The South African National Defence Force is in deep trouble when it comes to combat readiness, Democratic Alliance defence spokesman David Maynier warned on Friday.
"We have soldiers without vehicles; we have ships without sailors; we have planes without pilots; and we have military hospitals without doctors," he told MPs during debate in the National Assembly on the defence department's budget vote.
In a speech sharply critical of the political management of the SANDF over the past decade, Maynier said the defence department would have people believe the problem was routine under-funding.
"But the real problem with the defence force is not that it is under-funded. The real problem with the defence force is that it is under-led."
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The result was strategic drift and confusion The last defence review, carried out more than ten years ago, had been deeply flawed.
"It was corrupted by vested interests in the defence force, defence industry and the ruling party, resulting in a force design that was simply not affordable.
"And so, hard decisions had to be made. But that is precisely what did not happen.
"Instead, the defence force was let down by politicians -- most importantly a string of caretaker defence ministers -- who for years dodged making the hard decisions about the future of the SANDF."
The result was strategic drift and confusion.
"We may not know all the details about the state of combat readiness of the defence force. What we do know, however, is that the defence force is in deep trouble.
"We have soldiers in barracks, not in the field; we have ships alongside, not at sea; and we have aircraft in hangars, not in the air.
"We have an army that is over-stretched; a navy which is under-stretched; and an airforce with nothing to stretch."
Maynier, a Harvard graduate and former South African Navy submarine officer, said the question had to be asked: "Is the defence force in fact able to fulfil its constitutional mandate and defend and protect the Republic of South Africa?"
This was nowhere better illustrated than in the confusion surrounding the deployment of the defence force to protect the country's borders.
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