Cape Town -
The SANDF must get more than double its budget in the next 14 years to arrest the decline of its capabilities and achieve strategic goals, including its peacekeeping role, according to the Defence Review 2014.
Discussing the 380-page report and recommendations on Wednesday, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the cabinet was supportive of increased defence allocations.
“I don’t think (the) government has a choice at this time… For the next financial year, Treasury will have to take into consideration the recommendations of the defence review,” she said, adding that the cabinet’s view was that South Africa’s defence commitments and responsibilities could not be scaled down.
South Africa lags behind other African countries in defence spending, even though the country plays a key peacekeeping role from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Central African Republic.
While South Africa spends 1.1 percent of its gross domestic product on defence, Angola spends 5.8 percent, Namibia 3.2 percent, Algeria 4.6 percent and the Ivory Coast 2.6 percent.
One of the reasons cited for the SANDF’s decline was the focus on socio-economic development after the 1994 transition to democracy, rather than defence spending.
This led, among other things, to the military’s capacity to protect its southern coast dropping to below half the levels of 1961.
Aside from recommending a more than doubling of the defence budget, the review also proposes a defence academy to train military leaders, a forward base in Africa and internal restructuring.
The minister said a number of “quick wins”, which might cost little money, had been planned, including improved management of naval dockyards and urgent acquisitions.
To boost the economic potential of defence-related industries, a co-ordinating council would soon be established.
The defence review still has to be tabled before Parliament.
SANDF chief of staff General Solly Shoke said that until these parliamentary processes were completed, the military would take time to compile detailed force design plans.
Opposition MPs were critical of the review, saying it did not chart a concrete way out of the SANDF’s operational and capacity quagmire by matching rand and cents with soldiers, equipment and the like.
“The defence review seems to have ignored the iron law of public policy-making: you cannot do what you cannot fund,” said DA MP David Maynier.
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Military spending milestones
The Defence Review charts four milestones from now to 2028:
* By 2015: a forward base in Africa, new delegation and authority regimen for effective command lines, an overhauled acquisition process and decentralised procurement. Envisaged are 66 combat units and a budget of R43 billion in 2014 rand value.
* By 2018: a re-organised command system, increased reserve deployment and growth in areas like special operations. There should be 97 combat units, a personnel complement of 101 000, and budget of R57bn.
* By 2023: a quality-educated military leader group alongside growing capability in maritime patrol, air combat and landward logistics. About 140 combat units and 162 000 employees, and a R74bn budget.
* By 2028: adequate military capacity for sustained operations, increased capabilities in heavy combat, maritime combat support and engineering, and the defence industry should be fully functional.
There should be 158 combat units, 189 000 employees and R88bn.