in the ability to maintain and sustain military processes and activities, especially with regard to products and equipment specific to the military. In particular, stock levels are inadequate to support current defense commitments.
SANDF is facing equipment obsolescence and most Army vehicles and other so-called primary mission equipment (PME) are aging with very little prospect of modernization.
The department said the maintenance backlog will continue with consequent loss of PME and industry experience unless funds are available. He warned that lack of maintenance can also lead to a collapse in PME.
Cut to the bone
In an opinion column for Working day, independent defense analyst Helmoed Römer Heitman said SANDF lacks strength because the funds have been “slashed to the bone.”
“The army lacks infantry units to handle and sustain any serious contingency beyond its deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and along the border; it has good but mostly outdated equipment from 1980 to 1990 and some from the 70s and even 50s, and it lacks key capabilities like modern air defense systems, “he said.
Heitman said the air force also lacks much-needed weapons in much of its aircraft, lacks maritime surveillance capabilities and lacks the radars to cover air borders effectively.
He said the navy also lacks significant strength and that several of its ships are too small to be useful. Heitman said the main problem is that the government doesn’t seem to know what level of defense capacity it wants.
These concerns have been directly echoed by the Minister of Defense and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who said that the future of SANDF is directly in the hands of the government.
“Preventing SANDF capabilities from declining further depends entirely on the defense force’s budget allocation, which has been declining at an alarming rate over the years with a negative impact on all capabilities,” he said in a Questions and answers and end of 2019.
“The Defense Review 2015 has been developed with a plan to halt the decline of the SANDF, but unfortunately no funds have been received to address the decline in SANDF capabilities.”
Mapisa-Nqakula added that the decline of the SANDF for years meant that it was becoming increasingly difficult to protect the country.
“Defense has become progressively unsustainable in terms of declining defense allocations and has reached a point where the republic must decide the type of Defense Force it wants and can afford,” he said.
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