Parliament, Thursday, 18 May 2023 – Robust engagements between Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, the National Treasury and the Department of Defence and Military Veterans laid bare the impact of previous decisions to South African National Defence Force (SANDF) funding. The National Treasury highlighted that previous Cabinet decisions to curb government spending and implement budget cuts across all national departments resulted in a cap on the Defence department’s expenditure for the compensation of employees (COE).
The committee highlighted that making the SANDF comply with Treasury regulations in this regard appears to have not considered the defence force’s operational structure and requirements. Furthermore, the committee is of the view that the decision to cap the COE remains unimplementable and contributes to irregular expenditure, as to fund the shortfall the department must shift funds from operations and assets acquisition and maintenance. This impacts heavily on South Africa’s defence capabilities.
The Chairperson said: “The committee is concerned about the arbitrariness of the decision, as it has started to impact negatively on the serviceability of the prime mission equipment, training and the general readiness of the defence force. It has a direct impact on the defence force’s ability to recruit annually for both regular and reserve force. As a consequence, it restricts its rejuvenation efforts.”
The Department of Defence and Military Veterans, which was led in the meeting by the Minister, Ms Thandi Modise, and Deputy Minister Mr Thabang Makwetla, felt that these directives from Treasury weakened the SANDF and put South Africa’s national security at risk.
The committee welcomes prudent financial spending, but it should not result in a shrinking defence force, particularly considering South Africa’s increased population growth and the growing security threat posed by its porous borders and regional instability.
While discussions on the underfunding of the department were central to the engagement, the National Treasury also presented recommendations that the defence force should consider optimising its internal spending. These include reconsidering the number of costly parades for promotions; holding Armed Forces Day only every two years; reducing spending on travelling; and the continued maintenance of 44 attaché offices.
The committee recommended that there should be engagements between the National Treasury and the department to find feasible ways of dealing with severe irregular expenditure and the unsustainability of the cap on COE. The committee further requested that the department and National Treasury must report back to the committee on their engagements in the third quarter.
The committee further proposed that there be another meeting with the National Treasury to discuss the impact of budgetary constraints on prime mission equipment and budget requirements.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE AND MILITARY VETERANS, MR CYRIL XABA
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